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Confessions of an (Irr) fan - “Yahaan kitney baje andhera hota hai Dada ? ”

It was a normal working day on thursday untill Oz called me up and informed me that Irrfan is on the sets of Nishida’s MMJ on friday shooting schedule. My eyes widened and i immideately went up to my TeamLead and informed him “I will be on an official planned sick leave on friday. Going to meet Irrfan Khan”

My Team Lead replied “Irrfan who ??”

In a Maqboolesque-killing-Abbaji-with-Silencered-revolver I shot dead my Team Lead !!!

My colleagus surrounded me dumbstruck… “Kya mila tujhey ?”

I replied back ” Kya mila mujhey ?? 3 saal ki naukri .. 3 saaley ki saali kuttey ki tarah vafadari … code kiya .. bugs kaatey … kya mila mujhey ???”

Noticing I had got into the Irrfan-Monologue deleruim … they politely left me. I smiled and went home happy.

Next day reached Kamalistan studios in the morning… saw Nishida and his DOP Sanjay Jadhav talking..and the crew members (ADs, Production housewaalas, Art Direction waalas) playing cricket.

After the customary round of hellos .. I asked the invetiable Question
“Nishida, Has Irrfan come yet ??”
“No Not yet”, was the reply to a dissapointed me.

We disscused Anurag’s Dev.D …

“Anurag comes up with out of the world ideas… Dildo .. Love triangle.. I would never be able to carry off such films. And the best part is that he gets producers… and will continue getting them ”

Me - “But hasnt someone already made a spoof on Devdas titled Bevdadas with Johnny Lever,Tanaz currim and Shruti Ulfat ? And yet it has not released”

NishiDa - ” Well that must be a spoof. But when DevD releases may be the production houses might release BevdaDas too ”

Sanjay confessed “Mala Avadla Black” (I liked Black). Ravi K Chandran’s cinematography was amazing in Black. Ravi k chandran is a big name down south. He’s worked with Mani Sir, Shankar, Farhaan Akthar

Accodring to the industry buzz, he’s shot Sawariya (Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s next) beautifully as well.

NishiDa joked - His right eye is small due to some eye problem. It has virtually become a viewfiender. He has done some awesome camerawork.

NishiDa and Sanjay joked - some writer wrote a spoof on Devdas.

“It has been 6 months and Devdas is missing. Paro goes to Chandramukhi and asks his whereaboutys. Chandramukhi is clueless as well since she also hasnt seen Devdas for the past six months.

Then Paro asks Chandramukhi - I have two passes for Dandiya Raas. You wanna join me ??? Chandramukhi says ‘Yes’ and straight Cut to - both dancing to Dola re dola re …

I informed them about one of the PFC reader’s comments for DevD. Anurag can actually have both of them singing “Dildo La rey Dildo La rey …” They were in splits

NishiDa and Sanjay don’t fight/argue/debate over the shots settings etc.
“We’ve been working together for the past 10 years. We did TV together as well. My first film in marathi (as an actor - Saatchya Aat Gharat) was with Sanjay as a DOP.

The tuning is there. If i need an important shot(which is releavent to the story) then i tell Sanjay. Otherwise it is he along with the team who execute the shot taking. I concentrate on the performances and storytelling.My job is to manage and segregate/delegate work and see to it that it gets done. Doing the work is what the team is there for”

“The most important thing for a director is to concentrate on the story telling. If your basics of technique are clear and you know how to tell your story, then you can become a good director.Emphasis is always on Story telling. No matter what the Art direction /Camerawork/ Location/Costumes etc are there.. it can always be worked on.. Woh apney aap ho jaata hai. The director should not ignore Story telling.”

Then i asked him about his experiences in Saatchya Aat Gharat as an actor. Did he at times felt the director couldve shot this way or that way ?? How was it like being directed by someone else ?

“I wrote Saatchya Aat Gharat and acted in it. When i was acting in it… i was concentrating more about my role ..my performances.. my charcter. But the director has to concentrate on everybody. So when I’m on the sets as an actor.. the director switch in me is OFF. I can offer suggestions but do not force myself.”

Me - When is Evano Oruvan (the tamil remake of Dombivali Fast) releasing ?
NishiDa - “August ”

Me- But Why Evano Oruvan ?? why a remake ? Making a film in the first place itself is quite painful and then why the pain of going through the same emotions again ? Why revisiting it ?

NishiDa - “If it had been remade in hindi, it wouldve been less enjoyable for me. But since it is in Tamil (a language alien to almost evervyone from NishiDa’s team) … i found it challenging. And besides, I also have to keep my kitchen fire burning. The crew in Dombivali Fast worked on a nominal fees wherever it was possible (the budget of film is less than 1 crore).
Comparatively EO has better funds…thanks to R Madhavan.

All those who have seen the film cannot believe that a non tamilian has made it ”

Me - But how can you have the dialogues, the improvisations, the voice modulations done by the actors in a language which you as the director do not know ?

NishiDa -“Therein lies the challenge. all said and done, actors have a certain rhtym. I can see if the actor is in rhythm with the lines or not. If the rhythmn is right, things will fall into place…and that’s what matters to me. ”

Me - However, I’ve seen quite a few Tamil actors perform in hindi, quite a few “english speaking” dudes in Hindi and hardcore hindi speaking gunks performing English lines ? Many of them do not look convincing at all.

NishiDa -“An actor thinks in his mother tongue.. and then converts it into the language he is speaking…and that’s why if he is speaking a language which may not be his mother tongue, it looks fake. I might be wrong but this is what i think.”

After the mini interview session, we starrted playing cricket. The DOP Sanjay Jadhav played some awesome defence to my fast paced deliveries .. and ducked to a few bouncers as well. One of the delivery was spanked by him, and then the very next one i bowled was a slower one, almost foxing SanjayDa.

The game was interrupted by a Toyota Pajero in which Irrfan was sitting next to the driver’s seat. Almost like a royal entry, i looked upto the man. Ahhhhh finally …. This was the first time I saw him LIVE in FLESH and BLOOD. He went to the vanity van to get into the costume… the cricket game continued but obviously i couldnt concentrate any more.

NishiDa and his crew packed up the game and starrted joking around.

NishiDa - “Paresh Rawal is so much fun. We’re missing him . He’s live wire on the sets.. always upto something… pulling someone’s legs.”

One of the AD’s narrated a short incident when Paresh interacted with Mihir - a crew member.
This happened when Paresh was looking for the shooting location and could not find it … and then he called up Mihir.

Paresh - ” Arey shooting Inorbit Mall Malad main hai na ? Main aadhey ghantey sey yahaan wait kar raha hoon. Tum log kahaan ho ??”

Mihir - “Sir Inorbit Mall key baju main Hypercity Mall hai. Wahan par hum log hain”
Paresh - “Arey ab yeh Hypercity Mall kidhar hai ??”

Mihir - “Sir Baju main hi hai sir…. wahin baju main”

Paresh - “Arey Baju main toh saara MALAD hai !!!!”

They continued to joke around. NishiDa remarked -
” There is never an idle/boring moment when Paresh sir is in sets. He is more of a day guy. Meaning his energy level is amazing during the day time … but night hotey hotey … it receeds. Irrfan however, is the other way round. He is more of a night guy and his energy level at night times is amazing. ”

“And you’re shooting days with Irrfan and nights with Pareshji” - I joked.

Irrfan then came out and I was mesmerised. If there is one actor whom I admire the most for his acting it is Irrfan. He has influenced me a lot .. with the sort films he did .. with the way he acted…

He and his wife in the film - Divya Jagdhale (who played Ajay Devgun’s sister in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam) went into the house for their scenes. I saw the rushes in the monitor. Fuck…. Irrfan rocks !!!! You cannot take your eyes of him when he is onscreen. He seemed very cool during the shots.

NishiDa said “Irrfan gives such a tangential performance”
Me - Meaning ???

NishiDa - “Meaning he takes the script to another level … something which you may not have thought .. something unpredictable… He rocks ”

Abhinav Kashyap walked in and spoke to Irrfan for quite some time.Abhinav was shooting some TV serial nearby (some college canteen sets had been erected).

Also saw, the baddie Behn***-Chu****-Roy-abusing Baddie-Bald guy from Bluffmaster, come upto Irrfan and talk to him too. He is a production guy and not an actor, and yet he did a pretty good job in Bluffmaster.

I continued staring at Irrfan.

Nishida came and said “Matlab your a Die hard fan !!!”
“Yes sir.” I confessed

NishiDa smiled …

Me - “Sir I have seen a B grade film like Mr 100% only for Irrfan Khan. I have been following him since the days of Ek Doctor ki Maut, Drishti, Darr, Star Bestsellers, Warrior till the latest Hutch Ad as well (not to forget Metro).

Besides I have virtually done a PHD in Haasil, Charas and Maqbool.I’ve seen these films so many times”

The shooting continued. I have noticed that on the sets of MMJ, the crew and Nishida have fun.. discuss films, plan to watch plays, songs, pull each others’ legs, play cricket and work as well.

In the post lunch session (after I had helped myself a generous helpings of chicken curry), they shot the Tea Break/crowd/traffic scene. I cannot talk more about them…nor about Irrfan’s role

NishiDa - “Please do not reveal anything about the character or the story .. I want the suspennse to remain. ”

They were shooting a character artiste’s phone scene and Irrfan’s reaction to it.

NishiDa said - “There are a good 130 odd junior artistes/character artistes in the film … those who have at least one line. Today’s shooting is like a drop of water compared to the rest of the schedule. ”

There were retakes and rehearsals, sometimes either the one of the artistes would mess up… or sometimes the camera would not zoom in exactly as required… sometimes irrfan’s face would be blocked by something/someone (sacreileage!!! sacrileage!!!)

Thankfully, no sound goof ups.

Me - Is the film synch Sound ?
NishiDa - “Not possible at all. I’m shooting on real locations. Today is the 35th day of shooting and only the 2nd time I’m shooting in a studio. We will have to do dubbing.”

Me- How many more days of shooting left ?
NishiDa - “25-30 more days easily.”

Me- So assuming it’s a 120 minute film (120 pages of the script = 120 mins of the film), how many minutes do you can in a single day ?

NishiDa - “On an average 2-3 minutes a day of the film is shot a day, despite slogging ourselves throughout the day. Normally a 120 minute film will take at least 40 - 60 days of shooting alone.”

Me- It must be painful..isn’t it ?

NishiDa - “Well I enjoy the process of filmmaking itself. the journey from conception .. to writing .. to pre-production to shooting and post production..and eventually seeing the film on the big screen. The feeling of haveing made a film is not as enjoyable as the process of making it.

Even you’ve made a film .. toh kaunsa bada kaam kar diya ?? Kaun sa jhanda gaad liya ??
I mean every year, 40,000 films get made all around the world, if not less. You’ve made only one out of them. So kaunsa bahut bada teer maar liya ???? ”

Hmmmmm…..

All this while Irrfan was sitting in a corner very casually in his costume and talking on phone. Whenever any Junior Artiste/Extra came upto him for an autograph/photograph, he happyliy obliged him. I was overjoyed to know that he is also popular among the rickshawaalas….. I spoke to one of them (who were used as extras in the film) and they confessed to have seen the actor and liked his peromance “Bahut simple acting karta hai.. Bahut badhiya” ..but they do not know his name

Well I guess no auto rickshaw waala knew Naseeruddin shah’s name before Tirchi Topi waaley - Tridev and Tu cheez badi hai mast mast - Mohra released.

I desperately wanted to go up and talk to Irrfan… and tell him I might be possibly his biggest fan. He along with Manirathnam are two people almost single handedly responsible for creating whatever intrest/passion for cinema I have.

NishiDa told me “Wait… Tera main personally Introduction karwaata hoon”

In between an actor-struggler came upto NishiDa with his pictures. Nishida looked at them cordially and talked to him. After he left NishiDa confessed …

“There are so many strugglers .. actors .. technicians… ab kis kis ko kaam dein ?? I’ve personally known ttechnicians staying in slums of mumbai. Every now and then you keep hearing these stories of wannabe actors smitten by the glamour and jumping into the bandwagon.

It’s frightening stage. Many times they themselves are not clear about their strengths, their weaknesses, limitations.

I know my limitations..and my strengths .. My strength lies in directing and story telling. At times it takes years for an artist to know his own self..It depends on not just talent but attitude, patience, perserverance and knowing yourself.

A perfect parallel would be a cricket player wanting to play for the Indian Cricket team. From the school team - to the college team - to the Leagues - clubs - districts - states and finally the country.

It’s a process of proving yourself again and again and again and refocussing on your priorities.”

End of the shoot.. Sanjayda started experiencing back pain (thanks to the cricket sessions earlier in the day). Packup was announced.

I wanted NishiDa to introduce me to Irrfan.. becos i did’nt know what to say to him… how to talk to him.I tagged along with NishiDa when he went to talk to Irrfan and told him about packup (the crew did a “Ganpati Bappa Morya” roar when packup was announced).

NishiDa told him about the shoot timings the following day. They were discussing lights and all when I was just looking at Irrfan. Irrfan probably out of courtsey …asked me “Yahaan kitney bajey andhera hota hai Dada ??” I was dumbstruck and didnt know what to say and frantically looked at my watch. Thankfully Nishida saved the day for me by answering his Question “7.30 pm”.

Irrfan left..he probably had a narration to attend.

Well well well
He left before NishiDa could introduce us.

“If you dont introduce me to Irrfan tomorrow, I will reveal all about Irrfan’s character on PFC. ” I threatened

” I will kick your ass then !!!” NishiDa joked.

Ahhhhh waiting for the next day till I get to talk to the big man.

Filed Under  Exclusive, Movies, Mumbai Meri Jaan

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