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CHHAL - Uncertain Days
Friday, August 03, 2007
4.25 am IST
Directors are an insecure lot. In fact I feel that most of us in the film business suffer from a great sense of insecurity. To some it is the insecurity of sustaining a livelihood. To some it is the insecurity of sustaining fame. To some it is the insecurity of sustaining expectations. To many it is the insecurity of surpassing expectations. To many like me it is the insecurity of being able to make their next film.
I have spent the last five years in near oblivion. A debacle called ‘Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai’ which seemed like a minor aberration became a major stumbling block. I hated the film. It was a creative low. It was tasteless. It showcased film-making at its worst. I made the film. And I have yet to forgive myself for this debacle.
My new film is nearly ready. We are deciding on an ideal release schedule. Once again, I feel insecure.
Times like these make you look back at your life, your films. You begin to question your own credentials. You begin to question the past. Did you ever make a good film ? Have you ever managed to suitably engage an audience in your tales? My sincere apologies if this piece sounds depressive. It is not intended to be so.
Friday, August 03, 2007
4.25 am IST
Clouded by these thoughts. Bereft of imagination. Full of alcohol. Staring listlessly into my laptop.
My email id is suddenly alive. A man named Rahul writes a passionate comment on ‘Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!’. Not one but three comments! Somebody bothered to read a post that is more than eight months old. Someone, somewhere made a mental connection with me. Reminded me of the past. For some odd reason I re-lived ‘Chhal’.
‘Chhal’ was a reaction to ‘Dil Pe…’. The critics bashed ‘Dil Pe…’. Many friends were unwilling to acknowledge the man who made a film like ‘Dil Pe..’. I was completely flummoxed at the response that my labor of love had received. I slipped into severe depression. There seemed to be no way out. The next film looked impossible. The production company I had floated with two other friends was debt-ridden and in no shape to make another film. No producer was willing to make another film with me. The thought of returning to television was depressing to say the least.
The year 2000 also saw a major slump in the fortunes of the film business. Films were failing with amazing regularity. Many traditional distributors were closing shop. Revenue models of films recovering investments from the sale of music, overseas and satellite rights were fast becoming a thing of the past. When I look back I think that this phase was the beginning of a new chapter in films. In the years following this phase there was going to be a major turnaround. A turnaround in the way films would be made. In the way films would be marketed, promoted and sold. Most importantly, there was going to be a turnaround in the way films would be exhibited. Single-screens with huge capacities were slowly going to be replaced by smaller screens and would hold smaller capacities. However, in early 2001, this was still a thing of the future.
I met Suparn Verma at an internet chat that he had hosted with Manoj Bajpai from my home. He was a rediff.com staffer then. After the chat was completed I had tea with Suparn. We had a passionate conversation on film criticism, journalism and our favorite films. I was in the middle of the ‘Dil Pe…’ schedule then. After he left I sent him an email asking him whether he was interested in writing films.
He called back expressing surprise. ‘How did you know that I wanted to write films? We never spoke about it when we met! Of course I want to write!’. Hyperactive, positive and focused. That is Suparn. Almost seven years after our first interaction and with very little hair left on his head Suparn still remains that way. The hair has dwindled, the spectacles have grown thicker, he has written some terrible films, directed one of his own terrible scripts but Suparn remains as enthusiastic and crazy as ever. I have great expectations from him. Someday he will live up to his full potential. He will make a great film.
Suparn wrote a script which we christened shaadi.com. It was a tongue-in-cheek, funny, realistic portrayal of life in an urban marriage. I wanted either Saif Ali Khan or Akshaye Khanna to act in the film. They were at the lowest depths of their career then. They were not ‘saleable’. I found a producer for this film but he was never excited by my choice of cast. The script was kept in abeyance for some other time which for me meant that it probably would never get made. Shaadi.com is a journey that might take up another voluminous post. Maybe some other time.
I was contracted by a producer to direct a love story which would mark the debut of Abhay Deol and Tulip Joshi. I think the film was titled ‘Kuch Dil Ne Kahaa…’. Phew! Thank God it never got made.
Suparn in the meanwhile kept inundating me with synopses of ideas that he had. I refused to even read them as I was unsure of their future. Chhal was one of these ideas. One night after consuming a huge amount of alcohol I happened to glance through some of Suparn’s story ideas. I gave it to my assistants Kanika and Shashi. I think I told them that it had the potential to be made into an interesting film.
I passed out to surface late in the morning. I woke up to find that Kanika and Shashi were still there. They told me that the idea was interesting and that I should read it. I saw the potential of creating a film that would showcase my proficiency as a technician. I saw the potential of making a slick Hong Kong style thriller. I decided that this would be my next film.
I called Nitin Patil, the reluctant producer of shaadi.com. Told him that I had a script that I wanted to make in a budget of approximately Rs. 1 crore (USD 250,000). Was he interested? He said that he would drive down from Nasik where he lived over the weekend. I was persistent. I told him that if he wanted to make it he should come now! Nitin Patil rushed to Bombay. I told him that I would make this film on a tight budget but it would be with actors and technicians of my choice. And I told him that I wanted to begin shooting within a month. 26 locations, 35 days, new actors, new technicians, super energy. Nitin Patil agreed immediately. Without his belief, single-mindedness and passion Chhal would have been impossible.
Kay kay was an actor that I found virile and extremely potent. I had worked with him on a television series based on Jeffrey Archer’s Kane and Abel. Kay kay played Abel. I have always believed that he was an actor who could easily become a sex symbol because of his quiet intensity, his aloof exterior and his unusual looks. He could easily become India’s Chow Yun Fat. We decided that we would approach his character of an undercover cop in such a way that it would be believable. His internal vulnerability towards the world that he was supposed to destroy would be identifiable. His internal turmoil stemming out of newly developed friendships in a world that is largely seen as cruel and ruthless would be real. The action sequences designed around him were stylized, violent and slightly over the top. Kay kay pulled off the character with great aplomb. Sexy in a simple way, stylish in an understated way, Kay kay was spectacular. This wonderful actor is finally getting his due.
Prashant Narayanan was never my choice for the gangster with a heart of gold. It was a case of out of sight and out of mind. My initial choice was Aditya Srivastava. Aditya read the synopsis and expressed skepticism about playing this character. It had an uncanny resemblance to another character that he was supposed to portray in Shivam Nair’s film Informer. Therein lies another story. When Aditya told me about this uncanny similarity between my film and Shivam’s (scripted by Anurag Kashyap) I was a bit perturbed. Shivam was one of those guiding forces in the initial days of many careers including my own. He provided invaluable help and guidance when I made my first film Jayate… I immediately called him and told him that we should read each other’s scripts and find out ways to overcome any striking similarities. Shivam asked me not to make the film. I thought that was a ridiculous suggestion. I told him so. We decided to meet soon. The meeting never took place. I have been repeatedly accused of stealing Anurag’s script and making it into Chhal. Friends like Abbas Tyrewala who were under this impression realized the truth when they saw Chhal. There was no question of stealing anybody’s script. This was Suparn’s script and he was not even remotely connected to Anurag or Shivam. These allegations left me quite disillusioned. But that is not the point of this post…
With Aditya out of the picture I was suddenly lost. I approached Atul Kulkarni. He was skeptical about doing the part as he had just played a similar part in Chandni Bar. I tried to convince him that my character was far more stylish but to no avail. In any case, I think it is always good to cast an actor only if HE is totally convinced about his character, the film and the director.
We were stuck. Out of desperation I approached Uday Chopra. He was impressed by the role and the character. But he wanted a week to decide as he was offered a film of a similar genre. He had to decide between that film and mine. He decided to do the other film - Supari. I am eternally thankful to Uday Chopra for making that choice.
I knew Prashant Narayanan for many years. He was a successful television actor and one of my earliest friends in the business. He was always shamelessly pompous, obsessed by himself and a very good actor. I was having dinner at my favorite hang-out Sizzling China, an ubiquitous, low brow, multi cuisine, now defunct restaurant in Versova with my girlfriend. Prashant was celebrating his wife’s birthday there. We met briefly as he was about to leave the restaurant. After he left my girlfriend asked me why I did not think of him to play Girish. It was an inspired suggestion. Prashant lent his own personal traits to the character of Girish. His glasses lent a certain level of sophistication and intelligence to his looks. Prashant’s nervous energy combined with his cockiness provided the ideal foil to Kay kay’s understated character. Without Prashant Chhal would never have been the film it eventually became.
The film marked the debut of cinematographer Neelabh Kaul . We decided to create two distinct worlds within the film. One was the world that Kay kay experiences prior to infiltrating the gang. The web of deceit that he was eventually going to entangle himself into would be gritty, bereft of colour and very high contrast. We decided to use the Bleach Bypass process again (We had tried this process in Dil Pe…). Neelabh perfected this process after a series of tests. As a cost saving measure we had decided to shoot on Fuji. I have continued shooting most of my films after Chhal only on Fuji. I simply love the color rendition, the blacks, the contrast and the feel of Fuji. I also love the cost of the stock. I think it handled the bleach bypass / silver retention process much better than Kodak stocks we had used in Dil Pe…
Once Kay kay’s character gets embroiled and emotionally warped we decided to bring in more color and warmth into the film. The color was enhanced using an opal filter that lent the right amount of warmth to the visuals. While Kay kay’s life in the film was filled with romance and affection his mind was also off balance. We decided to represent this by always keeping the camera ‘canted’ towards the left or right. The camera was never straight.
Chhal was never a great script . It was never a unique story. It was simply a triumph of collective human spirit. All of us wanted to contribute to the story. My production team went that extra mile to procure permissions at impossible locations. The fabulous confrontation scene between Kay kay and Prashant was made spectacular because of the choice of location. It was a remote location on the outskirts of Bombay that was discovered accidentally. A violent confrontation achieved poetic connotations because of the location.
There were three other men whose contributions made Chhal so special to many of us. Apurva Asrani, my editor. The use of jump cuts in crucial scenes and the jerky narrative style took story-telling to a different level. We had many fights while making the film but ultimately were proud of what we achieved given our limited resources and lack of technology. Viju Sha, the underrated composer. His background score enhanced the energy of the film. The brilliantly composed title track remains one of my favorite numbers till date. Unfortunately, the music company did not show sufficient belief in the music citing silly reasons for under-promoting the film. Last but not the least, Arun Nambiar my sound designer. He made the silences eloquent and created a multi-layered, violent world. He made the bullets sound musical and blended sound effects seamlessly into the background score.
Again I cannot but thank all these people and so many more nameless souls whose relentless efforts to achieve a cohesive, singular vision went largely unrewarded and mostly unheralded. We were let down by our distributors. The awards ignored us. The critics did not take the film seriously and many of them even went to the extent of calling Chhal a poor copy of Satya and Company! The irony is that Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai did not suffer from any of the above shortcomings (the critics rightfully bashed it). Yet it was a bad film that achieved success that it did not deserve.
An experience like this ends up extremely disheartening because you feel that such rare spirited collective effort has been wasted.
I sincerely hope that one day I get to recreate the magic of Chhal. That one day I can replicate the spirit of Chhal. That one day a film like this will get its due.
77 Responses to “CHHAL - Uncertain Days”
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WOW hansal .. welcome back … it has beeen a loooooong wait…
Thanks for the insights into Chhal. I personally feel it is your best film to date. I loved it… and couldn’t get enough of the dialogues (ey B COM !!! ) … and of course Prashant Narayanan (where is he these days ???). In my opinion Prashant is better than Manoj bajpai in satya (who hammed in quite a few scenes). Prashant never hammed …. He was stylish and suave…
The soundtrack and the Background is a treat … and i really wish this film had not been so criminally ignored :-(
Wow.
I remember watching CHal in that multiplex in Bandra. Just because you had made a great film like DIL PE… I wasnt dissapointed. It wasnt perfect, but thats acking too much. I loved the editing. The jump cuts. I loved the music more than anything in the film. It was the 1st bollywood film which had very electronic background sound throughout the film. Your production Designer Anshul Jain is one of my best friends. He is on vacation in India. can’t wait for him to come back & discuss this blog with him.
good luck!
Kartik
I disagree. I think Prashant hammed in a few scenes in Chal. No fuckin comparison with Bhiku Matre!
I think Manoj hammed in quite a few scenes in satya… especially that ‘Hum log ch*** ki tarah hero ko dhoondh rahe hain .. aur hero khandala gaya hai … ”
Pick up any other performance of MAnoj - he’s always been a ham (except Shool where i think he was crackling)
Prashant didn’t ‘ham’. He was better as the loose cannon trigger happy gangster … defintly more stylish than Manoj.
Tragedy with Chhal is that it came after Satya.. and comparisons were inevtible…
Welcome back Hansal…hmmmm…that was very interesting….Kay Kay as India’s Mr. Fat…
Kartik Krishnan you tell me Prashant Narayan was great…I might nod…why pull in comparisons with Bhiku….some roles are better left alone on their pedestal…..uncompared….Bikhu is one of them…:
was Bhiku even meant to be a stylish gangster….man if style was the buzz word for satya why bother with the gaudy red printed shirt for bhiku and the almost year long beard…he was an uncouth…loud mouth…hot headed
How Chal got made……
Director Hansal Mehta gives the inside view on the hurdles he overcame to make the Kay Kay Menon starrer Chal…
stop these comparisons guys… precisely what i am against. two actors and two similar characters can co-exist without having to be compared… two films of similar genre can also co-exist without being drawn into comparisons… satya was a wonderful film… company was a great film… chhal was my film…
absolutely hansal, great to hear your story!
It sometimes frightens me how much we depend on the applause and appreciation of the world to evaluate our own self-worth. The disenchantment, the vulnerability, the hopefulness that burns with a quivering flame ready to be extinguished at the slightest movement of disapproval — what a terrible razor’s edge to live on. And yet, Hansal, I don’t think any of us would want to be anywhere else but here.
I wonder why a good filmmaker is usually pushed to defend his film with a ‘I know I didn’t make a great film’. Why is it that you need to defend your film(s) when the ridiculous ’s’hit-makers proclaim loudly about the collections of their films and advertise to the world about the money it’s made, since that’s all that matters anyway, you know, so evidently they’ve created a masterpiece, your and mine and the world’s opinion be damned.
I think we’d do well to take a leaf off their book, but I don’t think we’d be able to pull it off! You have one film you’re proud of, one not so much… Quite a heartening record, in my reckoning. It can only get better. The low threshold of pain and the insecurity you live with is great, it’s a wonderful reality check that will never let you turn into a smug know-it-all. Wonderful post, and I’m certain, a wonderful movie coming too. It’s time to forget the oblivion, and step into the applause. Until the next time…
thanks bhavani! wish i could convert thoughts so eloquently into words… true - there is no other place that any one of us can see beyond this… we live on in eternal hope…
hum honge kamyaab…
HM
I loved Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar, and I made it a point to see Chhal just because of you made it. I enjoyed reading this post and went back and search and read Dil Pe post also as I did not know it was there. I felt the song swagtam and the photo montage, especially with one man looking thorough iron bars with despair on his face, spoke a lot about what the movie was about. Will wait for your next movie to come out.
maxpower, the man looking through iron bars with despair on his face was ME! one of those candid moments captured in the that montage…
you shouldn’t have given up.. jayate, dil pe, and chhal.. there were more you made in Rishte..
why not now, things are changing.. today you go back to your old self and it won’t be ignored..
you also had another force working against you RGV..
i never accused you for stealing my script, did I?
i loved yeh kya ho raha hain.
i dont know why ur so ashamed of it.
i think all the actors in the movie performed well and the music was awesome although it was in the dil chahtha hai mould.
cchal was a movie which i saw because i had no other choices that day. I was so floored that I saw the movie thrice on the same day.
When the CD parlour was closing down, Chhal was one of the VCDs which I bought from him. I still have that. It is a pirated copy though :-(
sharath - CD milni hi chahiye … chahiye bal sey .. chahe Chhal sey :-)
anurag, i’m not trading accusations on this forum. i expressed hurt over what so many people continue to accuse me of. all of us know what the truth is. i dont want to get into the issue beyond this.
and thanks for the encouraging words. love, hansal.
hansal,
dont u think that prashant chianani and vaibhav jhalani acted well in yeh kya ho raha hai.
Vaibhav as Bunty was mindblowing.
I wonder why he didnt get any more chances.
I think i saw prashant in a blink and miss role in Lakshya
Hansalji for you: one of my favorite and beautiful song from your film Yeh kya hoo rahaa hai
hansal,
had read somewhere that you had invited RGV for a screening of CHHAL..and he had liked it very much..am i correct?
dont understand why anurag is saying that RGV was working against you..any comment on that?
Hansal: we all shd be thankful to RAHUL who, or whose comment, accelerated your desire to write again. It should be your first writing on PFC in 2007. Hope now you decorate PFC by your frequent writing.
DPMLY, was a very good concept. Those were the Manoj’s days. The way he did (or you extracted out from him), express frustarted smile and tears in eyes while passing through so much garbage in life was amazing. The scene where Tabu is making love with her lover and Manoj watches them from the ground floored room, was a beautiful and impressive scene.
At present I am guilty of not being able to watch Chhal. When it was released and later did not find it on CD or DVD.
Not sure if you ever have read (or if read then liked) books of Col. Ranjit or Surendra Mohan Pathak (not his translated works of James Hadeley Chase but own works) but your kind of direction can very beautifully walk along with that kind of writings.
Its very good to read your honest views and introspection which is the best way to keep us on path of progress in terms of quality. Films kind of creative works are essentially dependent on the reactions of audience but this is also true that one can always compare his works with his own idealized image of his/her own creative alter ego if work is up to the mark which we expect from us.
Dissatisfaction with own past work is sign of far better work in future.
We are in wait to see that work from your side where you are also satisfied as a creator with us as watchers.
Hi Hanslal. It was sort of nice to read your post. I had liked Chhal. I would dare say that though it was not a great film, it was quite gritty. I thought you to a great extent achieved what you intended Chhal to be. My special interest in the film was of course my state mate Jaya who played the heroine. I hope she does come back to acting, after her baby is a little older. Otherwise, it will be a talent wasted.
It is nice to know you are back in the game of what you love doing most - making films. Ups and downs are part of life, just keep going. I am sure you will come up with some good work. All the best for your new film.
Kartik: Prashant (he spells his name as “prroshant” these days) has just completed one film - “Via Darjeeling” - which was screened at the Osian’s Cinefan festival, and he is up in two more films coming up shortly - “Bombil and Beatrice” and “Mr Singh/Mrs Mehta”.
Hi Hanslal,
great post indeed. It is posts like these which make PFC a place worth visiting umpteen times a day. Talking of Chhal, i loved the movie although it had the the term ‘inspired’ all over it, interstingly, i found the story being heavily inspired from a sherlock holmes story ‘A Valley of Fear’ if you remember and the handling of the entire movie was very ‘hollywoodish’ in its approach ( particularly the end where Kay Kay is old and is about to start giving makrand deshpande his instructions..)
What impressed me particurarly was the handling of the story( i could feel the tension rising as Kay Kay was about to be confronted by Prashant), The background score, the very hollywoodish credits roling out sequence, the way in which you used ‘Dil Pay mat le Yaar’ playing in the background in the movie scene, where they have gone to kill a guy as a tribute to your movie :) and lastly but not the least the casting, enough has been said of KayKay but one Actor who is still way too underrated is prashant narayanan. I love the way he acts, his voice modulation everything. Chhal and MUDDA ( another underrarated but superb movie) are on the top of my best watches.
Anyways, hope to see you do some kick ass stuff again..
Cheers!!!
Hey hansal,loved Chhal,especially the background score which still runs through my head.Prashant was pure dynamite in the movie.Did u ever think of making a sequel to the movie based on the ending of the original??
Am glad to know that you Hansal have started writing again. I hope it not a one-off instance.
Karitk I disagree completely with what you say about Manoj “Pick up any other performance of MAnoj - he
Hey Hansal. Beautiful post… and loved Chhal. And am waiting to see your next film…. cheers
After seeing chhal u became one of my fav. directors.The last half hour was a thrilling experience for me.I remember me getting goose bums after seein the confrontation between kk n prashant.i also wanted to make a film after that.
Then i watched YKHRH,only because u were the director.it wasnt a let down as u said.i had laughed as a teen ager throughout the film.Watched it twice in the theater only to laugh.
Then i waited and waited for your next…n till date im waiting.
Dont be depressed sir.The industry and the public will give you a warm re-welcome.This time in a big way.
Please come out of the hibernation n give us movies…
Also please cast Prashant in your upcoming ones as he is terrifically stylish.
I always wanted to tell these things to you but never got the medium.once i tried to letter you after finding your address from a film weekly.Unfortunately it returned back to me.
But now the PFC platform will give me a chance to communicate with you.
All the best for your next.
Hansal, whats this with depression..You, Anurag and even Pavan Kaul..Is this kind of a pattern..and if it is why ?..all three of you are such accomplished technicians who know their craft and are really passionate about their job and creative to the bone..then why get bowed down by badgering of so called critics and box office results..why lament and languish. I know my ‘why’ is weak in its own questioing..I can relate to your sense of disappointment,frustration and despair..Its human to react in such a manner..But to wallow in that hopelessness will be cowardly..And it goes to your credit(infact all three of you) that you came out of that phase and are taking firm and steady steps again..So what if film is not appreciated..But if you know in your heart(as you do) that you gave it your best shot at that point of time,that itself is reward enough..As Anuraag put it,now is a different timeframe where you can redeem yourself and with dignity and grace..He did it with Black Friday..Pavan Kaul is definitely going to do with his Bhram..Looking forward to your Woodstock Villa..Adb.
I miss seeing Prashant on screen. I have seen only two films of his, the first i watched was chhal (because of you sir, and i thought there was great potential) and the other waisa bhi hota hai part 2. That guy is fucking gold. He chews up the scenery yet is so subtle about it. KK is the kinda actor that disappears into his character and i feel prashant becomes his character. Don’t know if that makes sense.
Your two films that I watched were DPMLY and Chhal and honestly I was disappointed with both. Not because they were not good but because as I started watching, you made a promise that this was going to be a killer film. You didn’t kill, you maimed. I will forever hold that against you because who wants to be maimed right? But, I am waiting, waiting to be killed by your next film.
Good luck and please do rigtht more often.
Write is what I meant in the last sentence.
Let the spirit shine.
Just keep walking. Waiting for Woodstock Villa …
All the best
I didnt like Dil pe and I havent seen Chhal but I enjoyed reading this post. I can understand how much heart, love, anticipation, eagerness, desparation, frustration and love goes into making a film. You should be proud that atleast you’re living your dream to make films. And I am sure you’ll make a film which will make you proud, your distributors happy, keep your audience entertained and your critics speechless.
Goodluck!
Just make a film you believe in…in today’s time, every film finds its audience. Don’t give up. At least you have stories to tell!!!
Sir, ur choice of actors for Chhal is just sublime. U know, I had seen this movie long back, on TV. Not fully but the latter part. Since then I hv always wantd to watch this movie. KK is scntillatng, Yes but I want to watch it mor for Prashant. I hv seen little of him but he is simply amzng!I hv searchd 4 the VCD/DVD at many places, I waitd 4 a long time 4 it to com on TV but it just seems to hv disappeared! Sir cud u pls tell me if der has bn a VCD/DVD release or if der wud b?Also cud u provide some info abt Jayate, ur & Anurag sir’s 1st film?! Also some info abt that TV series u mntiond bsd on Cain & Abel? Wat was it called? Wat was its cast? U know how thrllng & intrstng it is to trace the humble beginnings of such geniuses? Eagrly awaitng ur respns, Sir!
Chhal was great. Simply great. But there’s more to it. Chhal, Hansal, was also important. It came at a point when Hindi films were failing left, right & centre, as you have pointed out on your post. That’s from your perspective
Hey Hansal, damn intersting post. N ppl didnt like DPMLY ?? god,i loved that film. Yes RK…i still remeber the scne when Manoj looking thru the window discovers Tabu’s affair with Harsh Chyya(if m nt wrong)the film’s title track was becmae very popular in my college n hostel that time…dil pe mat le yaar, dil pe…
someone told me recently..the only regret u will have in life is of not commitng mistakes. So just do it. cudnt agree more. n critics ? those who can - DO. Those who cant - CRITICISE.
Hello everybody
Its so nice to see so many people so passionate about something which we all so believed in. Thank you for all the good things being said. Chhal,being my first movie would always be close to my heart, and i just could not ignore being a part of this. Lets talk.
Prashant - great to see u here …
coming from a fan of u…
Where have u dissappeared ????? :((
hi pproshant, i liked you in chahal as well as your initial tv serial “Parivatan” on Zee tv - u were excellent.
keep going!
Prroshant, I have no idea why you don’t do more films but I believe you are a fabulous actor…
Prroshant(hope its rite)…great to c u. Forget abt films,i used to follow u closley even in a serial..used to air on DD…afternoon slot. shit…cant remember the name rite now. was damn good one with great perfrmncs by almost everyone. a big guy, his three sons with differnt set of ideologiesa nd their clash. if m nt wrong,u played the younger one.
Thank you Phoenixnu, that serial was called Farz directed by Sohail Tatari, and i used to play a character called Rajan Varma. Even I used to really trip with that part. was great fun.
Thank you Kartik for being such a support and defending me so volatilely. I quite appreciate it. Need some firebrands around everywhere, it is a miserable dull place otherwise.
Thank you Shailesh and Pratim.
There was another one on DD…called Deewar..use to start with Jagjit Singh
ya ya Farz!!! god…they dont make serials liek that anymore. Sohail tatari made some terrific tv. where is he these days ? i think he is doing some film na?
N PN…KK is always volatile!! :d
The seriel that blew every away was on ZEE TV. I think it was pArivartan. It was shot in this hotel in b’lore. I remember it was about the rivalry between two Hotel Families. Prashant gets kidnapped alongwith a woman from the other family. I remember a friend told me to watch the seriel because there is this new guy in the seriel. He looks like one of us. He looks very smart & he does not look like an actor. I watched it & was hooked.
And I ofcourse who can for get the Jugalbandi in Shashank’s movie with Arshad.
What movies are you working on man?
it is pretty cool that i am going to be a part of Sohails first film also. It is called Summer of 2007, so what if we are going to be shooting it at the fag end of the Monsoon of 2007, hahahaha.
Thank you Mainak. I did one German movie called Shadows of Time directed by Florian Gallenberger. You could google that and find out more.
Have done a movie called Mr.Singh/Mrs. Mehta, directed by Pravesh Bharadwaj, then there is a film called Via Darjeeling which is going to be coming up and then there is this British film called Bombil and Beatrice directed by Kaizad Gustad which is on release pressures.
All interesting stuff,just maintaining a certain tradition in life till maybe poverty does it apart.
Prroshant..why dont u join us at pfc ? the big boss of the website has promised that if i get a new celeb blogger,he wil put some…dhinchak dhinchak dhinchak…sound effects with my name. ha ha ha…those cheqap thrills n ofcourse we will get to know more abt all these movies!!
Ok…on a serious note,if u r into net n blogging,u shld write ya.
Oh man!
I can’t wait for the next Kaizad Gustad movie. He rocks. BOOM was a major dud but it had the best soundtrack ever. Too bad he got into all that mess during his last film. Proshant you should blog here about your experiences working with all these directors. We don’t have many actors blogging here. Mostly directors or writers.
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I just read about Shadows of Time. I am gonna try & watch it. It seems interesting. You should write about ur experience of working in a bengali film directed by a german.
http://www.german-films.de/app/filmarchive/film_view.php?film_id=952
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Last Film - THE HOST (7/10)
Listening to - http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/07/130258
Met you Prroshant at the Via Darjeeling party in Roxy… Don’t know if you remember me (I’m with The Telegraph, Calcutta)… Will call and chat up some time soon… Passion can fight poverty any day - keep it up!
“German movie called Shadows of Time”
shit was about to ask about that…
Where can i get to see it ??? Last i heard it was doing some rounds to festivals
Hi Prroshant,
Have been a great Fan of yours ( read comment#23 in this post :D)..from your serial days(dont remember the name, but u were called Lalit in that, on Zee maybe)..
U rocked in Chhal and waisa bhi hota hai Part2 alright, but i loved your acting in one of my favorite movies of yours..MUDDA..your and rajat’s acting took it to great hieghts and people may disagree, but i felt that MUDDA captured Campus violence and politics much better than the much acclaimed HAASIL…
Sadly, it remains a rather unnoticed and underrated movie :(
But, as per the requests above, please start blogging here@ PFC…
Hope to see many more powerhouse performances from you…
All the Best!!
Regards,
PerfectMisfit
hi prroshant, what about the saurabh shukla film ‘mudda- the issue’. how was it working on that film?
Hansal can you write about the phase when you became the golden boy of FEROZ KHAN?
He was talking about how talented you are & producing few movies for you including shaadi.com
He even produced Suparn’s first film. So please enlighten us about that whole Feroz khan phase you both went through. I bet its very interesting.
It was pretty strange, as i was told in the beginning that it was going to be manoj Bajpai and Mallika Sherawat in the film, It later turned out to be Arya Babbar and Rekha Vedavyasa. Realised after the film that i did not miss too much. But Saurabh had a beautiful script which i could not miss doing. The directors cut that i saw was beautiful. The producers extraordinary brilliance shown through later, and it all ended up in being shown in different houses with cables. Tragic, and really unfortunate for Saurabh, he is a talented man.
prroshant.. man.. wow.. never thought i’d get to interact with you here.. i have to first thank hansal for taking you in chhal despite your unconventional gangster looks.. it’s directors that take those chances with the actors that receive the most kudos from me.. it’s always fun and challenging as an actor to re-define the audience’s stereotypical mold of what is considered a certain character.. and it’s directors like hansal that give us a chance to show that to the audience. and prroshant.. you blew ‘em away like any good actor would.. thank YOU for that! amazing to have you on here.. can’t wait to read some of your stuff :)
and last but not least, oz.. THANK YOU!!
fabulous to see prashant (prroshant) on this forum… and even more heartening to see all your responses. prroshant is a special actor and as is typical of him he has stolen the limelight away from this post!
thanks onir, anurag, bhavani and all you guys for writing such wonderful things. this is the power of cinema - films that were made over 5 years ago are so vividly remembered… and thanks to PFC I get to experience such a high!
regards, hansal
Hansal, no need for thanks… just write “Thanks” behind the check you donate to PFC… :d (kidding!!!)
hey
mudda was an awesome movie.
why havent people commented on it yet.
i think it was the best movie released in india on campus politics.
i think it was arya babbar and prashant narayan’s superlative acting which took the movie to great heights.
it is unfortunate that the movie never got a proper release
Hey prashant… welcome to PFC. and lets catch up sometime. we forgot to exchange nos at zenzi the last time we met.
best movie on campus politics is haasil!
but mudda has nice music by pritam.
someone told me nataraja subramaniam (nutty) was the cinematographer initially.
prroshant’s work in that film is commendable. he does sound like a haryanvi in it!
Mainak Feroz Khan acted in my first film, PNC produced it
Thanks for the correction Suparn. I just assumed that Feroz Khan produced it since he acted in it & Fardeen was the lead. My Mistake.
Prroshant Thank you for all that dope on PARIVARTAN. You rocked that man.
I loved DIL PE MAT LE YAAR and CHHAL Hansal-both films were magnificent, and more importantly..different.
Kay Kay Menon, and more importantly, Prashant Narayan were superlative in the movie, and DPMLY features Bajpai’s most over-looked performance to date (except his recent 1971). I didn’t like YEH KYA HO RAHA HAI much
Looking forward to RAAKH and WOODSTOCK VILLA!
A.Shah
[...] A heart-felt blog-piece by director Hansal Mehta(CHHAL, DIL PE MAT LE YAAR and the atrocious YEH KYA HO RAHA HAI), following an interesting set of comments, including one from Anurag Kashyap and Prashant Narayan……, BTW those who haven’t seen DIL PE MAT LE YAAR should, it’s a fantastic film, inventive, original and unique…Manoj and Taboo both excelled!) By: Hansal Mehta | 713 Views Link [...]
hi hansal
a few things that intrigued me:
- i thought alternative directors sought validation from neither audience nor friends. that the act of expression was pure, and therefore justification enough.
- critics in india should be tested for their ability to watch films as commercial produce. i do not think they have that detachment. also, for reasons that cannot be put down here, the inability to use english with precision leads to emotion (mostly anger or contempt) passing off as criticsm. i agree with you that bollywood has cranked up a gear since 2000. i do not think film reportage/critique has.
- the nitin patil episode reinforces my view of what a colourful/bohemian place bollywood is behind the camera, succulently full of characters. i remember an evening at ayub’s house watching his mum begum para talk with someone she called “suri sahib”, a distributor i think from the 50s and 60s, and the interaction was amazing.
- tara piccher nu to khabar nahi, your writing’s definitely getting better i think.
aakar
aakar, i really cant speak for my other director friends but i have never seen myself as an ‘alternative director’. film-making is an art that involves money. ‘low-budget’ is a myth. films always become costly if they do not succeed. and if they do not succeed it becomes difficult to make the next film. i see myself as a director who tries to work with varied themes and styles. sometimes the story is inventive like ‘dil pe…’ and sometimes the form and ’style’ overrides the content as in ‘chhal’. i also see myself as somebody who essentially got lucky and got a chance to avoid repeating himself… lucky to falter and attempt to correct the mistake in the next film… because i got to make the next film… contradictions abound in my world and i live on!
you are right about critics… but they have nothing to worry about… success and appreciation mean nothing to them… they still get to write their next review!
thank you for appreciating my writing! hansal.
Hi Hansal,
I thought Dil pe mat le had potentiak… it ended up being trite and boring… some sequences were great…Manoj is the best talent we have in last twenty years…wish you could find another script..place him alongside Prosshant and we are in for some real fun…Prroshant -the loudmouth chicken and Manoj a bumbling braveheart …
Do you even read these comments … no?
Good :)
Wishing you loads of luck!
Hansal,
Loved both Dil pe mat le yaar and Chhal…Thanks a lot!!
Vinayak
Her Harshel,
I saw your movie around 3 year before and believe me still I am not able to take our Grish out of my mind. As per me Grish is any time better than Satya and CHandu( company) . But I know due to lack of publicity and tight budget you are not able to get that kind of publicity , but remember it happen with lots of movies in the past, probably not now but in future whenever people want to see some real Kind of movie they will get back to Chaal
CHALL …I saw it because i couldnt get tickets for another movie i had gone for…but it is one movie which left a lasting impression on me…it was a fast paced and viju sha’s music was excellent..i have both th songs in my playlist which i listen to frequently…you can say that chall was the movie which drew me further to look into small budget movies without any stars but honest intentions to entertain
Hey Hansal,
Thanks for sharing this insight and I concur with you . One thing which I firmly believe is that “one should continue to make the kind of cinema/movie which one want’s to make and satisfy creative urge, without bothering much about critics”.
And people like you who are simply “awesome” with their work - should not worry much…take care and keep writing.
regards,
Rajeev:”>
Chhal remains one of my favourite films till date. Kay Kay Menon is a fabulous actor and one of my favourites too. But according to me, it was the casting of Prashant Narayanan as Girish, that was the masterstroke. I dont understand much about the technical details of film making… but the background sounds, the music (esp the song… ‘chup chaap’), and the photography were very pleasing to the senses. Hope you make a film like that again.
debashri u r right…..for chhal i fought with my parents b’coz on that time i was in 10th…….i love chhal
hi hansal
i think chal is a gr8 movie.as for ur depression i will only say one thing and that is “dil pe mat le yaar”.i am from bengal,the land of satyajit ray,and why i am mentioning is that even he had to struggle and now look,what the world thinks of him.just don’t give up man ………………u rock.iam an aspiraing film buff soon to enter the world of cinema.u r struggle has made me familiar with what one has to face in the industry.
thanx for giving us films like chal and dil pe
waiting for ur next
regards
sandeep
I JUST LOVED CHAL..AND LOVED THE WAY PRASHANT [THIS GUY SHOULD DO MORE AND MORE MOVIES] AND KK…
AND FINALLY YEST I GOT THE VCD OF THIS MOVIES…SOMETHING TO CHERISH….THOUGH WAS HIGHLY INSPIRED BY ENGLISH MOVIE..BUT THE ADAPTATION AND PERFORMANCES WERE EXTRA ODINARY…WISHED THIS MOVIES HAD RUN,
I would like to purchase the DVD of the movie chhal.please guide me as to which company has got got the copyright for the movie.The music of this movie is out of this world.
Sir,
I want to narrate a script (a political thriller) to you. Can you please give me some time? My number is 9920291212.