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Anurag Kashyap Presents:
THE SKELETON WOMAN
Directed by Nayantara Kotian
Written and performed by: Kalki Koechlin and Prashant Prakash
2nd and 3rd june
6pm and 9pm at Prithvi theatre.
To book your show, click here

is here.. patronise it.. From 13 B, to Little Zizou to Gulaal to Firaaq to Barah Aana to Straight . All the indie, low budget movies are here, the kind we want to make or watch and noone is going to the theatres. Ignore the reviews, make your opinions, love it , hate it, discuss it later but first go and watch it.
We can’t always be sitting here cribbing about our cinema, bitching out the producers and whatever if we ourselves are not going to patronise these films. People don’t talk crap when they say this site is an anurag kashyap site.. because that is what it looks like, umpteen reviews of Dev.D and gulaal and not one of Little Zizou, which is a fantastic little film.. where are the discussions on Firaaq and Barah aana, both of which i saw in an empty theatre today.. if none of these …

Yes. I think so. I have always believed that the day the bigwigs start to reinvent themselves our cinema will change. After a great 2008 that goes mostly to UTV , there is a lot of new cinema we are going to watch this year from the big guys. I happened to see Imtiaz Ali’s next,”Love aaj kal” and Zoya Akhtar’s” Luck by Chance”. Both brilliant with big stars and the success of those will make more good cinema. Starting with SDM going on to Luck by Chance and then Delhi 6, three big budget films. A friend’s opinion of Delhi-6,” It is as internal and intimate a film as RDB was external”.Another few films that i either read the script of or seen a part of it or know about it from the biggies are “Wake up Sid” and “Jihaad” by Dharma Productions, “Falling” and “Dhobi Ghaat” by Aamir …

Abhay deol is the face of “independent” cinema , not just according to Man’s world but lots of others. Rightfully so. He is so independent that he can be very difficult to work with if you don’t know what you are doing. Why? because the man asks questions. Pointed questions. My first instinct whenever i am asked questions or made suggestions to, is to dismiss them, then i can’t help but think over them , about them and sometimes try to answer them or incorporate them, but the work flow never stops. Abhay can stop your flow. His questions can bring a pause to the proceedings. As involved that he is , he sometimes ends up living the character he is playing and when he does that, it can be a nightmare sometimes. Not for me as much as it can be for the assistants. Abhay did just that on …

A lot of questions came forth about how we shot Dev.d. Well, I didn’t know how to go about it either, like i always do, with every film. It’s the film that always decides the shooting style. Style is always a happenstance. It’s never predecided. Locations, where i am shooting always plays a major role, what i am shooting, the subject, it’s soul decides how i have to go about it. The film was set in various places, various moods, cities and areas. The film begins in Punjab, and i wanted to capture punjab. The question i asked myself is what punjab is all about. It is the richest state in India, reason- farming, and land which is so rich. Most of the people in punjab are farmers and family memebers who are in either UK or other parts of the world. I wanted to capture punjab like it is, …

I was always told i can not make a love story and it always bothered me. But there wasn’t a love story i related to. Not the ones they referred to. I enjoyed QSQT, DDLJ, Maine Pyaar Kiya and then i grew up. Later I enjoyed Dil Chahta Hai, Metro and Jab We Met. One was about growing up and friendships, second was about relationships the latter was fun. But could i make something like that without killing it, the very thing that made it. Impossible. But yes i did want to make a love story. The love story that i have enjoyed the most, Head On by fatih akin(in recent times) and “love me if you dare”, these were the one’s i wished i made them. Chungking express and Happy Together and In the mood for Love. Breathless. Jules et Jim. Will I ever get to make something like …

It was during the FIFA world cup 2006. I was at the Mariott watching a match, Abhay was with me. The match wasn’t happening. He told me he had an idea, a story. I said ,”ok tell me”. He narrated me a story of a stripper in a L A strip club and a guy who is attracted to her. The guy had a back story, an unrealised love story. After he narrated the whole story, he asked me guess what is it. I couldn’t. He then told me it is Devdas. I looked at him. I never thought before that moment, that Devdas could be retold like that. That was where Dev.D was born.
Now me and abhay go way back. Much before he wanted to be an actor. Vikramaditya Motwane my co-writer on dev.d has been abhay’s best friend since they were in school, probably 8 or 9 years …

Bhagwan deta hai par Dubey nahi leta hai. When I saw the poster of this film that I didn’t know existed , that’s the line that caught me. I wanted to see it , and that’s the first film I chose to see amongst the four releases today. The film took me completely by surprise. I expected it to be all things funny and it was that and more. It is not a situational comedy, it is not just comedy , it is much more than that. It is complicated, it is many layered, it is a brilliant screenplay and I feel proud that someone put up the money for a film like this , in this country.
It is so unpredictable that when you are expecting it to make you laugh it takes you by your balls and twists it around. Then you think will it go into …

Years ago when i was writing Paanch, there was a moment when i thought that what if these guys are not a rock band but a brass band. I rejected the idea. The idea of a brass band is not original. I saw a film, much revered , rarely seen back in 1995. Om Darbadar by Kamal swarup.

Meri Jaan A..aaaaaaa Meri Jaan B..bbbbbbb

There is a sequence there, which i don’t remember exactly but a band is playing on the streets and the protagnist is walking through it. Song was in semi english and hindi. The singer was wearing glasses in the night. That visual, that moment stayed with me. I wanted to recreate it. Always. Watching the films of Emir Kusturica strengthened my resolve.

Opening scene from \"Underground\", by Emir Kusturica

The brass band sound is a very indian sound rarely used in the main stream.
I …

Finally I could put a face to the name that has always piqued my curiosity. And what a first film he has made, i will always envy him that. This post is from whatever notes i could take in his masterclass , and his answers to the questions that were thrown at him.

As he came in, a simply dressed , shirt over a T-shirt guy. first question thrown at him-
Q.- Is it really you?
A.- No.
Q.- So you started with TV?
A.- It was useful for me to have a job. Before that I had a job answering phonecalls in minneapolis at 6 dollars per hour. At thirty I decided to take the plunge to do what i wanted to do. As a writer I was put into a writers room where my voice was probably was the weakest and hardly anyone could hear me. I was so shy and a …

Its been a great year so far. Aamir turned out to be a success. Spotboy got it right. Having completed Dev.D and Gulaal, two seemingly impossible films to raise funds for, keeping in mind i delivered last years box office turkey in “No Smoking”. Finally got a clue , what and how, “Bombay Velvet” will look and flow like. Figured out how to approach Gurudutt’s life for screen, sorting through the endless research and interviews. Doga finding the right kind of backing, and my pet small films also getting ready to go. PFC going from strength to more strength. NDTV lumiere is releasing foreign language films in india, World movies is up and running, palador and ndtv lumiere again releasing great titles on dvd. Most of the independent films worked this year. There is light shining at the end of the tunnel, personal and professional. In my life and in …

Compelled by Jaideep’s post i went to see Hulla. Before going for the movie i read every review i could find and even the various comments on his post. I told myself the film can not be this bad. He is the guy who wrote “Local” and he can’t write something so unintelligent or non-entertaining. I remember him from when he interviewed me for his docu on “Indian Ocean” and few other times. This was one passionate man who would go to any length for what he believed in. I saw the film and it saddens me that people did not see in the film what i saw. It was so there, after a long time i saw a film where you saw the author, someone who observes, someone who had things to say. Oh yes it wasn’t a perfect film, it had its own weaknesses in terms of few …

Possibly India’s “Crash”.. or i don’t know how else to describe it..Saw the rough cut , on Nishikant’s avid.. he wanted to bounce it off me and i was cleanbowled.. again the familiar feeling went through me.. why did i not think of it and why did i not make it..

The film begins in a police station with cops discussing sunil more(the marine drive rape case), one(Vijay maurya) of who is going on a holiday and the other(Paresh Rawal) counting his last few days in the service..then it introduces us to the computer salesman(kaykay) with his unemployed friends in a irani cafe talking about cricket and you also see that he has a phobia of muslims or probably distrust and hatred, then you see the bicycle coffeeseller (Irrfan) who is fond of perfumes and then the film introduces us to the bite hungry TV journo(soha ali khan) and her boyfriend …

It was 2001 and censor had refused certification for Paanch. I was angry and pissed off and I wanted to say a lot. On november 9th 2000 there was a new state of Uttaranchal and six days later on november 15th Jharkhand was formed. The 27th and 28th state. I was upset about everything, as to why these new states were being formed to why can’t i release my film to why do people fall in love to what is the point of anything. At that time my actor of Paanch, Pankaj Saraswat(now the creator of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge) introduced me to a part time model. His name was Raja Chaudhary. I never took him seriously. He had written a story on college politics, which was a nice story but nothing more and I told him so. I told him this story needs a milieu, where it is …

Leaving in two hours for Jaipur to finally complete Gulaal. The film I have been trying to do for last six years. All these years before ZEE motion pictures came in , no body wanted to do Gulaal because of lack of star cast. Finally I meet producers who insist on seeing the product than asking for who is starring in it.

Am I happy, or am I ecstatic. I don’t know. This is the film that has meant the most to me. It’s personal, it’s universal, it’s political and it is real. Finally it is happening. I have been away from PFC because of various reasons. I had nothing to write about, i wanted to stay away, I just wanted to work.

No Smoking was the film closest to me that i made. I never got over the way it was rejected. I still feel bitter about it. The success of …

As written early on in a piece by oz, it is not a copy of Cavite.. the fact is the film was written even before cavite probably had a release, much before No Smoking and i promised to RK that we will get the film made provided you help me out in NS. Right from the beginning it has been discussed how it is a copy, on PFC, and i didn’t bother to react because i knew and even on PFC i had said that RK never saw the film even after he was accused the first time and chose to stay away from it, after all the clarifications, UTV and me decided to go seek permission from the original producers, just in case, and we even went and got that. The film that’s made by RK is something that all first time filmmakers should be proud of and should …

Simply because it has to pave the way for bigger better animation movies that can compete on the international level. Return Of Hanuman can’t, because it falls way below the mark. It has got great reviews but largely because the way it unfolds, it entertains , but when you talk quality, it’s lacking. Whose fault is it other than mine? What does it take to make a great animation movie? Time.. the money, because that buys us time, if not time then it buys us more manpower.. Who do we blame for the quality of animation.. You can not blame the animators..Certainly not TOONZ who did the animation, they have done far better work and if you see closely there are bits in ROH that are brilliant.. those are the bits that were done earlier, they took there own time before things were hurried up..We can not compare our level …

Is Aamir Khan all hype? Is he a media created myth? Why is he so approachable and humble when you meet him, when you expect him to be arrogant? You could talk to him with just your eyes? that’s exactly what i did after watching TZP, i couldn’t talk so i just said later. I never thought Aamir the filmmaker would be as brilliant as Aamir the choicemaker, but the my accompanying friend who is also my fan said after the movie, from now and for now Aamir is my favourite filmmaker.

Is the film brilliant? Yes. By leaps and bounds. Is it my kind of film? No. Is it aamir’s film? may be. but more so it’s a labour of love and compassion for children which i know Aamir has but so does Amol Gupte? Amol Gupte was my first teacher, I was doing theatre in 1993 and had …

I am really scared that they are going to kill a film that i think is an extremely accomplished work of art.OK the film is inconsistent in parts, maybe it was cut down too much hence bringing in the inconsistency but still it’s importance can not be denied. As usual i went in expecting the world like everyone else, too much noise on a premiere and too many familiar people whose opinion you want to know on a film that everyone is going to have an opinion on, it all often clouds your judgement. Even overheard someone making some bitchy remarks about it. What can i say, a lot of people discovered sudhir after they saw Hazaaron.. well Sudhir that I know and have seen from yeh woh manzil .. to main zinda hoon.. to Dharavi ..to iss raat is much more than that.. he really has done things before …

You know when they bring up their children in the mountains, especially in tibet, and their child sees the burning firewood and walks to it, they let him, when he wants to touch it, they let him, when he touches it and screams and cries, they let him , they ignore him, and that’s how the child learns to deal with fire..this is also what the monks do..
My dad always said something that i never forgot..he said “poot sapoot to ka dhan sanchay poot kapoot to ka dhan sanchay”.. it means why do you save money for your children, If your son is a good son he will earn his own, if he turns out to be a brat he will throw it away.. and he never did save and all three of us are independent and had never taken from him, since we left college..
I know a lot …

Sitting in rome reading the extreme reactions and reviews.. I don’t mind taran’s review for he in his seven lives would not have understood why someone would like to make a film like this.. Khalid reviewed me and not the film and from his review all i can say is neither has he read “Quitter’s inc” nor has he seen “cat’s eye”.. he just read the comments on PFC.. and i will say to him is , “Chutiye tu retire ho ja , tera time khatam.”
Rajeev masand’s POV is quite fair.. he expected a lot..probably another black friday but he is an honest man.. his review was more anger than criticism.. only thing that upset me was him calling it the worst movie of the year..it probably is from his POV but then he should have broken an Ostrich’s egg on camera and i would have bought it.. reviews that …

Finally the film releases.. the one that some critic said “the wierdest film of the week surprisingly to come out of india”.. well am dying to know what the indian audience thinks of it.. what PFC thinks of it.. am anxious, writing out of my hotel room toilet in Rome.. four drinks down.. it’s been a strange experience.. John was here and he is gone now.. Probably sleeping, probably anxious and awake.. i can’t sleep..
Today was the second screening.. the hall was 50% full.. they did not leave.. they clapped but it still was not full..have put in all in this one film..really want everyone to like it..will they .. won’t they.. i don’t know.. today i went to the zoo with aarti and my daughter.. was thinking all the time about the two o clock screening.. was pushing aaliyah to finish her lunch fast.. didn’t want to miss the …

Howard Roark can not be real.. rest can only be “wanna be him”.. the success of ayn Rand lies in the fact that she created a hero that everyone wants to be but is not.. she herself could not escape life and become one of her characters.. Wanting to change the world is good, trying to change it is sometimes enough, actually changing it is a miracle..

There are a lot of things we say in our interviews, there is a lot more we feel but are unable to say.. Anais Nin says “the role of a writer is not to say what we all can say but what we are unable to say”..what prompted this post is the constant accusations and labels that i am confronted with.. when i answer them in all it’s honesty , they are edited and rewritten often out of context to make it sensational.. …

We have the official confirmation letter in hand..No Smoking will have it’s world premiere in Rome.. I am anxious.. it’s great to be selected, but.. how will it be recieved.. i didn’t sleep last night and i can’t sleep tonight.. i have been anxious, hypersensitive.. reacting to littlest of provocations.. we haven’t started mixing yet.. everything is coming along great but so much pressure of trying to meet the deadline of no smoking, getting started on the post of Hanuman Returns, doing pre prod on Dev.D and rajkumar’s “Aamir”.. after having got five drafts in hand trying to get a proper sixth one of my next years project on which i m way past my deadline.. my head is so muddled up.. i am confusing things, not spending enough time with my daughter, how will i manage.. all these years was sitting, waiting for things to happen, forcing them to …

I woke up this morning and got a mail from someone i don’t even know that send me these two links on youtube and i got so emotional.. i screamed for vasan and anubhuti and showed it to them..

see how young i look..
see my eyes are so clear..
i sound like all those directors who say it’s a different film..

i was blabbering all of that..but made me feel so good.. even then i wore those adidas t-shirts.. just wanted to share it with all..

the one that shows the shooting of the song..i really look good man.. just being vain..

how i wish the film releases..OZ’s review not withstanding..still the best performance by KK.. here it is

[youtube]YrZKsyM6Ns8[/youtube]

Hindustan Times i thought was a prestigious newspaper.. every newspaper resorts to yellow journalism and it’s fine.. they all write gossip to sell their paper.. they will write about A having an affair with B , and add everybody’s denial to it and it’s still fine.. we all know it’s gossip.. but hindustan times gives a lot of freedom to it’s journalists to settle personal scores and it’s sad.. shame to the Bhartiya lady who owns it..
yesterday in their gossip “under honey’s hat” page, they wrote ..

DHOOMRAPAAN MACHALE..under which they wrote that the trailors of No Smoking were pulled off because they went whoosh over the audience’s head, and i laughed , thinking the purpose of the trailor probably went over madhu moti or whoever the fuck honey is.. but then how do you explain to them that tne purpose of the trailor is to create curiosity and not meant …

I really apologise that i keep adding to my ever growing list of films i am looking forward to but then it’s a great sign that suddenly there are so many films to look forward to..some of the first and final cuts that i saw in last one month and i loved them absolutely..

JAB WE MET;- I loved it absolutely.. the version i saw was on the avid, along with preetam and shivam nair..what a film..If you loved socha na tha, you will orgasm over this one.. I don’t like the title but i lovvvvved the film.. it took me completely by surprise.. IMTIAZ ALI’s sophomore effort proves his debut was no flash in the pan.. his repartee is the best i have seen in a long time on indian screen..kareena kapoor in a stunning performance.. probably the best by an actress this year.. a talkative, self loving, eternally romantic …

Had a great week.. saw some incredible movies and they underline the changing face of indian cinema.. here are the must watch hindi movies of next few months and believe me we have a great year ahead..

JOHNNY GADDAR- sriram raghavan is back and how, a MBA turned gangster, who tries to pull off few tricks too many and it’s all mayhem then onwards.. some rock solid turns by vinay pathak, zakir hussain and a brilliant debut from NEIL NITIN MUKESH, its a thriller with a dark heart and wow..

MITTHYA- rajat kapoor is back with his take on the underworld and it just might be the biggest surprise of the year, got a thundering applause at it’s very first screening at the OSIAN’s film festival, a laugh riot with some tremendous performance from Ranveer Shorey.. wasn’t expecting it to be such a trip that it was, a lousy actor replacing a …

Just got this newsletter from my favourite bookshop in the world, it’s closing down..and its even sadder that i won’t be there at it’s closing party.. the one place which became the necessary visit everytime i visited NewYork..one of the last few that remain in the world which really is only about the books i love.. somebody who can be there, pl be there and raise a toast to one of the last surviving treasurehouse of mystery, pulp and whatnot on my behalf..it’s the BLACK ORCHID bookshop on 303 EAST 81 ST, NYC 10028 TELE: 212 734-5980; FAX: 212 288-5918
WEBSITE: www.ageneralstore.com
HOURS: MON: CLOSED; TUES-FRI: 12noon—7PM
SAT:11AM—6PM; SUN: CLOSED

What follows is the newsletter..

Announcement
With mixed emotions we will be closing The Black Orchid Bookshop this September for both personal and business reasons. …

Now that it has been announced.. so let me say it here.. i am making Dev. D. in november with abhay deol.. we have been trying to make this since last year, never could find any takers, because the industry makes proposals and not films.. initially i would be very tentative about my intention to make this, because i didn’t want to jeopardise my so called market that’s supposedly open up.. everyone i would meet had the same thing to say.. Abhay is a very natural actor but.. BUT he doesn’t sell.. i would say we are selling Devdas not Abhay.. devdas is almost like the indian spiderman when it comes to selling.. you can’t sell devdas to indians.. come on.. but they would negotiate.. then i wouldn’t even tell them that a complete punjabi actress who has done films like “miti wajan mardi” and “Hawayein” is to play Paro.. …

I have been so edgy all week, things are happening for me, producers want to make my films, the big films with stars but no one wants to make my smaller films which I am so dying to make.. I tried writing a post then deleted it.. I have been hating everything happening around me, and then my friend sends me this link for a film called “Four Eyed Monsters”.. and it makes me feel like a whining idiot..
Susan and Arin , two first time filmmakers decide to make a film on how they came together, they decide to tell their own story, playing themselves, watching themselves with seemingly naked eye.. talking or you can say telling us about their loneliness and their quest to end it.. and making it an incredible filmwatching experience for me.. made by maxing out hundreds of credit cards, almost at the cost of …

P.S.- the following post contins spoilers..

it was a late call by shahnab on sudhir mishra’s behalf that screwed my next night.. was at fun at nine sharp with my sfx supervisor David.. the movie unfolded..
grainy colored images of a dorm room and a girl next to the window, trying to clean up her table, talking to someone offscreen, taking off the plastic table cover, because she is going to need it.. for what, we don’t know yet.. we see another girl that she has been talking to.. they are tense, scared.. its an unfamiliar world.. one girl walks out of the room into the corridor to get something.. in first five minutes the poverty of the times in Romania comes through.. you are wondering what’s happening.. the girl is buying stuff from a guy in a room , lux soaps and what not , and he also throws in a …

exactly..
who am I? I in capital..I walked into Ruby Tuesday at the infinity mall and there was this man.. i never found out who?.. and he said “Finally” and i looked at him like Travis bickle looked into the mirror and asked “you talking to me”.. only difference being i wasn’t carrying any guns..
mr. anurag kashyap, the man who thinks he knows it all, well do you?
do i know you?
you are a big man sir, you know nobody, you teach yashraj how to make films, you tell khalid mohammad how to review films, everyone knows you, but may i ask sir, who exactly you think you are beyond being a frustrated ranter?
what is a ranter?
you, the one who rants..
as in rave and rant?
as in just rant..
ok..[waiting for what's gonna come next]
i read your blogs..
thank you..
have you ever given it a thought that you might need help?
yes, i need it all …

Let me say it straight out..this is not a review , like my thoughts on metro were not a review..just my opinion..
Just saw ek Chaalis ki last local, got back and was curious to see how the critics have reacted to it..Guess its time for me to apologise to khalid mohammad for he saw, what I knew he would, but will not accept it or say it.. I came back prepared that he would have trashed it.. I need to be less opinionated about him..
Hardboiled bollywood..is what I would call it.. I am more curious to see how the country reacts to this film.. but hats off to courageous Sanjay khanduri for pushing the envelope, for he really pushes it far..a film set in two and a half hours, real time, the craziest characters you don’t want to cross path with, all new faces, incredible actors, doing a song with …

1.Brilliant, A true metropolis film, not a fake yashraj take on it, a little too neat but yet real..
2.What gives me a kick is that a film with Shilpa, Sharman, KK, irrfan , konkona, about love life etc, kicks Tara rum pum in its ass.. love is more real, conversations more real .. this is how love stories would be made in the future..if not then God save “YRF”..
3.Bombay of Metro looks better than New York of KANK..Former is money well spent, latter is money down the shitter..
4.Ronnie Screwwala is the only wise man standing..
5.UTV is who I would lay my bets on..
6.The way the songs were structured , was original, yet kind of reminded me of Head On..
7. that one tilted frame when KK takes his daughter to the doc and the lift door shuts, and shilpa leans against the wall, sticks out like a sore thumb …

Finally .. A nightmare of a process is over.. after three months in the editing room, we have it locked.. we missed the Cannes deadline .. we haven’t yet announced the poster contest winner.. we missed a lot else.. so much for telling everyone that it will be a hundred minute film.. I ended making a 160 minute film.. its so painful to cut out your favourite shots.. its so difficult to find objectivity.. I had to frequently get away from the film to find it..had to take week long, sometimes a fortnight sabbatical from it to fall out of love with my shots.. Finally had to ask Vishal to come in and be ruthless with my film.. who do I have to thank for it.. Mira Nair.. still remember what she said to me when I complemented her on her economy of shots , she said ,”oh we …

Hollywood killed DAVID GOODIS.. the French resurrected him posthumously.. the film that made him famous came out the year he died.. SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER.. and to tell the world that it was the same book that Truffaut made a film on DOWN THERE was rechristened shoot the piano player.. how sad is that.. that often has been the case with hard boiled, noirists.. barring HAMETT, CHANDLER and CAIN, none of the noirists got the recognition they deserved in there lifetime.. atleast not by Hollywood.. even the best of CORNELL WOOLRICH was made the year he died, MISSISSIPPI MERMAID and THE BRIDE WORE BLACK, again by TRUFFAUT.. its always been the French who discovered them or gave their work the respect it deserved.. the first RIPLEY by Patricia Highsmith was again a french adaptation, PURPLE NOON much before WIMWENDERS made MY AMERICAN FRIEND, much before MINGHELLA adapted it in Hollywood …

Nowhere to hide..I can’t even say it was another Anurag kashyap..the only other anurag kashyap is a 13 year old spelling bee champion..too much of a mozart to be a part of this himesh ensemble..the joke is on me..i didn’t even get paid enough for this creative nadir..the cheques stopped coming way back..so can’t even say i was paid a lot because no lot is a lot for it..what was i thinking..was i thinking..anywhere i go they have this strangest smile on there face and i wonder are they thinking shakespeare or they are just happy..most of them just look at me and say, hmmmm shaka laka.. worst is every time the promos come on air my daughter calls out to my maid and says,”shamsu..papa ki picture” and i try and tell her don’t say it out loud.. i hope she doesn’t tell her friends in school..or her teacher, or …

Have been busy shifting houses, doing post production, hanuman and what not..have been avoiding the world in general..it took one brilliant movie to bring me out of my hibernation..then it was followed by another downright hilarious comedy of manners..and a third one that i have been hearing so much about but have not yet managed to see it..all of them by debutant filmmakers..all of them making you wish you were part of it..the first two i had the chance..the former i couldn’t because of lack of time and i bloody regret it..the second one i just underestimated it..so much for thinking “i know exactly what i am doing”..

MANORAMA-SIX FEET UNDER, india’s first truly original noir set in a small town rajasthan..it reminds me of TAVERNIER’S “COUP DE TORCHON”..it reminds me of jim thomson and the way he looked at america..is how NAVDEEP “NOPI” SINGH looks at his lakhot..from the way …

The Author loses his authority over what he has created the moment his work is put into the commercial arena, or in the public domain..thats the first lesson i learnt about filmmaking..Black Friday is finally released and i am not able to react..i have been locked in, tired of answering the same questions..seeing all the euphoria around..they are doing to black friday what they were doing to BLACK..Black Friday is not a great film, its an important film..its a necessary film..barring Deepa Gahlot no body says that the film should not be let go without a debate and i agree with her..only one word in khalid’s review i identified with..”searching”..thats how i wanted to do it..thats what my state of mind was ..i was searching..rest is all relative..I wrote “Black is a great film for those who have not seen better” and i maintain the same for Black Friday..or any …

Was at Mariott this evening and guess who i walk into..danis tanovic looking for a black stone in the jewellery shop..he is casting for his next film..we talked for a while and came out inspired..the guy has some strong opinions..

he liked water and i told him i wrote dialogues so he congratulated me..i told him i hated the movie..he said you should be proud of it..loveleen tandon who is helping him cast agreed with me.. and he said atleast the film says something..i don’t care what you indians think of it but it shows a problem..well he is really agressive..i told him my introduction to Bosnia was “welcome to sarajevo”,was it a correct representation of his country..

not exactly, what you guys think of water i think of welcome to sarajevo..

we were even..he then told me how he has been a documentary filmmaker, and how he would rather make an unreleased …

The casting process took two months..Dr. Gautam Kishanchandani was the casting director, he hates to be called a doctor..we had two doctors working on the film..The first actor to screen test was also a doctor,that was dr.satish sharma who was rejected in the audition process but was with us during the Tashkent shoot of No Smoking..

Anyways, while writing the script few actors i always had in mind..the ones who didn’t have to audition..I wanted KK to play Rakesh Maria..Naseeruddin Shah to play Tiger memon and Irrfan to play Badshah Khan..Aditya Srivastava was to play Dangle..Nowazzuddin to play Asgar Mukadam and Pankaj jha to play theba and Dubyendu bhattacharya to play yeda yaqub..Siddhu was the only choice for samra..

We got some..others we didn’t..Naseer dropped out because he did not want to play a muslim terrorist ..it was a very sensitive time then..Gujrat was burning..and you know how in times like that …

We still didn’t have the script..

Things had not worked out with Ramu..Jhamu Sugandh by now had come on board..Mid-day also realised that they would have to put in most of the money..Tariq was game..but it being a listed company, the forming of a film company had to be passed by the board..Mid-day Multimedia ltd was already in existence making news stuff for TV..Board passed the proposal..we were on but we didn’t have a script..

Script

All this AM thought that i was working on the script..he would ask me “kitna hua” and i would say “ho raha hai”..i had figured out by then what would go into the script and what is to be left out..but i could not find a structure hence no script..then one day we were sitting at China Gate in bandra..AM,CM and me..and AM said:-

“Is it possible to structure the film in a way where it ends at …

It all began with S.hussain Zaidi..He wrote the book..he was the chief crime correspondent of mid-day..before mid-day, zaidi was working with Indian Express, covering the blasts..all i remembeed about blasts before reading the book, was the front page of TOI in delhi and images in it..images came and they went away from my memory..i was too busy trying to figure out what to do once i reach bombay..93 was the year i came to the city..june 3rd..it was raining..rains that did not stop for two days..
Anyways..so hussain was approached by Penguin to document his findings in the book..as and when hussain finished his first draft he asked Arindam Mitra to read his manuscript…now i met arindam a year before that..he was trying to create some noirish , detective TV shows for mid-day..One day when i was as usual sitting depressed(i have come to a conclusion that i thrive in that …

If you can’t beat them, do not join them..arrange to have them beaten..and how do you arrange that..by prayers? get God on your side? does he care? is he there?..rest of the industry wants you to help them grow, they don’t want you to grow..have i started believing in conspiracy theories..am i getting delusional again or am i reading too much into things..What is the art of survival? in the March of the Penguins, it says when the mother doesn’t get back on time with the food, the father abandons the baby to the cold winter and rushes to the ocean for its own survival..so should we abandon our children, our babies, our ideas, our dreams in order to survive..what is more important..me or my dreams..i am confused..
a question they always ask me about BLACK FRIDAY..what is your stand on the whole issue..i say we need to be more …

The media blitzkrieg has started..i am giving interviews everywhere..its all so strange..people ask the same questions..nothing new they have to ask me..its all so scary..i am told all the publicity we can get from the film is fine..i have started looking like a publicity hound..

Black Friday is finally releasing on 9th february..i am scared i just might breakdown..what will i say..what will happen..till now all that i have done was all speculation..now i am going to be exposed..just saw THE NAMESAKE..what a film..brilliantly written..brilliantly edited..i love Sooni Taraporewala..I adore Mira..they are going to watch my film..what will they think..how will they react..
The amount of heartaches everyone has gone through..the last time it was on the day of the premiere that they stopped us..when i was all ready to go to Eros..i remember getting that call from arindam, my producer, the true hero of Black Friday..the man who fought all …

We just got back from Bhuj yesterday, we were in a no network area so the moment we hit the airport everyone was on their phone..John’s phone won’t stop ringing..his friends calling up to congratulate him on Kabul Express..then suddenly i saw another emotion pass on his face and i asked him what happened..he said nothing..i prodded him..he looked at me and said,”why Khalid mohammed has to write such mean things about me?Just because i refused to do his film? Well i did what my director asked me to do?”

“Don’t let him worry you john..the man doesn’t know his ass from his mouth..and he has already proven it thrice..”

Well i have been dying to see Kabul express..mostly positive reviews barring few..but then bad reviews were from the same few who loved KANK..so it can be ignored..i really want this film to work..to work more …

I am so frustrated and desperate..i haven’t been shooting for last i don’t know how many days..i went to Bhuj to finalise my location for my four shot scene..its a problem to take the vehicle i need to shoot because of octroi and other troubles..and the bloody jeep averages just two KMs a litres and will take five days to reach Bhuj by road..so for it to reach the location it will have to be carried on a truck..and it will cost us one and a half lacs..what a country..

i have to shoot with John in Dharavi on 18th and 19th..only god knows how i am going to pull it off..i have been told to be precise with what am i going to do there..kartik will be frigging happy to know that i did my shot divisions days in advance..by the way this is not to be about No smoking..its …

Last minute improvs,nothing greater than that.. things are turning out better than expected..My AD’s are forever confused as they don’t know what we might do next..once or twice i was even forced by the shortage of time and other issues to do a shot breakdown..but it eventually remained on paper..

Initially when we started the film i was reluctant or you can say,i was unsure about John’s spontaneity..but soon he proved me wrong..given the space, no intelligent man will back off.. ok John Abraham is no De niro but he is one hell of an intelligent and sensitive man..you push his buttons and out flows an outstanding performer..we started improvising in the bathroom in worli house scene..i said lets do a kind of talking to the mirror, “are you talking to me scene”..but K is not angst ridden cab driver, so what would K do when he is confronted with himself.. …

Saurabh and me wrote a draft..he was simultaneously writing a play called KAAL..after we finished we came back to bombay..another thing i forgot to tell you..when saurabh met Ramu for the first time and Ramu narrated him what he had in mind..Saurabh spontanously came up with that scene where bhiku comes back home drunk and shefali slaps him and he slaps her back..Ramu was so goddamned impressed with him..

When we were thinking how do we name our characters..Ramu called his boy to make coffee for us..he said “Bhiku teen coffee”..and i said nice name..Satya was named after a woman called Satya..Someone Ramu knew back in college days..He just wanted her to know that he still rememberred her..Ramu was an engineering student..in some naxalite area in Andhra..then, when ever he got into trouble, he would strike a brucelee pose and make a eeyah sound to defend or protect himself..atleast thats what …