KAUFMAN - "Or cramming in sex, or car chases, or guns. Or characters learning profound life lessons. Or characters growing or characters changing or characters learning to like each other or characters overcoming obstacles to succeed in the end. Y'know ? Movie shit."
Kaufman is sweating like crazy now. Valerie is quiet for a moment - from "Adaptation".
We are all about CINEMA. That movie shit.
NOTHING is sacred.
NOBODY is spared.
Because we talk about films, dammit.
Not your sex life.
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The first trailer of Mahesh Manjrekar’s new film City Of Gold is out. Check it out.
This one had lot of promise, till we saw the trailer. The premise, setting, time, incidents and an untold story. But from the trailer it looks too tacky! City Of Gold is set in Mumbai’s mills era. Here is the official synopsis of the film…
Today, there is hardly anyone who hasn’t visited the swanky shopping malls, nightclubs, lounge bars, clubs and other such lifestyle destinations that sprung up across the centre of Mumbai. However, very few know that buried deep below these glittering edifices to consumerism lies the dark, dirty and painful reality of many thousands of mill workers who once worked the cotton mills in this very same area. Rising and toiling to the wail of the mill sirens each and every day, seven days a week, these workers embodied the true unbridled zeal and unflagging spirit of the city and played a pivotal role in the evolution of Mumbai as the modern day business capital of India.
And then it suddenly was as if they never existed. Following the mill workers strike in the mid-80s, these mills began closing down rapidly and the mill-workers mysteriously disappeared. What happened to them, and where they went is one of the most shameful secrets that the city of Mumbai will have to bear for generations, one that until now has always been spoken about in hushed whispers.
City of Gold – the story of these long-forgotten masses – not only explores the apathy of these mill workers narrated through the story of one such family, but is also a take-no-prisoners account of the birth of the true underbelly of organized crime in Mumbai.
The film traces the birth of the politics of greed in Mumbai and exposes the unholy collusion between the triumvirate of big business, the political establishment and the trade union leaders who ostensibly were charged with protecting the rights of the mill workers. In the two decades that followed, the entire landscape of Central Mumbai was changed forever. Land became the currency of growth, and this began the systematic extinction of mills in Mumbai. In a matter of just a few years, hundreds of thousands of workers lost their means of livelihood. Having worked in these mills from generation to generation, this was the only vocation that they knew.
Many left Mumbai and went back to their ancestral homes, some others chose to stay back and fight what they soon realised was a losing battle, some took the extreme step of ending their miserable lives, and still some others took to a world of crime.
Truth… as is said, is stranger than fiction. But the truth that the film uncovers is not just stranger but darker and dirtier than any mind has ever imagined. Produced by DAR Motion Pictures and from the Director of dark and realistic films like Vaastav – Mr Mahesh Manjrekar, ‘City of Gold’ takes another trip down memory lane…. just that this time around the result is a much more heart wrenching, soul stirring and shocking film about human avarice and apathy.
The film doesn’t provide any direct solutions. Yet it shatters many a myth and raises many a question which only the passage of time will provide answers to.
To know more about the film, click here for the official website.
Stars do strange things for film promotions. And during the pre & post-release they are also asked to be in their character! Say, see, act, behave, believe in what your character does in the film. And so Shah Rukh Khan had to bear the baggage of Rizwan Khan for My Name Is Khan. He could not go against it. The controversy followed and now it seems there is no end in sight.
The latest one involves the other Rizwan. Remember Rizwanur Rahman. He was married to Priyanka, Ashok Todi’s daughter and the Todi family was against the marriage. Few days later, his dead body was found near the railway tracks. The promoters of Lux Cozi innerwear, owned by Ashok Todi, were accused in abetting the suicide of Rizwanur Rahman. Here is the wiki link to the complete story of Rizwanur Rahman. And more here. Also you can visit www.rizwanur.com . Do read.
And here is the connect. Shah Rukh Khan is the brand ambassador of Lux Cozi. Lux was supposed to sponsor the uniform of SRK’s team Kolkata Knight Riders. So, Rizwan’s team would wear uniform sopnsored by Rizwanur’s murderers ? And you expect Bongs to accept it and cheer for the same team! Unlike the intelligentsia in Maharashtra whose voice we havent heard much on the marathi manoos issue, thank God, even with their laziness, Bengali intelligentsia hasnt lost their sane voice! Amidst protests, Shah Rukh Khan has decided to call off the cozy deal. Great!
But if we are not wrong (we would be happy to be proved wrong though), Lux will be part of KKR’s off field merchandise. Come on Mr Khan, why play hide & seek ? You can easily let go few crores! For all the gyaan that you spread and the books & authors names you rattle off at 5am in the morning, does all this boils down to only business ? You surely can do better!
Ah, they have done it again! One more and its a hattrick. Last time it was the IPL Karmayudh video which was copied from the Yankees Ad. If you dont remember click here to see the original, the copied and filmmaker Prasoon Pandey’s reaction to plagiarism allegations.
And here is the new one from Indian Plagiarised League! Those who are following all the IPL buzz must have already seen the “red carpet” launch video of IPL 2010 on SetMax. If you havent, click on the play button.
And here is the original one. The Coke TV commercial for China Olympics.
In the desi one, they have just added saare jahan se accha, hindustan hamara. And believe it or not, but try this. Freeze the first video (IPL) at 01:03 and the second one (coke) at 01:37. Looks like they went out on recce looking for similar locations and shot in the same way. And how can they let go the great visual of snow-capped mountain? As Dhoni says, toh aur bolo ?
And can any enlightened soul tell us who is the culprit this time ? Is it Pandeyji again ?
When there is a new Pepsi/Coke campaign on air, you know that summer is near. Coke launched its new campaign with a new brand ambassador – Imran Khan. This is the first brand endorsement deal of Imran Khan. And he follows the footsteps of Mamujaan Aamir Khan who has been endorsing Coke since last few year.
Imran stars with Kalki Koechlin in the new Tv commercial. The new campaign “Open Happiness” has been conceptualised by the creative team of McCann Erickson that includes Prasoon Joshi, Ashish Chakravarty, Tirtha Ghosh and Nakul Sharma. And the film has been directed by Dibakar Banerjee. If you havent seen it yet, click the play button.
In an interview to LA Times, Vidhu Vinod Chopra has revealed the plot of his new film Broken Horses. Its his first Hollywood film which he has been threatening to make for quite sometime. To quote from the feature…..
His English-language directorial debut about two brothers, one a violinist in New York, the other a hired gun, set against the drug war on the U.S.-Mexico border.
As Chopra points out, “there is nothing Indian about the movie except the director. The heart of the movie is the relationship between these two brothers, but within that is a story about how we destroy what we love. It’s about the choices we make in life.”
This sounds exactly like Vishal Bhardwaj’s Kaminey! Ok, not exactly but lot of similarities. Two brothers (Ok, not twins), there is gun, there is violin (not guitar), drug and war too! How we destroy what we love ? Its about the choices we make in life ? We might be reading too much between the lines and the words but doesnt it all sound like Guddu & Charlie’s world.
Ofourse everything else will be different. But we could not resist connecting the dots. Its written by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Abhijaat Joshi and Jason Richman is the script consultant ( Swing Vote, Bangkok Dangerous). To give you the mood & feel of the film, VVC has already cut a trailer from the recce footage. Go to www.vinodchopra.com , click on the pic of Broken Horses and select trailer.
And to read the complete feature published in LA Times, click here. In a separate interview to Hindustan Times, he has clarified that 64 Squares and his ambitious project Talisman to be directed by Ram Madhvani is NOT happening. Other two projects, Ferrari Ki Sawaari to be directed by Rajesh Mapuskar and Paachisvi Saalgirah are in development. Click here to read the full interview.
Nirmal Pandey. Not sure when was the last time we heard the name. Every friday a new actor is born somewhere and human memory is quite short. Once you start missing your friday attendance, you slowly start vanishing. And then suddenly we heard the news today afternoon that Nirmal Pandey had a heart attack.
A gradute from Delhi’s National School Of Drama, he made his mark as Vikram Mallah in Bandit Queen. Long curly hair, pointed nose, sharp features and quite tall – you could not miss him easily. Soon there was Sudhir Mishra’s Iss Raat Ki Subah Nahi, Amol Palekar’s Daayra, Train To Pakistan and Godmother. After that he slowly started missing his friday roll call. Soon it was almost zilch. Not sure what happened.
Its a cut-throat world here. You dont even realise when, how and where you get replaced. We all now know that Nirmal Pandey is dead..not sure how many of us knew how was he alive..the irony of bolly life continues!
First look of two new films are out. Priyadarshan’s Bumm Bumm Bole and Mahesh Manjrekar’s City Of Gold. Have a look.
Bumm Bumm Bole is an official adaptation of Majid Majidi’s acclaimed film Children Of Heaven. Its produced by Percept Picture Company and stars Darsheel safary. The Remake Master continues remaking.
Mahesh Manjrekar’s City Of Gold is set in Mumbai’s mills era. Here is the official synopsis of the film…
Today, there is hardly anyone who hasn’t visited the swanky shopping malls, nightclubs, lounge bars, clubs and other such lifestyle destinations that sprung up across the centre of Mumbai. However, very few know that buried deep below these glittering edifices to consumerism lies the dark, dirty and painful reality of many thousands of mill workers who once worked the cotton mills in this very same area. Rising and toiling to the wail of the mill sirens each and every day, seven days a week, these workers embodied the true unbridled zeal and unflagging spirit of the city and played a pivotal role in the evolution of Mumbai as the modern day business capital of India.
And then it suddenly was as if they never existed. Following the mill workers strike in the mid-80s, these mills began closing down rapidly and the mill-workers mysteriously disappeared. What happened to them, and where they went is one of the most shameful secrets that the city of Mumbai will have to bear for generations, one that until now has always been spoken about in hushed whispers.
City of Gold – the story of these long-forgotten masses – not only explores the apathy of these mill workers narrated through the story of one such family, but is also a take-no-prisoners account of the birth of the true underbelly of organized crime in Mumbai.
The film traces the birth of the politics of greed in Mumbai and exposes the unholy collusion between the triumvirate of big business, the political establishment and the trade union leaders who ostensibly were charged with protecting the rights of the mill workers. In the two decades that followed, the entire landscape of Central Mumbai was changed forever. Land became the currency of growth, and this began the systematic extinction of mills in Mumbai. In a matter of just a few years, hundreds of thousands of workers lost their means of livelihood. Having worked in these mills from generation to generation, this was the only vocation that they knew.
Many left Mumbai and went back to their ancestral homes, some others chose to stay back and fight what they soon realised was a losing battle, some took the extreme step of ending their miserable lives, and still some others took to a world of crime.
Truth… as is said, is stranger than fiction. But the truth that the film uncovers is not just stranger but darker and dirtier than any mind has ever imagined. Produced by DAR Motion Pictures and from the Director of dark and realistic films like Vaastav – Mr Mahesh Manjrekar, ‘City of Gold’ takes another trip down memory lane…. just that this time around the result is a much more heart wrenching, soul stirring and shocking film about human avarice and apathy.
The film doesn’t provide any direct solutions. Yet it shatters many a myth and raises many a question which only the passage of time will provide answers to.
To know more about the film, click here for the official website.
Remember those scrapbook questions. What You love, what you hate, your favourite colour and blah blah. For one question, I never had any answer. What do you fear the most ? Girls would go for rats, spiders, cockroaches. Boys would say nothing. Few would admit that its ghost. Those who grew up more than their age would fill the place with “losing loved ones”. I would wonder if its ghosts ( would love to meet), loneliness ( enjoy it infact) or death (wow. chapter over. what a relief).
Then I discovered Albert Camus. Made me feel I am not guilty. Not the only one who wouldnt put “loved ones” in that blank space. Ryan Binghman in Jason Reitman’s Up In The Air made me realise that am not the only one bragging and selling detachment. Acting too smart, even with life. Wait till life plays the smart game on you. And it seems it has started playing it. Because now I know what I am most scared of. Not life neither death. Its when you are in between. You cant live, eat, drink, shit, scream and you cant even die. You just wait. There is no option. No button. No choice. You life is based on all the choices you made and then, there comes a full stop. Its one of those days.
We know her end is near. Some of us have started muttering it too. Its good for her, good for us, we all agree. Cover our selfish wish with an excuse for her relief. Or may be its the opposite. But she always said its not decent to talk about death. We stop midway. Everytime I get a call from that number, it scares me. Thoughts starts running in all directions. Have just been informed about her status. I give few quick fix solutions. Adult diapers. Wheelchair. This food. That liquid. Those kind of loos. Far away from her, its easy to suggest. Am just emotionally bothered. Those close to her, have lot to worry and more to do. Even the simple gesture of making her sit with a back support is daunting for everyone. The rest is not even easy to imagine.
The phone is passed on to her. In frail voice, she asked me how I am. My eyes well up. Said am fine. Asked her how is she doing. Could not hear her voice after that. Some signal problem. Just few months back, I was there. When I was about to leave, she held my hand and tears started rolling down her wrinkled face. I acted smart and detached. Arre, am coming soon. Why are you acting ?
On the way back, Deepa Mehta’s Water came to mind. Yes, the same film that sold desi exotica to West. But I liked it. It was only for that old lady who wanted to have a laddo which she wasnt allowed to eat, and one day she gets it, next day she is no more. I remember her telling me so many times that when the end is close, you want to eat all those things that you havent tasted in ages. Food that you arent allowed. That makes you feel guilty because of social norms. In the end, you dont care. You want to taste it one last time. She is scared that she may want to eat non-vegetarian food on deathbed. She lost her husband quite early. Since then, havent tasted meat. Its been quite long. I again acted smart. Said it doesnt happen like that. And if it happens, I will make sure that I feed you the same and make you happy.
And am more scared. In my three decades of existence, I havent seen too many people on deathbed. May be, just six weddings and no funeral. Have always stayed away. From every kind of social functions. They scare me. They bore me. Hate crowds. Hate remembering all those important dates. Can live with the tag of “anti-social”.Infact have started enjoying it. Many say, leave him, he will not come. I nod happily.
So, why the “anti-social” is going all “senti-menti” this time on “social” media. Because it has happened before. Something similar. It was someone else. One more person who was close to me. I came back, wrote a post and it did happen. The end. For a change, am willing to be superstitious.
PS1 – She is there in a script of mine. Few liked it, some appreciated it. And those in power said it promotes superstition. I said its called magic realism. I have seen it all. But its stuck with a corporate house. I dream many times of making it some day and dedicating it to her. The days are counted few now. Hopefully some day it will happen. She will see it from wherever she will be.
PS 2 – BTW, if you havent read the gorgeous feature on Roger Ebert yet. Click here and read it. Its must must must read.
(the links to the articles are attached for your reference).
Sir, it seems to me that there is an attempt by certain people to attack me in public by printing lies about me, thereby turning the attention away from a genuine debate about copyright issues.
I am grateful to you for inviting me to be part of a committee to discuss the various issues regarding amendments to the Copyright Act. However in light of these public attacks on me I don’t think I am comfortable to be part of this committee.
Sir, I take great pride in my honesty and integrity, and attach an enormous amount of value to my sense of justice and fair play. Monetary achievements have never excited me. If they had, I would have acted in many more than one film a year, thereby being financially much richer than I currently am. Had I been driven by monetary achievements I would not have produced films that challenge the mainstream and break new ground, films like Lagaan, Taare Zameen Par and Peepli Live, that most producers would hesitate to produce.
I believe that what I have earned is the love and respect of my colleagues and my audience. And this I have done through my work and through the manner in which I work. This is why such public attacks are most damaging to me emotionally and leave me crippled.
In the past 26 years of my involvement with the film industry I may have made mistakes, but never have I knowingly been dishonest or unfair in my dealings, whether as an assistant director, actor, producer or director.
I feel I have a lot to contribute to the ongoing debate but I cannot make any meaningful contribution in this atmosphere. Aggression of this type leaves me feeling very disillusioned and sad and I am unable to function.
Therefore I request you to accept my resignation from this committee and please appoint another person in my place.
I believe that amendments to the Copyright Act are long overdue and I am so happy that a person like you is spearheading this movement. I believe that the changes that you are bringing about in the sphere of education are so dynamic, progressive and positive, that I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that you will do the same in the field of copyright.
Yours sincerely,
Aamir Khan.
(PS – Writer-director Saket Chaudhary who was also present during the meeting have been tweeting that the reports have been mostly Mid-Day/Mirror made! It was interesting discussion where every party put out their views strongly. Its the issue that matters, not the faces who are involved.)
And if you are intersted to know more about this intiative by HRD, click here.
First it was Madhuri Dixit and now its Kartik Krishnan. Rarely do people manage to get a film title based on their name. No, we dont want to count Ramu here. Thats for another day.
The 70 min film has been directed by Srinivas Sunderrajan. The cast includes Kartik Krishnan, Vishwesh K, Swara Bhaskar and D Santosh. Its shot by Hashim Badani and is written by Srinivas Sunderrajan & Vijesh Rajan. While trying to pitch his feature, Srini has been told by few that tu toh bachcha dikhta hai (which he does. 26 ka hai bus!), abhi film kya direct karega. Well, now he can throw the dvd on their face.
So while we wrote blogs, spread goss, struggled with writing and did tweet-twat, the bachchas got together and shot this film in less than 70k. Its been shot on Sony HDV Z1 in 30 days over a period of one year. And there are more twists in its making than in the film. Read on.
Many of you must have already seen the trailer. If not, click on the play button.
Over to KK.
Flashback
The 1st draft of the script was ready and emailed to me on Feb 20th 2009 by the director and my friend Srinivas Sunderrajan with a instruction in CAPS saying ‘BANIYAN KHAREED” (helpful in attaching the lapel mike to the actor). We begin the actor rehearsals. The screenplay is in place but no dialogues. “Why?” I asked. “Because I want to improvise it”
Preparations
When the Locations would be available for say a Saturday, the actors would meet on a Wednesday for a reading and rehearse under Srinivas’ instructions. If some interesting lines came about in the reading, they would be kept. A framework would be developed with the actors being given a free hand to fill in the meat. No sticking to lines, but simply improvising, but being in the scene, being in character.
Shoot begins
All wide shots, long takes. Minimal cut-aways. Not necessarily adhering to traditional style shooting of covering a scene from all angles. Also this was done because we used to get the location for not more than 2 hours (read: Location). And there used to be at least 4 scenes (average) per location. The lapel mike works sometimes, and sometimes you have to keep the battery cover pressed down for it to work. So someone off-screen would do that (Mostly the director himself)!
Slowly it is falling into place.
Crew
Barring the actors, there used to be max. 3 people on the set – Srinivas (director), Hashim (Camera), and sometimes a friend to just help us out. But most of the time, it used to be just the two of them. Some locations, had one guy for lights.
We are our own costume designers, makeup men, location in-charge, food & catering. We lose our cool most of the times due to the high level of multi-tasking, but Srinivas’ level headedness kept us going. All actors/crew (except Srinivas) having day jobs and other assignments, postponing a day of shoot meant waiting at least for a week for the same location & all our dates to match.
Locations
There were 4 main locations in the film – KK’s flat, KK’s Office, Drinks Bar, Coffee shop. Coffee shop turned out to be an expensive affair so we had to settle in for a “sweet mart” which also had seating space for customers. With the help of Srinivas’ friend, we barged into one and finished two huge scenes in a span of 2 hours and before the owners could even realize what was happening – we vacated the premise.
For the drinks bar location, we had to visit the bar a couple of times, befriend the waiters, and then bribe them into letting us into the place to shoot early in the morning. So basically, 5am shifts wherein we used to enter the location via the backdoor, and then complete shoot before 9am because that’s when the main owner opens the front door shutter! We again had 3 long scenes at this venue and so we had to re-visit the location twice till Srinivas got everything he wanted.
KK’s flat was the cinematographer Hashim’s grandmother’s flat in Mohd.Ali road. Hashim had to basically trick the building people into saying that it was a student film and Srinivas’ ‘I’m still in college/school’ look came in handy! It was the most difficult location because the house was very near to the JJ Flyover and the sound pollution levels were maximum. To top it all, the house was on a slant so we had to basically balance ourselves while delivering our lines.
Intermission point
60% of the scenes are shot at this location in Mohd. Ali Road. The location is crucial because that’s the house of the protagonist, Kartik Krishnan.
Due to some major ‘postponements’ and ‘date issues’, we could not finish the 40% as pre-decided. Srinivas, by now, has spent half his year trying to get us all under one roof for a very crucial scene of the film – the ‘film shoot sequence’. Just when things try to brighten up, a call from Srinivas – “One section of the 3rd floor (our shooting floor) falls onto the 2nd floor. The building has been cordoned off by BMC and will be broken down in the next 6 days”.
We’re in a fix – Whether to risk our lives and finish the 40% in those 6 days or just figure out another location. Risking life seems stupid but the only “indie solution” here! Srinivas is in two minds about the whole film now since any other location would break the whole flow-chart.
Time lapse clouds
I don’t hear from Srinivas for quite sometime. I guess no one from the crew has any news about him or the film. What to do when you have completed close to 60% of the film and a location in continuity is unavailable and you have a completely absconding director? Drink booze? We do. Luckily our director is a tee-teetotaler (edit: And still is!)
Few months later
I’ve moved on to a new job. Also to a newer house. I get a call from Srinivas saying “I’ve cut a scene from the film – do you want to take a look?” Hell yeah!
Srinivas comes home and shows me the first interaction scene between Kartik Krishnan and Srinivas Sunderrajan. I like it. He seems positive of finishing the film – we talk about my dates etc. Things look bright.
A few days later, another phone call from him. “Dates clashing”, “Crew unavailable”, “Life moves on!”
Welcome 2010, bye 2009
Fresh look. Use the existing footage. Shoot something else. Build a new story around it. See if it works. It does. So it seems. But not all actors are available. REWRITE according to the available resources. Film becomes something else.
“I’ve got an idea to finish the film without involving everyone. I’ve already edited the film and written a rough script for the new version. You game?” – Srinivas
Shoot begins – again
Early morning 4am in local trains. 10 am versova beach. 11.30 local train to panvel. My house. Montage shots. Stock shots. B-rolls. Painful edit process.
Shoot complete
Post production which was simultaneously happening, now needs to be addressed single mindedly. Does it all fit? Does it hold attention? Does the new story work? Is the VFX looking tacky? Inhibitions and doubts.
Screening for the cast
I saw it twice the same night. Seemed to hold. Long Takes kind of work. Don’t know what the audience will say.
CUT TO – PRESENT Some talk about the festivals. Undecided. We are trying to spread the word. FB, twitter, mails. We’re hoping the film finds its own course.
This one had lot of promise, till we saw the trailer. The premise, setting, time, incidents and an untold story. But from the trailer it looks too tacky! City Of Gold is set in Mumbai’s mills era. Here is the official synopsis of the film…
F.i.g.h.t C.l.u.b 