Sponsor PFCOne
(9 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)
Loading ...
How Dil Dosti Etc Came into Being
Visiting Passion For Cinema, I realize how it has become a very active forum for discussing Indian film works. PFC is also a place where filmmakers of now and the future champion the films they like, cut the ill-fated ones to pieces and battle out the elements they want to defend or discard. It is a virtual Congress that is in session day-in and day-out. I confess I am a little edgy entering this cinema cacophony and melaa, but now joining you, I too will try find a corner, spread a mat and display my wares…
The film that I would like to talk about happens to be my own, Dil Dosit Etc. It is heartening to notice the presence of first buzz on my film on PFC (Anurag Kashyap’s post ‘Few more gems to look forward to…’)…
For the present post, I thought it may be worthwhile to recall how did the story, the themes and plots of Dil Dosit Etc (DDE) start and took shape? … I had made two documentary films and several shorts when I decided to write a feature film script. After several false starts, I realized that I was shy of ‘inventing’ names or digressing from my actual experiences and writing completely fictional plots. My research background made sure that the so called proverbial bird overlooking my shoulder instead of doling out stories would instead always warn me to not stray from the facts… and so, I was in need of a springboard of sorts to start a story for the film. Living abroad thinking of films, one film maker you can not get away is Satyajit Ray (or was it my Ray phase?). It came to me to revisit the cinema character of Apurv – Ray had shown the Bibhuti Bhushan’s autobiographical character in three of his films. I wanted to see what has happened to this Apurv several decades after Independence amidst the talk of development and growth India was seeing in recent years. It was most attractive for me re-imagine this Apurv in his college and city years. I brought him from Ray’s Calcutta to the college life in Delhi, a city I know well. Apurv today would be someone who is awash with wealth and prospects and can afford to not live up to the conservative expectations of education and culture that we have seen for generations…
Now, what next?
I was aware of and wanted to speak of the other aspect of this country, and one doesn’t mean just rich and poor, but also about the difference in value systems, and thus came the plan to oppose the themes of liberal and conservative in the film. One needed to produce a contrast to the rich, cosmopolitan, free-of-past Apurv, with someone who is still steeped in lack of opportunities and rooted in conservative values. Thus Sanjay Mishra was invented, one who had come from Bihar from a middle-class background full of parental expectations. And it was with these 3 elements: two protagonists in Apurv and Sanjay, the context of liberal and conservative, and the cityscape of Delhi that I began writing the story for Dil Dosti Etc.
But then how does one play out these themes in terms of plots and stories? Around this time I met Pawan Sony (on webcinema, where I had advertised for writers), and we agreed to co-write the screenplay. We struggled with several scenarios such as Mandal, Music, Drug scenes and even student gangs that could provide the backbone and/ or the background to the Apurv-Sanjay-in Delhi college story. We agreed that given the age, money and values of Apurv, he would be a libertine, who lives in a world where there are no values or moral absolutes and will indulge in sex and pleasures. He would be in this elusive search for girls he can ‘love’. Sanjay Mishra on the other hand, will have to use conservative means to produce meaning in his life. And what’s more conservative than the way politics works (particularly on the surface), where he would be under public scrutiny, forced to believe many things he often says for rhetoric. So Mishra became a senior student politician in a Delhi college who provides both patronage and friedship to Apurv. Now, to progress we needed to give them ‘goals’[to use the common screenplay term] – Sanjay would have to win his election despite the odds against him. And, Apurv? We wracked our brains over several drafts when it occurred to me that somehow for Apurv to fulfill his ‘goal’ in the film, he will need to sleep with several girls in a single day [I still remember the spot in Suveen Sinha’s Barsaati where I was putting up in Delhi and where Pawan and I were discussing our frustrating experience on finding the road ahead and when this idea hit us]. To me Apurv lived in a world where there are no values or moral absolutes; where he is a part of a generation that can afford to indulge in pleasures. A goal of sleeping with three girls without any misgivings of a candyfloss romance seemed like a natural conclusion to his story [for the record, we also considered the classical odd number 5 as the number of girls Apurv needed to sleep in a single day, but that, for several reasons, seemed harder to justify!]. So Sex and Politics became the two key themes of the film.
Having pegged the two main characters and their themes started our work of intertwining the plots in such a manner that organically leads to setting up of Apurv’s target…. thus at some point, making observations on how his new friend Apurv has had it easy with girls, Sanjay Mishra throws the challenge if he can have sex with 2 women on a single day. The quiet of the place and his own confidence prompts Apurv to say, ‘Yes, I can’. Sanjay throws another bait, ‘Can you do 3 women in a day?’ Apurv answers in negative [Pawan Sony came up with this excellent piece of dialogue for Apurv’s reply, ‘Safed paani ki jheel samajh rakha hai kya’] but as Sanjay’s campaign heats up, now Apurv too has finally got a challenge to live up to. The task will carry both a visceral and a symbolic meaning for him.
In fleshing out characters and stories around these two men and the themes of politics and sex that pointed to the climax above, we tried to cover several dimensions, context, and feel that college life in Delhi comes with. For example, the three female leads, that of a prostitute, a school girl and a rich model are there not only for the purpose of providing ‘love interests’ to our heroes but represent a range of class and individual ambitions. Within the college and hostel atmosphere, we tried to weave an ensemble of characters that represent different backgrounds and who lend their other own themes representative of the place and time. So you have a Jat gang who opposes Sanjay’s candidature, and among hostellers you have Sonu, an energetic loafer and voyeur, Deepak a visually-impaired hosteller with homosexual leanings, and Mark, an indophile American. The screenplay also tried to get in the feel of the city of Delhi where one sees Apurv visiting red light area in GB road, and on to the school girl’s life in a middle-class Punjabi household in Kamla Nagar, to farm house parties in Mehrauli and Sunday book bazaars at Ajmeri Gate to the café and pubs in Delhi.
… before I end this post, let me come back to Satyajit Ray – there are no direct allusions to Ray’s Apurv trilogy in Dil Dosti Etc but I will like to point to one reference, and this is one of the first visual images that came to me along with the idea of transporting Apurv to the present – this is a take off from the serene buggy ride in Satyajit Ray’s Apur Sansar. There Apurv is traveling with his wife in the carriage, after a performance of a religious jatra.. In the buggy, the wife lights a cigarette for Apurv as a concession she is giving to him. I visualized ‘my’ Apurv coming out of a multiplex cinema theatre traveling in a taxi, and this time his cigarette is lit by a low-end prostitute while Apurv is trying to get more concessions from her (indeed making the prostitute character, Vaishali come into being before Sanjay Mishra did).
- Manish Tiwary
p.s. Thank you Sourabh, Somen and Parul for impressing upon me how important it is to post on PFC and for putting me on to Oz.
Dil Dosti Etc releases on 28th September. Dil Dosti Etc’ players include Imaad Shah (as Apurv), Shreyas Talpade (as Sanjay Mishra), Smriti Mishra Nikita Anand, Ishitta Sharma.
The film has been produced by Prakash Jha.
Bloggers can visit the film’s homepage for more information.
www.dildostietc.com
[youtube]dT80i0tXWzA[/youtube]
61 Responses to “How Dil Dosti Etc Came into Being”
Leave a Reply
Our Comments Policy : The following kinds of comments are troll capped, blocked and/or commenter's identity reported publicly: Verbal abuse, personal attacks, hate statements, spam, trolls, advertising. Please assist us in keeping the comments clean. Use the contact form to let us know if you find unwarranted comments on PFC. Thank you.
- Mumbai Meri Jaan: Winner of a film
- Manorama Six Feet Under: A Six Pack sexy movie!
- Madhumati - A Tale of Two Generations
- TZP & JTYJN: Overhyped ‘yes’,great movies ‘No’
- The Torture Series 2: Insaaf Main Karoonga
- TZP & JTYJN: Overhyped ‘yes’,great movies ‘No’
- MUMBAI MERI JAAN - Bravo!!!
- The Torture Series 2: Insaaf Main Karoonga
- Madhumati - A Tale of Two Generations
- The RGV PFC… Face Off!
Recent Posts:
Hottest Today:
This is the first time I’m watching the promo… it does have a nice freshness to it… Looking forward to it’s release! Does it get a US release at the same time it opens in India?
Good luck with your film Manish. I was in the office when you were auditioning for Dil Dosti. It was January 2006. Alankrita kept saying to me that you are making just my kind of film. Been waiting since then. I even remember the line you were giving the girls for your auditions :)
My regards & love to everyone at office. I miss Kailash’s chai.
*********
Last Film - 3:10 to YUMA (6/10)
Music - http://www.pandora.com
Book - Confessions of a Economic Hitman
I didn’t like the short promos on tv, but after watching this trailer, I am looking forward to the film. It has that retro charm to it, a purani dilli feel. Imaad looks very screen friendly and realistic. I skipped reading some bits as I would like to see the film first.
Welcome to PFC, Manish!:)
Manishji, welcome to PFC.
Smriti Mishra, very talented actress, looking forward..
Manish ji,thanks for start blogging on PFC.:x:x
Dil Dosti etc. story is quite interesting and lyrics of song “Dum laga” is very very real,its 100% matching with my hostel days life :d
Eagerly waiting for Dil Dosti etc…
Hi Manish, waiting for the film.this post has actually built my curiosity & expectations more towards the film. the look of the film reminds me of Haasil which i loved.
Sex and politics …interesting …
eagerly waiting …
welcome aboard manish.. and stay on here.. great stuff.. really looking forward to your film.. takes me back to my teen years..
heard a lot bout the film frm ur assistants…looking forward to iys release
loved the song and waiting for the movie…gudluck manish..
Ray propped up his story of Apu in Apur Sansar with a lot of layers and characters that were there from his point of view (Apu’s)…on reading your premise, I feel one distinct change in thought process is that it is’nt a personal POV but this social change dictated by backgrounds towards the future…good propellants for a smooth story..god should be in the details!!!
Directors: please try to cut down on the length/content of your promos. Otherwise what’s left to watch? Looking forward to this nonetheless…love Delhi and anything which attempts a realistic look at college life (via the themes mentioned) is def worth a dekho. Liked Imaad in YHTKH and Shreyas is always good, so should be an interesting combi all round.
Great promo ..
and Smriti Mishra is back .. wow !!
welcome aboard Manish. great to hav u here. with shreyas,imaad n smriti…m looking forward to the film.
about 2/3/5 girls…there used to be a short form during my school/college days CAPSTAN ? And the answer is when u reverse it…NATSPAC. those who know will understand, those who dont… figure out….ha ha ha.
N i hope u r reading the comments n will reply. n who has sung this more banke chaliya…sound so good. also the songs by agnee r damn good.
Mr Tiwary!
Thankyou for signing Imaad Shah!
I think he is very talented and stands out from the crowd.
He was extremley good in ‘YHTK’ and even in ‘Morning Fog’.
Will definitely be watching this.
Ofcourse, all depends if it’s shown here or not.
All the very best with your movie.
Hi
Thanks for giving me such a warm welcome! I have enjoyed the various responses to the posts - thank you! To address some of the questions, Oz, Dil Dosti Etc is getting an all India release on 28 September, but it will be another week or so from now that I will know if it is getting a simultaneous US/ Europe release (I can tell you that a subtitled master print is getting ready). Mainak, I cant seem to recall you from Prakash
All the luck to u for dil dosti…promo’s r very appealing…looking very fresh…first film wala enthu nazar aaya in all the shots…:)u have a fab producer in prakash jha m sure he’ll make sure that this film gets seen by lot of ppl…and a big salaam to u for gettin back smriti on the big screen!! hope to see her more often…more power to u bro!!
Manish .. I am very interested to know this .. who subtitles the Hindi movies ?
Some of the subtitles in Hindi movies are really idiotic :(( and I hope that you have taken care that the subtitles of your movies are sensible enough :-?
Hi - The music of Dil Dosti is out
Glad to know that you have approved the subtitle text, Manish.
And very glad to know that you are ‘gentleman’ enough to say sorry for the name misspelling. Although I did not mind, really. :x
As a non-film-maker, I wanted to know what the usual process for ’subtitling’ for any movie is. And, is there any way, I can volunteer to do the same for movies released in the USA.
I meant .. Hindi movies released in the USA.
Maybe, movies which do not have a big budget to get the subtitles professionally done.
(I have to admit that I have selfish motives behind this .. one being to get to watch the movie, before it releases and the second being, be involved in the film-making process, with whatever small contribution I can make)
I hope the “Dum Laga” track becomes a rage; it probably will become a hit between the college/uni crowd. Goondas like it. I did not like the rest of soundtrack - and hope you haven’t included any of those tracks (apart from Dum Laga) in the movie. if you have then.. koi baat nahi..
anyway, just to let you know, “.. iss sehar ke papa paincho hum hain..”, well, i’d like to believe that, but anyway, apun phir bhi mangega a hatfa - a monthly hafta……
@Manish. Welcome to PFC. Very interesting post. Interesting to read the way your characters have evolved. Ray is one of my all time fav too. I was not very hooked on my the promos but after reading your post want to really see the film. best wishes and looking forward to seeing the film.
good luck manish.
the narration in the promo? Is it there in the movie too? I feel like when used in the movies, this whole narration bit feels too self conscious because people (in the movie) are spouting their deepest thoughts on what life means to them etc and it feels like a cheat in getting to know the character. I would much prefer to see the character’s beliefs through their actions. Looking fwd to the release.
Hi Manish, there’s just one query that why the promos that are shown on TV are so unimpressive and uninteresting?…same thing happened with Haasil( one of the better college politics movie made ever)…why dont these small movie have a good marketing strategy?
HI Manish,
Boss, all the best… Surya here, we met at Sourabh’s house. So all excited and nervous? Par chinta nako re… with whatever i read in your post i think it will work…
anyways keeping my fingers crossed… cheers…
hi manish…i belive anything which is cleverly new…n treated well is gooo make to make the movie click..way to go manish ..ull do well with the movie..i liked the promos…its gonna be subtle hard hitting..u dont wen the movie is gonna hit you..all the best
sorry lot of typos above..figure it out ppl..my bad
Shreyas Talpade - Another brilliant actor and what an eye for scripts/projects… :d/
Iqbal, Dor and now this film…
I liked him in apna sapna money money as well…
regards’ JMD!
Manan Singh KATOHORA - Another uncanny spammer and what a perseverance… posting shit on the otherwise blemish free sites.
IMDB, Yahoo and now this site.
I liked him for showcasing his ignorance in Arya.
regards’JMD (Jail Manan Dickshit)!
If anyone had any doubts about the “non resident Bihari”’s Ph.D from Cambridge, then the scholarly tone and analytical tenor of Manish’s piece, would have surely put those doubts to rest.. ha..ha..
Great debut piece M… Having seen your films evolution right from the writing of the script to its forthcoming release, i do know for a fact that there are many more fascinating… and enlightening… details in the journeyscape of your film that would make for many more interesting articles…
So welcome aboard buddy… and to use a line from one of your songs… (btw the music rocks!)… “Dam laga, Dam laga… Laga re Dhakka re!”
manish,
achchha laga padh kar.umeed karta hoon ki aap ki film ham sabhi ko pasand aaye.aap ka josh aur aapki ekaagrata prabhavit karti hai.shubhkaamnaayen!!!
hey manish, all the best for your release. remembering reading your script a year or so ago and loving it… cheers shridhar
Welcome to PFC, Shridhar… absolutely fantastic to see you here! :)
Hi Manish,
the plot seems quite interesting and fresh.. Wish u the very best!
turrtle
ajay ji
Manish,
We’re neighbors on this site!! Thanks for your comments. Much appreciated.
The promos of your film are looking good. Will definitely be seeing it.
It’s incredible how incestuous movie circles are; Arvind, Onir, Sriram, etc. Plus I know Hina, I believe she worked on your edit.
manish ,
being a delhi univ student myself , DDE gives a nice bout of nostalgia. imaad of course is talented , though to me looks more like a bombay univ student more than from being a DUite. But he carries genes that i am sure would lend more credence to the character he’d be etching out in DDE. Shreyas again , would not sound like a bihari union leader like they have in hansraj / ramjas. also , that safed paani ka talaab is making for an ughy read but am sure it’ll play out less obnoxious on the screen.
best of luck for the 28th.
Hi Manish M…
It’s Nice to Review the Critics. as a Whole (as Projected in the Promos)Definitely it will be a great/Interesting Movie to watch. :)>- Chulbul
saw your movie..i liked it very much…i liked the charectorization of the characters..its great…very good job…and whats the name of the books apurv reads?? the book when he first meets the school girl??has it to do anything with the guy’s character?? were u influenced?
just watched the film and i would like to say… “wah tiwary ji, kya movie banayi hai. dil khush ho gaya. 3rd brilliant movie in a row. meri bhi hat trick ho gayi.”
the bourne ultimatum, johnny gaddar and dil dosti etc. hope my spree continues.
Manish Sir… Brilliant!!! Loved the movie…
havent see the movie yet, but after reading this post by Manish on ” How Dil Dosti Etc Came into Being” i can see the whole movie in my head and also understood the intriccacy of making a movie and how the story develops. i just want to see the movie for my own understanding of how this story looks and feels inside the dark room of cinema theatre.
By the way just wanted to say, All the best to manish sir, i hope the film does well on the box too. we cinema lovers always appreciate the the honest efforts.
all the best to you.
hi manish, i am waiting very eagerly to see your film, especially after reading your blog. one of my friends saw it and has recommended it highly. are you working on any other project?
Dear Manoj,
Greetings from Dev in Montreal, Canada. I bumped into your blog and your detailed description of how you developed the script of your movie intrigued me. I must tell you here that Iam a budding filmmaker myself and we both do share a common background in terms of our higher education and professional cum academic experience in the west.
Your story’s background of campus life intrigued me further because the script Iam developing also revloves around campus life. The story and this background is with me since more than 8 years now. Although it’s a different matter that people have already made landmark movies on urban youth, such as DCH and RDB where major pull of the script had come from ” cool” and “realistic” characters.
Iam curius to see how you had shown the college life and characters in your movie.
I went through most of the reviews on internet ( rediff,ibn,indiafm etc) for your movie. It doesnt seem it has gone well with the critics.
Ofcourse, I will be watching your movie as soon as I get an opportuntiy and will do so with an open mind. But, Iam curious to know what you think of reviews you got for the movie. Do you think they havent got the point or you feel they are too harsh and biased.
I wish your movie a great luck in the box office.
Best
Hi Manish,
tis the first time that I have got some good preview and promos and yes the promos which I get to watch on the Tv are not so promising but yeah this is gr8, and one more thing I got to know about PFC is from newspaper and after that I immediately jumped on to my net and surfed for this. Its great to watch that more and more films are coming up apart from the usual commercial ones from big banners, its nice to watch being a great movie buff, I am really interested to get this sort of promos and also the I have watched the Delhi atmosphere from various other films the more recent being Rang De Basanti which showed completely a new genre and this one being a script made on Delhi college culture I am extremely happy to get to know about Delhi.
Iam so sorry that I mis-spelt your name Manish! Apologies!
am very very upset that you didnt select me to be a part of your FIRST film
ek junon jo pehli film mein hota hai woh 2nd 3 rd etc mein nahin hota :)
rachna
Hello Manish,
just read ur article…
i watched DDE a few days back…
I must say a very brave attempt….
but at some points u went overboard…
And the climax was also done in a hurry… could have a better climax…
At some places , I felt a sense of Fatigue in shreyas , he was lacking in the energy and the verve , he shown in Dor…
Apoorva was Excellent… He will go places…
After a Long time i saw Smriti Mishra…Other film Makers should take note of her..
Overall a Good and Different movie… Total paisa vasool..
Hi Manish
Like you I am also a newbee on this site. I live in New Jersey and hence had not seen any promos of this film. The NRIs like Punjab, Dhol and Shahrukh Khan and anything else is not considered important. Sorry I take back my words….tacky music competitions on prime time television with teenaged competitors and verteran judges (who by the way are dressed up like teenagers) also keep us busy. So its not totally weird that your film did not release here or even if it was nobody knew about it. Hey Lions of Punjab, a movie made in NJ by someone from NJ has not been able to get a theatre so don’t be too sad about it.
Anyway..I managed to watch your movie. I liked what you wrote and decided to give it a shot. Pretty good. The inspiration from the Apu trilogy is very obvious. Being a bong has its advantages too. One gets to see these movies before going to class 5. Shreyas Talpade is a god actor. Very natuaral, no baritone and the only time he came up with the baritone (insisting that his girl will not wear a Bikini)is well handled. The gun is very real - college students in Delhi, UP etc. do not use Glocks. What surprised me though was Imad Shah. Im not too sure who this guy is but is the same guy from Naseer’s 9/11 movie, then I must say I am impressed. Sorry smoking too much pot while growing up has killed my short term memory cells…..hey there were 5 rs for a 3 day supply in Calcutta. And whos that Vijay Mallya look alike? If I like a movie I walk away with little characters. One of them was Apurv’s father. Never seen him before but has an intense face.
Everytime I go back to Calcutta and sit with the old friends and talk about how TV was so great when we were young ( I am in my 30s now) and it has become so bad. We talk about Rajni and Yeh Jo Hai Zindegi and the college serials like Subah and Chunnauti and how none of us ever watch any TV now since our God Amitabh Bacchan became a quizmaster.
Your movie reminded me of those days when we were in college and it seemed that so was the entire world. I work with IT but wanted to write, make movies, change the world etc. Someday I will. Good to see that there are filmmakers who think like I do.
Thanks
Abhra
Good stuff buddy …keep it up.
Hi Manish:) ,
“BRILLIANT”
Thats how I would describe DDE! Well sketched charecters with no too-cheesy lines and a plot that says so much in the limited time span…
Almost every imp. aspect of the youth was highlighted in the film….whether it was the ambition(Sanjay mishra) or the confusion n carelessness(Apoorv)….
The film does revolve around ’sex and politics’ but has too much more to say. The line ‘When you are young, you believe that the possibilities are endless’ stays in my heart. Similarly, the scenes where Apooorv turns the God’s picture the other way says a lot about his charecter (and the ones he is representing)…
But one question lurkes in my mind now….Why wasn’t Sanjay Mishra never shown in a classroom?
Was that intentional??
hey manish .. how r u??? hav just cum after watching dil dosti.. i think the movie is fabulous… the whole movie had a rhythm into it.. no where i felt that the movie got away from its subject.. it reminded me of my DU days and esp student politics… just at one point where i didnt understand the movie was the end… what did that signify???… was shreyas so hurt that he killed himself???.. was he killed by his enemies??… did he die by chance???…and somewhere i felt that the seriousness of the end was marred by apurv’s carefree attitude…
Manish Sir
I loved this movie though felt could have been bit more in lenght. But most importantly i felt really sad the way Sanjay Mishra ended up his life , i felt remorse whole night was it really necessary for his life to end like that, can’t Sanjay Mishras too survive?
By seeing the short promos I thought this was going to be a regular college type movie with everyone running around making funny faces, so I ignored it. Now after seeing this long promo and reading about your ideas behind it, I will pick it up this weekend from my local Indian store.
thanks for making this film!
hey manish,
you just vanished after we met last at my place and the next i hear is that dil dosti etc is releasing. felt damn good and wished you gotten in touch inbetween atleast once. anyway the is great. felt like one is back in college. do get in touch if you still remember who i am …
helo,
A nicely written promo… however I chanced upon the same now … will watch the movie to post the comment ..
However teh song.. dum laga dum laga is a nice one