Donning the Producer’s hat for “Sikandar”
Sikandar releases on August 21, 2009
Which leads to the first question: Why do you make a film? Why do you attach your name to a film? Why do you, like I am doing in this sense, endorse a film? The great thing about why we come into films is the simply because we like films, as such, even if they aren’t our own. There are many films that I would not make, which would not be to my strengths, but I do like these films. You can only make the films you can make, but you can like other directors’ films too.
In the case of Sikandar, I liked the script, the story, I liked the director. I thought the film should be made and took it to BIG Pictures who decided to finance it. We decided to do it together.
You make a film because something about it grabs you. What grabbed me was that this is a film in a specific place, it has a specific context. It tells the story of that context, that place, that time, in a novel sort of way. Every film first needs to work as a film, as in, the story has to work by itself. The experience has to be engrossing and provocative. To me, that seemed to be the case.
I lay a lot of emphasis on structure and craft. The way a film-maker designs a film, the way the story is narrated. I thought this was wonderfully narrated – it has the structure of a suspense film. It begins as a kind of game. A boy walks out one day in Kashmir – he’s a bit soft, he’s bullied, he’s playful. He’s like any kid in any part of India. Then, one day, he finds a gun. He picks it up as a game, but then again, since he’s in that specific place, at that specific time, things aren’t that simple. So what begins as a game – instead of him playing that game, the game begins to play him – he becomes a pawn for bigger forces. And slowly the story unravels. In a suspenseful way, which was important to me, and in an engaging manner. I feel that all good films are suspense films. In the sense, if I were to make a film or a story such that say, in the fifth scene the viewer can predict “this is going to be the middle”, “this is going to be the end”, and so on, then what is the point at all of making that film. In that same sense, Hazaron Khwaishen Aisi is also a suspense film. I don’t think anyone can, if they see the film, tell you in the first half an hour where the film is going to go. And that’s like life. You don’t know where life takes you. Provided you take chances with it, of course.
And since the film grabbed me in all those ways, I agreed to do it. As a director myself, what was important while donning a producer’s hat was that I did it without intrusion. Personally, while directing, I don’t mind suggestions, but I don’t like people vetoing me when I make a film, and I so won’t veto a director. Of course, with Piyush, I could always voice to him what I was thinking, but I would let him decide to take it or leave it. I am not a producer because I want to ghost-direct the film. Instead, the main advantage of having somebody like me as a producer is that I can put forward my clout, my relationships, the fact that I’ve been here for a while, and so the elements of the script that are needed, those I can find for the director more easily and make sure he has them to play with. I can convince a certain level of technicians to work on the film. I could ensure, for example, in this instance, that the film was shot in Kashmir. I don’t like shortcuts and so that was how the film was to be made – without shortcuts. I could enforce this. And because I have a certain experience, I could add value in ensuring that all these things actually happened. In that sense, the producer is simply the enabler.
Enabling the casting, for example. A lot of production is casting. Casting not just the actors, but casting the team – the cameraman, the sound person, the production designer, the executive producer, the line producer. All those are people required for that specific film, for the specific problems of that film. You make sure that the film is done in that way, that the film realises the vision of the script to the best possible extent. That’s why I did it and in the end, when I see the film, I see that it’s worth the effort. It works for me as it’s a film without gimmicks, it follows the discipline, there is control over craft. It takes a premise and follows it to the end, and the end surprises the hell out of you.
Another question that comes up is regarding the nature of this director-producer relationship. I honestly don’t know if there’s an answer to how you can find the optimal director-producer partnership. There is often no time in cinema to develop these kinds of
partnerships, so it was great that with us it just worked. You work with a person with whom you already can share a certain rapport. If the director is not inherently that person, then it becomes nobody’s film. So if one film director produces that other director’s film, problems can creep in. It becomes that there exist two sensibilities, each driving the film to its own strengths, resulting in it becoming no-one’s film. My specific job is only to actualize, to enable ‘that’ film, ‘that’ which that director wants to write, and it is his job to direct it.
Of course, there are still many ways to add value at a creative level – the director can use you as a sounding board. You don’t intrude on the shooting in any creative way, so then when you see the rushes or the first cut, you can come in with an objectivity that the director can use. If you step back at times and come in, say towards the end of the film, when it goes into the mix, you can think of other elements, put whatever your sensibility is, into use. Additionally, in this case, it helped that as creative directors we had people like Amit Khanna and Prasoon Joshi as Creative Heads of BIG Pictures. They came with their own sensibilities, and the film could be done in the manner it has, as they agreed with the core of the film and helped in realizing its potential.
I’ve never faced any intrusion myself, except in one film. I will not blame the producers as it was a mistake that I myself made. I should not have done that film. It’s called Calcutta Mail. There was another film that the producers wanted to make, and there was another film that I could make, and when I see that film now, I can see it suffers from this confusion. It is sometimes my film, sometimes not, going in all directions, sometimes not complementary.
Sikandar is Piyush’s film, but it’s the kind of film I would like to see, and that’s why I made it happen. And it will soon be out there.
Tags: Kashmir, piyush jha, Sikandar, sudhir mishra
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
I like the audio especially the dhoop ke sikke song. Your association adds the needed credibility to such movies.Hope the movie is good. Will definitely catch up.
Being a co-producer, how much say do you have in the film’s marketing? Sikandar is a small film, but backed by a BIG banner (pun intended), the parent company of which is funding Hollywood’s biggest filmmaker.
Why then is the marketing of the film so poor? If it is nearing release, there does not seem to be any hype developed for it. I don’t see it promoted on television. Online presence is miniscule, if any. Certain non-mainstream films have showed that they do have a solid market in India. But if a large banner like Big Pictures with their clout won’t push harder to market small films like this, how will that market develop? Forget the larger picture. How does Big Pictures expect to draw audiences into the theatres without proper marketing?
I hope in the best interests of all that Sikandar does not face a situation that “Gabricha Paus” faced in Mumbai or what “Sankat City” faced in Kolkatta with shows being cancelled due to low attendance. I can understand if it happens to “Gabricha Paus” which doesn’t have strong backing. But if this happens to a Big Pictures film, it will be a very sad situation indeed.
I have heard following the screening at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles that this is a quality product with good box office potential. I just hope that the banner milks this quality to its maximum.
Sudhir Sikandar is a film I’ve been looking forward both on account of the theme as well as the casting.The soundtrack has also turned out to be quite good.And considering that Big Pictures is the co-producer it is certainly surprising as to how poorly the movie is being promoted as Vijay has said.With some 15 days left for the movie’s release- time is short,but still some hope can be salvaged if people work on ovedrive from now.all the very best for the film,hope it succeeds.
The promos of the film look good, but I wish I would see more promos on air. People who don’t follow films on a regular basis have no idea this film is releasing, so Big pictures needs to stop slacking. Also, I really wish the music would have more soul, but maybe I’ll like it more when I see the film since I’ll have a visual to place on the lyrics.
I have seen the promos of Sikandar and I am looking forward to watch the film. Sudhir, I must admit that Piyush is lucky to have a producer like you. I hope this film becomes successful and more films like these are made. However, I have one question. The promo of the film was released a long time back. I have also seen the film’s poster in multiplexes. Then, why is film not releasing? Has it been postponed for some reason?
Rohan the movie was supposed to release in end March/early April but due to the strike it got pushed off.but why was it pushed all the way to Aug 21st is a mystery.They haven’t even capitalised on the time they had by promoting it well.
Sudhir Sir,
It’s heartening to see directors of your repute encouraging fresh ideas and perspectives from newcomers like Piyush. If only there were more such instances of nurturing, rank outsiders (like a new Ram Gopal Varma or another Anurag Kashyap) would be making an impact every year, not once in 10 years!
I do believe India has at least some more talent than what is evident in the sound and fury churned out by the Mumbai film industry year after year.
I miss the presence of the film in the media. It must be out there.
Hi Sudhir. Seeing a movie with you involved after some time. This movie looks promising.
Pronto have it on TV and hoardings. See what happened to Sankat City. Good movie and many people didnt know it exists.
Now that you have written, I wished to ask somethings about your previous movies. All your movies seem to move with a brisk pace, have intelligent conversations, et al. However, why do they miss the flow during hte climax. HKA had a good flow throughout, but why did Khoya Khoya Chand end very abruptly. IT leaves an incomplete feeling coming out of the theatre.
You are right that watching Hazaron KHwahishein Aisi, throughout the movie, noone could realize how the movie is gonna end.
Is it possible however, that your movies become entertaining and yet retain the flavour.
I have loved all your movies right from “Main Azaad Hoon” to “Khoya Khoya Chand”. “Hazaaron Khwaieshein Aisi” was simply awesome and i would be always thankful to you for giving that. I would definitely watch Sikandar.
Are bhai Main Azaad Hoon was directed by Tinnu Anand, why do you credit Sudhirji for the same?
Arre I meant “Main Zinda Hoon” oops Galti se mistake ho gaya
The film had a nice premise and potential, but turned out to be very disappointing. Ayesha Kapur was horribly miscast, and performances poorly handled. Stories about children can be very powerful, but this just didn’t make the cut, and was average at best. Better execution could have made it a wonderful film indeed.
Yep! Unfortunately due to a combo of factors, there is not enough publicity as needed.
The outward reason is supposedly that the promos/music etc. were all in full flow around March, but the momentum got lost due to the strike. So its hard to make up for that, as the marketing budget was eaten up in the past. The really annoying this is that the big super multi-starring things made for 40, 50, 60 crores can put in tons of money to make up for it, but independent-ish films actualymade for fractions of that, which are quality products, still cant
THe bigger problem actually, is just the fact that there’s a vicous cycle. Audiences not going out to see films which are non-formulaic, and hence distributors putting money in just formulaic films. The whole nature of the market (due to the scales of money involved) is such that it amplifies this vicous cycle so that the formulaic films are so rich that they can outpace all the smaller ones on the promos, and so, no-one gets to see the small ones… and so, distributors support them less, and so less viewship, etc. and so on and so forth.. the vicous circle grows…
Like Sudhir mentioned – part of the responsibility is also for the non-popcorn cinema lovers to be as fanatic as the popcorn-cinema lovers in support the cinema they care about – if only till the point the circle gets broken… PFC is a great effort in that regard to get a community of evangelists, and films like Sikandar, Sankat City, etc. need evangelists to break the vicous circle they are trapped in.
Its ironic… its not that this film is so out of the blue in the traditional sense. The Producer is Sudhir Mishra. The director has won awards for his previous films on the festival circuit. There supporting cast includes Madhavan who can be sold quite easily and Sanjay Suri of Jhankaar Beats.. Plus if the guys up above really wanted to pump the publicity – it would be easy to sell to the masses that the protagonists are the kid from Kuch kuch hota hai (little sardar) and jalebi ad (i am assuming that the masses would care less about the fact that he did great in Parzania), and the girl was the girl from Black. But nope, that would mean paying attention to the publicity of a small “non-mainstream” film.. and it sucks that it doesnt happen as it should…
In this case, given the fact that traditional promos are not really out there – i guess it really depends on evangelists of good cinema, folks like PFC members, and such to do their little bit for the film…
Mr. Kulkarni:
How do you know Ayesha Kapur is miscast? Just because she is not the traditional light skinned Kasmiri girl? Kashmiris also come in a whole gamut of skin tones. Let the picture release before you go around making statements on who is miscast and who is not. The publicity is lacking though. The actors, directors and everyone associated with the movie should go out to TV shows and the like to garner some free publicity. There should be innovative ways to generate word of mouth publicity. Hope it does not sink like Sankat City which I agree was good
ok – full disclaimer that I am affiliated to the film team. But i am not getting any money off it or anything – am just keen to support this kind of cinema so I just got on board to try to help in my own little way in this final stint of publicity somehow…
the tv shows and all are in the process… but as you can see, its slow. My guess (perhaps cynical) is that its just that the demand is the big superstars only on the shows, etc.
also see, since its not a mega-budget multistarrer its hard to recoup the loss of momentum from march. that point of time, the promos, the ads, etc. were all on.. but that flow got lost in the strike.
what i would like to ask is if anyone has any novel ideas of how we can promote this more – i’m kind of personally trying to contribute as my background is in IT, so I thought maybe some online modes – like facebook, twitter, etc., could be used… I might be naive in thinking this could have any impact but any little thing helps I guess
So if you have any unique solutions let me know. After all Barack Obama won using the power of the ‘net. Sure he had two years and we have two weeks, but i’m sure the passion for cinema can be a powerhouse compared to pure economics which seems to run mainstream cinema. we need to get some “CHANGE” :-)
I feel that the onus to support small films can be placed on the audience for such films, i.e. patrons of PFC etc when that film does not have backing.
Unfortunately, that excuse in no way would apply to Sikandar considering the company/banner backing it. Shit happens. The strike happened. Money got wasted. But does that mean that you just let it go at that point?
I can understand when an independent producer says he doesn’t have marketing dough left. But this is Reliance for crying out loud. Come on! It sends the wrong message to the more keen viewer. Does the company not have confidence in its product that they are not willing to invest more in its awareness?
I’m not trying to grind an axe here, and I say this in all due respect – one would imagine a company like Big Pictures to hire highly trained and proficient marketing professionals for selling their films. What confidence will other filmmakers making films for Big Pictures right now, or those who may think of coming to Big Pictures in the future have in the company if people are going to ask cinema bloggers/readers for marketing solutions online?
2 weeks before the release you guys are still considering Facebook? Do you know how long it takes to even establish enough group members for your unreleased film on Facebook? This is something that could be done for free, and later made more aggressive at a nominal cost. It should have started the day filming started.
The filmmakers should have been blogging their experiences on PFC since then, which could have been another free way to build up hype and support, especially considering the producer Mr. Mishra already has a blog on this site.
2 weeks of publicity can achieve nothing, unless good money is spent and material is blasted all over the mass media like TV, Radio, Newspapers, and Out of Home.
Just observe how relentlessly UTV promote their small films. The strategies are no secret.
And Udai, as you have clarified, you are practically volunteering your services for the promotion of this film, and that is something to be appreciated indeed.
But please make sure that the so-called decision makers or marketing strategists at BIG are made aware of this discussion on PFC.
why does ‘SIKANDAR’ seem so much like Sivan’s ‘TAHAAN’. Going by the promos of ‘SIKANDAR’, i get a feeling it’s got a ‘TAHAAN’ hangover !! why are films about kids titled with the protagonists name ? Ring a bell? ‘TAHAAN’,ANJALI, SIKANDAR??
hi sudhir….. good to see that directors like you are backing new talents, as producers….. i do hope to see ’sikandar’….. and i feel it should be something new being brought on the table….. cheers!
Hurray for SudhirJi!!!
I was among the lucky few who got to see ‘Sikandar’ at IFFLA this past April and the film is absolutely magnificent! It was also such a touching journey home for actor Sanjay Suri.
What a poignant story, especially for such a volatile region. Thanks for bringing such a wonderfully special film to the screen!
And where is ‘Tera Kya Hoga Johnny’? I saw that it was shown at Dubai Film Festival but nothing on this side – US – of the ocean…
Udai- As vijay has mentioned a lot of time has gone by without doing anything.Atleast now basic things like Facebook & Twitter activation should happen ASAP.
Try and get more people associated with Sikandar to blog on PFC and see if you can somehow squeeze in some money for media- TV,FM radio,print- either of them, some of them or all of them.
and if the money is an issue ( Reliance not having money is a mystery ) then why dont you take up just a few prominent bus shelters and hoardings for a period of 2-4 weeks.make sure the number of such spots i.e quantity is less but the quality of the spot be excellent.
But most important, get things going NOW !!!
Udai:
Post it as an event on as many facebook accounts as possibe. It can create a chain reaction as more and more people get invited. Of course you guys do not have much time.
Sevian ji, I know she was miscast because as my earlier comment makes apparent, I have seen the film. Her (Ayesha’s) looks, accent, body language nothing was even close to what the character should have had. She was constantly struggling to speak the lines convincingly.
I am not stupid to make such pointed comments just based on the film’s publicity material, or as you say, the lack of it.
Sir, should really appreciate the ‘intrusion’ thing you discussed openly and making us know the reality. Your belief in Piyush and his passion towards his work and the script should be lauded. All the best for your new role.
Good to see BIG pictures backing such films.
PS: I loved Anil Kapoor’s acting in Calcutta Mail.
Udai:
Why aren’t people like Madhavan and Sanjay Suri promoting the film? They have enough visibility and clout to at least call up a few journalists. Piyush Jha should also be blogging here.
hello mr sudhir ,
im gopi from andhra . hyderabad to be more specific . i worked as an assistant on iss raat ki subah nahin . i ve been trying to contact you desperately .couldn t find another way .
hoping to hear from you
varicose@rediffmail.com
Dear sudhir,
Ull remember me as the guy who once wrongly criticised you for a film u didnt make (namely koi mere dil se pooche) u rightly corrected me.
if u recollect u sent me positive signals bout makin a movie on a ship and based on seafarers life.dis is a virgin concept in india(and d world).please give it a serious thought man.if u feel its worth givin a thought call me@9987922466.
all d best
SANDEEP DWIVEDI