How to make a film with friends
Abhimanyu Singh and Celina Jaitly in Accident On Hill Road
Shit. I had spent the last six years sitting and writing eight original screenplays in the hope of making them into films. I hated dvd rip-offs and detested plagiarism. “Have you bought the rights to the film?” I asked Mr Hira gingerly.
“Of course, I have,” he retorted.
“In case we work together will you acknowledge that publicly?” I pushed further.
“My dear friend, I have paid bloody thousands of dollars for it. I have bought the rights for all Indian languages. So why should I hide it?”
There were three main reasons why I decided to make Accident on Hill Road.
That bluntness of Nari Hira, his signature tune, was the first reason. Nah, I am not going to say which film’s remake or adaptation AOHR is :-) You will see it written in bold in the opening credits when the film releases. Why can’t more producers have the balls to do the same when they remake a film?
The second reason was that when I saw the original film’s dvd I was very excited. It was based on a true story, and it was very realistic thriller drama. Because of my journalism background, the realism appealed to me. The thriller elements and the drama hooked the storyteller in me.
I realized it had the potential to be adapted well for an Indian audience. When I discussed the major adaptation details I realized that Mr Hira, myself and the Magna team of Bharat Pandit, Ashwin Varde and Sidharth Parmar, were on the same page. Of course, we argued and disagreed on many small adaptation issues.
The third reason why I chose AOHR was the most crucial one. I was given a budget and a carte blanche for picking up my crew and cast with one simple criterion. The film had to be completed within a deadline.
That effectively ruled out Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Amitabh Bachchan… am just joking, folks, but you see what it does? It makes you more grounded. Most filmmakers suffer from the mall syndrome when they cast. When they walk in they get awed by the choices. Half an hour of mall browsing and you are confused as to what you want to buy. But if you have peeped into your refrigerator before you leave, you have a focused shopping list. You know what you need.
So here I was. I had a golden opportunity to make my first film. It wasn’t what I dreamt would be my first film. That would have been a comedy drama or a family drama. This was a 36 hour thriller drama. What the hell! I didn’t find my film. It found me.
And here was a producer who was putting money on the table and saying go ahead make your day.
So how do you start making a film? Simple. Get the best technicians. Using my persuasive skills and the Oh-God-Save-Me-I-Am-Drowning look, I roped in some of the best technicians in the country. They all came on board despite the fact that I couldn’t afford their market price. Oh, did I mention that they were also personal friends?
Ravi Walia who had just finished Raaz2 as the DoP saw the original film on which AOHR is based. When he head my budget he muttered b*#$^@$@#, the trademark Jamia gaali. He pondered and said “Why don’t we shoot on HD Viper? It complements the mood of the film. And you would be able to save money on film stock.” I had just seen The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and said why not. It was a simple decision. Ravi being a well known DoP had a professional reputation to protect. I had none. He wouldn’t use a camera that would compromise his quality.
I then got in Dileep Subramaniam, one of the best sound designers in India. Over drinks and some delicious kebabs (all provided by his wife Chitra, who is a dear friend and was my Executive Producer on Naach), I gave him a forlorn look similar to that his dog Sneaker often gives. Dileep was busy doing the synch sound on Love Aaj Kal and My Name is Khan was going to start soon. Short of patting my head, Dileep said yes.
I met Varun Grover and Rahul Mehta to check out if they could deliver the dialogues. They were recommended by my writer friend Arshad Syed. I had made up my mind that the dialogues of AOHR would need to be contemporary and breezy. It has to be a mixture of Hindi and English as is spoken in Mumbai. After a few drafts with Rahul and Varun I realized I had got what I was looking for. These chaps are young and irreverent, the kind who came up with lines like “tum jaise log ne meri morality down kar di!” They were on!
Amit Parmar is an unassuming man who has edited most of Ram Gopal Varma’s movies (the Sarkar series, Phoonk, etc). He is the kind of guy I share my dvd collection with. These days that relationship is thicker than blood. What’s a film edit in between?
I had only heard of Wasiq Khan, the production designer who has done most of Anurag Kashyap’s films. I called him home and talked about the film. I told him that the money was less. Sometimes it takes just five minutes to know that you can trust and work with a guy. Its like a smooth Bluetooth exchange moment. Wasiq and me shared it immediately.
There were others too. Parvez Khan, who has the body of a hulk (remember him in Dev D?) and the heart of a deer, was excited to work on the project. I knew him at RGV’s factory when he was working on Shimit Amin’s Ab Tak Chappan. If you ever need to hear a narration of a fight scene with sound effects you must meet him. Mindblasting! Shefali, another old friend who has worked recently in Fashion, agreed to do the costumes.
And then there was my direction team. Sandheep Mone, dear friend who could sit quietly making crores from his family business but instead suffers from the sulaimani keeda syndrome (he has caught the filmmaking bug) came in limping on a crutch. He was my associate and rock. Then there was the ever sincere and hardworking Srinivas, my AD and more importantly my conscience.
One day I was sitting and telling my mother about my team. My mother was puzzled. “If your cameraman handles the camera, editor edits, music director composes background score, actors enact the scene which the writer has written, production designer is responsibly for the look, and your assistants do the legwork…what is it that YOU do?” she asked.
Hmmm…
Tags: Accident On Hill Road
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 your movie already. I know that every movie is a lobour of love and hard work but some people toil just that bit harder than the rest. I will see it when it releases and I sincerely wish you all the very best.
Best of luck Mahesh !!
mahesh , finally you admitted that the film indeed is a copy of a hollywood thriller!! thats brave just like your producer. no shame in remaking a hollywood film…looking forward to AOHR!! bestoluck
I look forward to your film Sir
Mahesh, I have been hearing great reports of your film. From very disparate sources and that says a lot. Welcome aboard, and once here, regale us with your “sulemani keeda” brand!!
thanks Indraneel. You know what? Its not money or love but the sulemani keeda that makes the film industry go around….
cheers
Hey looking forward to see your movie.My mom is also looking forward for the movie as she heard you are from Palakkad her home town.
Friends can work for less money. Why did strangers agree to work for less money even though you and your production house were unknown!
Abhimanyu just rocked in Gulaal. There’s no way, any director would not want to work with him after Gulaal! But why Celina Jaitley? Was she a friend too?
We just hope that the promos are, “seen”, and it doesnt meet Sankat City fate, where most didnt even know it existed.
vinay, promise to answer your question in my next blog… which is all about casting… and yup. i do hope the film and the promos are seen, more than this blog!heheh
Mahesh- its certainly refreshing to see somebody wholeheartedly admit that the movie is indeed a copy and not an original concept.And yes I liked the way your mom reacted when you were telling her about your team
all the best once again.
BOSS!! Honesty Tapaka raha hai Aapke Blog mein, more Over aapne apni team ithni sincerely chuni hai, I am sure the movie turn out well All the best to you. (Just see to it that they work as TEAM, holding their own fort well. Than pulling eachother, kyon ke agar aisa hua tho even worlds best technicians cannot salvage the end product so thats where you come in!!
ALL THE BEST
N
thanks hussain… if the film works, its thanks to my team. If it doesnt, it must be me!
its no secret which movie this one is a remake of so why keep it a secret here.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ENTERTAINMENT/Bollywood/News-Interviews/Celina-Jaitley-Stuck/articleshow/4355047.cms
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuck_(2007_film)
Even pnc’s ‘accident’ involving shiney ahuja is based on the same film…was that the reason the rights were bought? ..haha
Budget of the film?
less that the costume budget of any Yashraj, Dharma or Nadiadwala production.. seriously,
Dear Mahesh you really need to be appreciated for being sincere and truthful to your profession and the work done. I have seen a lot of films totally copied, scene by scene without acknowldging the original work. I would appreciate if u please explain the financial details and a more about working on digital and how to bring the films to theatres ( if it dosent affect the release and commerce of your film)many are eager to hear and understand the process and struggling hard to get a clue to enter in the market, its sure in coming days we will see entery of hundreds of talented new comers with their debut films….
Congratulations for being one among the few in Bollywood who is working on a pre-existing concept after actually buying it.
“…I gave him a forlorn look similar to that his dog Sneaker often gives.” lol
I liked the way you described your team.
Best of luck!!!!
Aarti, Yaatri, Vikram, FR
Thank you very much. cheers
You will see it written in bold in the opening credits when the film releases. Why can’t more producers have the balls to do the same when they remake a film?
The above lines have been “ctrl C + ctrl V” ed.
This has been going on and on and on… I always wondered, will anyone accept this. We are not against remakes but yes one comes up with an original idea that has been so innovatively lifted from a film which most of us would not have seen or heard about.
And then they expect that we should stop buying pirated movies, music etc.
You stop, we stop!
Cheers! Mahesh, you had the guts and I hope that more n more of the producers and directors see the film so that they dont forget to acknowledge the originals before making their presumed masterpieces.
All the best fo AOHR….Looking forward to watch it!
Kudos!
Why do sulemani keeda thrives and grows only on beer and whiskey…? Long Live Sulemani Keeda
Big moment guru. All the very best!
looking forward for the release