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FILM MAKING INFLUENCES - Life and People
This is Sudhir Mishra’s diary… albiet we took a different track due to our (over) enthusiasm to see him talk to us. The first few chapters of his diary are recorded by Smriti who then passed the draft for all of us, that we are now publishing this for Sudhir… the diary will take it’s regular track as soon as Sudhir finds some space and time, and will start posting himself, very soon…
A special thanks for Smriti to opening this diary, without her this would not have been possible
This is a transcript of the interview and we have maintained the feel of spoken language…. over to Sudhir Mishra…
FILM MAKING INFLUENCES - Life and People
I just try my best to make films that I can make and try not to get affected by fashions. I’ve tried my best not to follow the European model or the Indian model. I use what I’ve naturally grown up with.
GROWING UP…
I’ve had a very complicated upbringing, in terms of influences and where I come from. I am a University professor’s son – a mathematician’s son and I’ve lived off my father’s salary; except that I have got a lot in terms of influences from him. The more I discover myself now; I discover I am quite a lot like my father (D.N. Misra). It’s more and more now that I think about it. Now that I’ve become his friend, I hardly see him like a father. Of course he remains my father … but he’s a friend as well. Whatever my main influences are, they are because of him or through him.
When I was four – six - eight years – he showed me all sorts of films. He was one of the founder members of the Lucknow film society. Sometimes there were film screenings in our aangans and he showed me films we were not supposed to see as a kid - like Milos Forman’s Loves of a Blonde, Pather Panchali or Chaplin which he showed me a lot of.
He had a pretty eclectic taste. Never bullshitted. He enjoyed the experience of film viewing. I grew up with that experience.
Fortunately, because he was a non bullshitter, he never made me feel as if I was watching anything haloed or something superior. We were just watching a film and people who told stories and told them in their own way.
I had an uncle who used to react very violently to all these films that my dad used to show me and insisted that the best films were the Dara Singh ones. So, whenever he came home, the uncle showed me Dara Singh films. I saw all Dara Singh films at that time.
My father never interfered.
I had a younger uncle. He’s a very good friend of mine. He used to read comics. When I was ten, he was 25. He used to buy comics in my name. If someone would ask why he was buying comics, he would say he was buying them for his nephew. And then he’d give me these comics. As a kid, I had one of the biggest collections of comics – about 5,000 comics. They were all sorts of titles. I don’t know if you’ve heard of something like Classics Illustrated which is how I was introduced to a lot of good works of literature – I read Hamlet, The Prisoner of Zenda, Three musketeers, Count of Monte Cristo. All these titles were available as comics. I don’t know if they are still printed. And Superman and Phantom and Garth.
And then, my paternal grandmother was an influence. My grandfather who was Lucknow’s biggest doctor had left home – he had gotten married again and was living separately from us. My grandmother used to keep showing me Sahib, Bibi aur Ghulam, because I think she identified a bit with the Meena Kumari character. I saw S-B-G around 25 times – every time it got released. But my father never interfered with that either. I saw it 25 times, also – because my grandmother gave me 8 annas each time.
My maternal grandmother used to like a film called Sant Gyaneshwar and showed me that. Even though my father was a scientist - a mathematician and one of the most genuinely secular men I have ever seen, he never taught me any religion.
In fact, the only condition he put on my mother was that you are not going to teach my children anything about religion. And you’re never going to take them to a temple. I never had a religious upbringing. But, of course you can’t control everything. My grandmother told me some religious stories as well.
Then, I had a brother, his name was Sudhanshu. He was – and again, I am trying hard not to bullshit – he taught me cinema. He joined the Film Institute. He was a near genius who sort of probably failed because he got into a party sort of life. He told me once that he went into a party in 1977 and when he came out the party followed him out. He sort of used his mind up a lot with all sorts of things. He was a very good film-maker who never made a film.
He taught me film making. I never went to the institute and lot of people thought that I did, because I used to go and stay in his room. I would teach him what I learnt in Bombay, because I came and became an assistant here – with Vinod Chopra and Kundan Shah. But, my main influence, my teacher in cinema was my brother. I still think, when I look at my own films, I don’t see influences of those who I assisted, but personally if I don’t bullshit, I see a lot of him in them. He taught me mis-en scene. He taught me how to block a sequence and how at different times cinema is an amalgamation of many things. He taught me the relationship between the camera and the subject and that often the subject is an actor and often it’s not an actor.
And then I was really fortunate…really fortunate that a girl called Renu Saluja brought me into her life. I kind of married her. It wasn’t a marriage. It was a personal marriage. I lived with her for 12 years and that was so fortunate in the sense, she had so much influence on me, that it wasn’t funny. And it wasn’t merely about cinema. She taught me about people and how to handle life. She taught me in fact, not to bullshit.
Both Sudhanshu and Renu taught me that cinema is about the concrete and it’s in the doing and that we always know more than our talent. There is always a gap between knowledge and talent. And cinema is about your talent and not about your knowledge. It’s about your instinct. So, when knowledge becomes instinct, it is that knowledge which is ingrained in you and what you can work with. At a time when you write and you work, you follow your instinct and try and follow what works for you. When you make a film with that intention you often tap into what you are.
When did I start making sense of all these influences in my work? When I met a man called Badal Sircar. I was 20-21 years old. This man told me how to make use, make sense of what I knew, to make sense of my influences and how to put them in ones work.
In a sense, Badal Sircar was probably the first great artist I had met in a personal way. I worked with him for about a year and a half. We formed a group, called Workshop Theatre in Delhi where he used to take workshops and we did two or three plays - and very idealistic. There was no notion of ‘director’ and 7-8 people formed this group who said there would be no director and so we will all, sort of, play the director - which is not a workable proposition. But for those one and a half years, you work with a great man. In a sense, all those individuals tried to create something of their own. The process was a way of opening up your head. The best part of Badal Sircar was that he was not trying to govern you. He was trying to open you up and make you find out the person you were.
In a sense it was interesting, even though I escaped from him. Because after a while every person becomes a cult figure or a guru and you want to get away if you want to do something of your own.
BREAKING IN…
My first credit was when I was very young. I was 23-24 years old at that time. It was for Jaane Bhi do Yaaron. And please, I’d like to emphasize that Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron is a Kundan Shah film, as in, he determined the film. And we were there, in a sense, to aid him. Because at the moment, I am making films more than Kundan is, therefore, a lot of credit starts accruing. But you know, it’s a Kundan Shah film on which I sort of worked and I guess I must have done something because he gave me the credit.
It was interesting to work on a material that was not yours and in a city, which was not totally yours, but the problems were the same you were seeing elsewhere. That was my first experience and that’s when I realized I could write. I didn’t know whether I could write. In hindsight you can say anything, but I didn’t know that I could write. I did Jaane Bhi do Yaaron and worked on Mohan Joshi Hazir ho. I am credited with the screenplay for both films. Then, I was in Khamosh, with Vinod Chopra. In these three films, I realized that I could write but I didn’t want to write what I was writing at that time. That, I had to, if I want to make films, I have to delve a bit more into myself.
That realization came to me. And it is very nice, because I worked with film makers who were not very senior. Mohan Joshi… was Saeed’s third film, Khamosh was Vinod’s second film, Jaane bhi do yaaron was Kundan’s first film. I was not working with people I was awestruck by. And they were wonderful people who gave me a lot of space at that time. In a sense, they allowed me to learn on my own. They were not cult guru types who tried to impose a theory of the world, life or cinema. Also, they respected you for who you were. It was quite a wonderful group.
Those four or five years were wonderful. I came into cinema in the 1980s.That was the last good phase of the so called parallel cinema. After 1986-‘87 it all disappeared. That phase was interesting. I met wonderful people who are still my friends. I was introduced to Ketan(Mehta), I liked his cinema. What was interesting was the possibility that you could do what you wanted to do – that idea of freedom. I met Shekhar (Kapur) and even Javed Akhtar. I had a wonderful relation with Javed Akhtar from 1985-2000. But from 1985-‘95 he was like my elder brother. Again, he was not trying to impose his view, but allowing you spaces in which you could grow – these were some people you could have a dialogue with. I think both, Javed and Shabana are very influential in my life in some way also.
And there were so many disparate types of people – there was Vinod, there was Saeed, there was Kundan, Javed, Shekhar, Mahesh Bhatt. And all of them were, kind of starting out at that time. And there was Mani Kaul and Kumar Shahani. And I am not at all influenced by their kind of film making but Mani was a wonderful person. Mani has no idea of what he has given me. I used to watch him as an individual and again, he was wonderful in the sense of opening up your head. And so were all these individuals with whom you interacted. A lot of people treat Mani and Kumar as cult figures, but I had no such notion. I come from a background, where there was no such thing as a cult figure and my father had ensured that I am independent in the head. When I met these people, they were wonderful and I found that they were excited about the medium. And it was good that they were all around, so everybody was doing things that were different and not mimicking each other. And therefore, you also said, oh, I am not like the rest of them, I am like someone else and so became someone else.
It was that atmosphere at that time, which was very liberating.
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Welcome Mr Mishra On PFC.
Thanks for these nice threads from your diary. Everything is powerful like Bull here.
A real Red Bull!:)
Thanks again for sharing your experience with us , audience of your cinema. Your presence here brings immense pleasure to us.
HAZAARON KHWAHISHEIN AISI KI HAR KHWAHISH PAR DUM NIKLE.BAHOT NIKLE MERE ARMAAN,PHIR BHI KAM NIKLE.WELCOME SIR.
Wow…This indeed was good reading…:)
Welcome to PFC Sudhir…
And Thanks oz, Smriti…thanks a lot guys…
Sir,really feel priviledged that you had wished to share the experiences with people that lead your evolvement as a film-maker. Really good to hear the names of especially someone like Badal Sarkar. One of my friends who attended his theatre workshop told me about this unique experience: “Badal-da was teaching us about body-expression. First he asked us to walk like a doctor,then as a businessman,then as a leader,as a coolie..and a lot of others. When all these were done,he gave us an exercise, now walk like someone who’s a no-body.”
Sir,looking forward to more panna-s from your precious diary.
Thanks sir for the insight on the influences in your life. Have tasted blood baying for more……more on your first film Yeh Woh Manzil Yo Nahi and….Iss Raat Ki Subah Nahi and I have heard a reaction when Nirmal Pandey gave his first shot and uttered “Poozzaa” instead of Pooja!!!
thank you smriti for bringing sudhirji to PFC.. welcome sir.. some great anecdotes there. looking fwd to more…
great!
i dint read the post. not time, will read it later.
but im here, sir, to tell u that i have so much gratitude for u for giving us hazaaron khwaishein aisi
i will be ever thankful to u
a very warm welcome to u from all of us here at PFC
Welcome sir. We need all the lessons that you can teach us.
Thanks Smriti!
Welcome to PFC, and what a great way to start. Funny, two weeks ago I didn’t know who you were, but between Traffic Signal and this post, I am becoming a fan…
Sudhirji,
Until a few years back Sudhir Mishra to me was a mystic genius responsible for films like Jaane Bhi DO Yaaron (which you clarified in this post) and my pesonal favorite - Yeh Woh Manzil Tho Nahin. Now, thanks to Google, a simple search on your name yields every published photo, interview, essay etc. that you ever did.
Creepy eh?? …but definitely a treat for your fans to put a face to the name and get a glimpse into the mind behind some really good films (in all sincerity sir, I doubt you can better your very own Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi :) )
Why in the world aren’t films like yours and others from the parallel cinema movement of the 70’s and 80’s, not made available on DVD? Here is a format that is cheap, popular and while it may not be a substitute for a big-screen movie watching experience, it can still recreate the magic of the feature when mastered correctly.
Thanks to the internet and such forums like PFC, good films can be marketed for little or no cost and find it’s way to the right audience.
I surely hope filmakers such as yourself begin a crusade to bring out good films on DVD (whatever happened to Cinebella??)
Anyway, I found this site yesterday and am hooked. And your post this morning was a real treat. Here’s wishing you the best in all your endeavors :)
-Savio
:owooooooow im so excited to read Sudhir sirs posts!
welcome sir!.
and thanks Smriti and OZ and everyone else involved in making this site more and more addictive with each passing day.
This was the most insightful thing I have read in a long time. Thank God for PFC. Sudhir Mishra is a filmaker I have always admired, and I am so gratified and humbled to hear his thoughts here.
Wow. Its a pleasure to hear from horse’s mouth :d/
Sudhir ji, welcome sir! Smriti, thank you!!!
Hello sudhir sir, I think one of the plays you did with Badal sircar was “BHOMA” sometime around 1978, in which you played the role of charecter “1″… while reading the script I saw your name and guessed it was you.
Good to see you here
welcome Sir … a great read !!!!
and thans smriti and oz for this ^:)^^:)^
arre smarty…i knew you would do it…tumhare alava aur koi nahin kar sakta…you gor Sudhir Mishra on board…man! brilliant! read the post…that is brilliant too…
rosh..hey..this is mr sudhir mishra’s diary..dont post comments 2 me :) but point taken..thanks all..now we make sure we keep him engaged with PFC and learn a lot frm him. rarely does someone come and share their experiences with such honesty.
I have a question for Sudhir jee. whose idea it was to name the park “antonioni park”. Is it Kundan Shah’s tribute to the maestro’s Blow Up or yours ? Would love to hear about your views, if it is your idea (By views, I meant - what captivated you about Blow Up ? )
Wonderful Recollections, great to hear some background on the movies we loved while growing up.
Thanks for a nice glimpse of behind the scenes.
Sudhirji, a very warm welcome. So, finally we got u!!! Nice to know about all these small details that contributed to your thought prcoess. Waiting eagerly for ur next post…. n plz plz few ones on…Ye Woh Manzil To Nahi, Hazaroon Khawshein Aisi and Khoya Khoya Khoya Chand.
Smriti, wow!!! great work ya. Thnx a ton!!
That was very nice to read indeed! Congrats, Smriti, for the good work.
Dear Mr Mishra,
I liked your Hazaaron khwaaishein aisi hi
just want to know wat happened to ur movie with winners of cinestars ki khoj part 1
Hey Sudhir,
Its good to know about you and your growth as a film maker. Welcome aboard…
Welcome on board Sudhir. Lookin forward to some exciting and educational post from you.
Cheers
Reading out people so powerful yet very simple is an experience in itself! Sudhirji you gave us a great insight of ur life. When we read about people like u, spoken so honestly without any filmy andaz, its a real learning. Its great to be in company with so much good people around.
hi sudhir,
loved the pages from ur life…came to know a lot of new things about u…and ‘hazaaron…’ is
one of my favourite films (actually i fell in love with chitrangada singh after the movie…literally)…hope u give us more of such beautiful movies.
love
raaj
thank you……….very much
pls keep writing………
so! we can b inspired!……..& find ourselfs
lets create tat liberatin time through net!
& ya!i ve been bought with dara singh& comics too!
keep rockin!
Thank you very much smriti for your efforts….you really have the passion for cinema….and welcome sudhirji to pfc.
very interesting read indeed…
I am a newcomer to this site. Stumbled upon a couple of days back, looking for something to with Anurag.
Thanx! Mishraji, for the knick-knacks of info which kinda made a whole image. Haven’t watched your early works but dare say that Hazaron… is among the best cinema I’v ever seen. & may I humbly suggest a sequel to Hazaron?
I, too, was part of the Badal Sircar theatre workshop in Sriram Centre sometme in the 80s…of course, am too insignificant now…but it was nice reading all about those times..truly a liberating atomsphere…but finacially too binding if you wanted to do something of your own…
really loved reading this…this man is one of my fav directors…guess his best is yet to cum…
Hey Smriti - When are you meeting Sudhir again yaar??? please do so soon… eagerly awaiting to hear from the man…
Main ZInda hoon was a fab movie…nice screenplay by u Mr.Mishra…i wud like to see Yeh Woh Manzil To Nahin…plz help me witht he dvd/vcd of Yeh Woh Manzil To Nahin
Hi Sir,
Great to see u at this virtual cafe.I wanted to thank u eversince I saw ur “Ye vo manzil to nahi” (courtesy Doordarshan). That was the first dose of Political Romanticism.I was 10 or 11 then.
My Baba (a political commentetator by profession)tried hard to remove that romantic part of it.But he could not.Ultimately he gave up and said - ab main teri destiny to nahi badal sakta na? Bas khush rah.
I can feel the pain and anger in his eyes when he talks about Babri Masjid demolition …. pathos in his voice when he says, ” Bitiya, for the first time in the political history of India, there was no state for eight hours.The shrewdest politician of India didnt exercise his power and sovereignty.” And my plain and simple question is “why cant we change it thru …”.He doesnt respond. Anyways I am really sandwiched between Baba’s Gandhian Pragmatism and the infectious romanticism.But I know wht suits my inner instinct…..
I dont know how often u check ur mails.But I really want u to read this one and help me get the DVD/VCD of this film.I want my younger brother to watch this film.And even I want to watch it again.All I remember is laal deewaren…. I must tell u one thing, when I came to Delhi to study my first was Gwyer Hall. I asked my uncle, if I had been to this place ever with anyone.He said, no.After 15 mnts of discussion he told me that a film called Ye Vo Manzil To Nahi was shot there.And I was ….
Sincere Regards
It would have been great if you could also talk about how you got to make ‘Yeh woh manzil toh nahin?’. And i remember a few years back you had spoken to a small group in bombay about your dream, during younger days, of making movies with theatre greats like Habib Tanvir, B.V.Karanth etc.
:)
Thank you all of you for such a nice piece on Sudhir Mishra, he is so much normal…
Does any one knows what happened to his Kal yesterday and tomorrow
Can someone inform where to get a dvd/vcd of “yeh woh manzil to nahin”???
Sorry, I thought we were here to discuss cinema and not anyone;s personal biography.
Well Aashish, we are all very much interested in knowing about Mr. Mishra’s “personal biography” because in sharing his experiences with us, he provides a lot of insight on the atmosphere of the time in which he started off as a filmmaker. For all the aspiring filmmakers who regularly read and write on PFC, Mr. Mishra is a role-model and we find his story very inspirational. This is not just a place to discuss which film we like and why, but also a platform to get to know the storytellers we admire a little closer.
By the way, for all Sudhir Mishra fans, next week, during the IFFLA, we are doing a tribute to Deepti Naval, and as part of the tribute, we are screening Sudhirji’s “Main Zinda Hoon”, a rare film, one of his finest, and in a brand new print that NFDC has struck for us.
It was a pleasure reading this.
I am a huge fan of Sudhir Mishra…It was interesting to know certain facets of his life…
eagerly waiting for his next release !!!! [:d/]
Sudhir,
I did not know about your work before Hazrooin kwaishein mein. Coming from a communist family I could realte to Ahuja’s charecter so easily. When I saw that, I just wished I had enough money to dub that movie into telugu. Its just a masterpiece that many people just missed.
i have seen HAZARON twice last week.
i am very glad to find your diary here.
that is one of the best things happening on the net and for us.
it is a treat!
sudhir saheb salaams,
I was just talking to my mother in lucknow. she told me that a niece of majaz is putting together the poet’s work, and much about the man in a book.
I thought you might want to take a look at this work?
waiting to watch kkc here.
mehru/vienna
Hi Sudhir,
it is moving to get a candid glimpse into the makings of you! was also happy to read ystdy about a book released on Renu. Would like a copy. Her taking me into her life so wholesomely was for me exhilarating,inexplicable yet so timely. Sudhanshu’s Award winning short film shown at MIFF in which there was this one shot that repeats time n again…leaves from a tree..or snow flakes..wafts into mind again today. Was the last we met. I think sometimes of how we are all woven into life through people and that ‘chance’ is not merely that…good of Smriti to just ‘do’ the diary concretely
I happened to see Chameli yesterday–a long time after its release and thought it was world-class cinema and deserved far more critical acclaim than it got upon its release.
Chameli was awesome, I agree with Rekha Surya. And Dharavi, after 14 years, is still so contemporary and poignant. It goes to show that a great film doesn’t need to have an astronomical budget but simply a good story, special actors and enough respect for its audience. Thank you Mr. Mishra for all your masterpieces…
[...] such sheer brilliance is a post by Sudhir Mishra about the influences in his life…. this is experience at its delightful peak…. [...]
Dear Sudhir Bai,
We studied in the same school - Saugar St. Joseph’s. Sudhanshu (that tall lad) was my class-mate alongwith Kunal,Nishi, Supratika (his brother was your classmate). I was thrilled reading your bio-graphy and I am sorry to
hear about my classmate(your brother Sudhanshu). I lately came to know about your movie and films. I still remember you (the tall guy in blue and white uniform with red tie) marhing into the school assembly. I happy to see your
photo now and you have gone grey a bit. You have have a sister too (Sunita) I remember. Lately I was in touch with all my saugar friends and came to know about you.
How are you? Do give me reply at my email if possible.
With sincere regards,
Babu S. Philip
(remember a new black Malayalee boy (son of Major Philip Kottaram) in Class VII during 1971-72 period alongwith your brother.
You might be remembering chandu, Vijay and their Sister
Usha (Shailaja Menon). I won’t trouble you like people but do give me a reply. Please do give me your telephone number.
KYA BAAT HAE SIR….APKO PADH KE ITNA KUCH SIKHNE KO MILL GAYA …OCEANS CINEFAN MAIN AATEY RAHIEGA…DILLI WALEY APSE BAHUT PYAAR KARTE HAIN
can sudhir ji or any one else tell me how or where i can get hold of a dv or vcd or yeh woh manzil to nahi. had seen it ages ago - one of my favourites- but cant locate it on the web or elsewhere. even an info on which company has brought out its dvd will be very helpful.waiting for a reply
partha sarathi ghatak
dear sir how r u? i m RAJEEV son of mr. chandrika prasad yadav (employee of K.K.C. College)Lucknow I have a story about world biggest invention a wonderful machine which was made by a french scientist before 350 years, by some reason it got damage and very few persons know this matter. from that time till present no any scientist could make that, but this is the most needful invention of present world.it was important than the invention of computer and electricity. I include in this story love, imotions, comedy, tragidy,suspence,very good songs,and a very needful world issue which is the soul of this story like the film “KOI MIL GAYA” ,but it is different story.
i hope that u will give importance to me.
PLEAS CONTACT ME AT—-
RAJEEV YADAV
532/34 kha mehandi tola, Dandaiya bazar, Aliganj, Lucknow
Mob- 09936067819
email-luckyomtader@rediffmail.com
dear sir how r u? i m RAJEEV son of mr. chandrika prasad yadav (employee of K.K.C. College)Lucknow,who’s founder president was “Shri Jay Narayan Mishra” and now its president is “Shri Virendra Nath Mishra”. I have a story about world biggest invention a wonderful machine which was made by a french scientist before 350 years, by some reason it got damage and very few persons know this matter. from that time till present no any scientist could make that, but this is the most needful invention of present world.it was important than the invention of computer and electricity. I include in this story love, imotions, comedy, tragidy,suspence,very good songs,and a very needful world issue which is the soul of this story like the film “KOI MIL GAYA” ,but it is different story.
i hope that u will give importance to me.
PLEAS CONTACT ME AT—-
RAJEEV YADAV
532/34 kha mehandi tola, Dandaiya bazar, Aliganj, Lucknow
Mob- 09936067819
email-luckyomtader@rediffmail.com