IQBAL- THE DOP
IQBAL- THE DOP
Chetavani: yeh post jise achchhi lagegi use bahot achhi lagegi aur jise kharaab lagi woh to chahenge ki main likhna hi chhood du. To kripya is post ko padhne se pehle do baar soch le.
After reading Santosh Sivan’s superb post on his journey to cinematography and watching Iqbal last night, the thought came in my dream(it is fact) that instead of cricketer if Iqbal wants to be a cinematographer then what would be the story?
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Iqbal ka background Nagesh Kukunoor ki iqbal jaisa hi hai. Woh ek kisaan ka beta hai aur apni maa, chhoti behan aur baba ke saath ek chhote se gaanv(village) me rehta hai. Jaisa iqbal me dikhaya gaya hai woh sun nahin sakta hai par isaaron se aur honth(lips) ki movement dekhke sab samaj sakta hai.
Opening scene me cricket match ki jagah iqbaal ki maa black & white TV pe film Sholay ka Dacoits ka train par attack waala scene dekh rahi hai aur har goli ke chalne par taaliyan bajaati hai aur shouting karti hai tabhi use labour pain shuru ho jaata hai…
Cut to young Iqbal. Abhi woh 20 saal ka ho chuka hai. roz apne baba ki daant sunke aur maa aur chhoti bahan ka pyaar paa ke woh gaav ke baahar bhense(buffaloes) charaane ke liye jaata hai. Bhenso ko charne ke liye chhodkar woh nature ko dekhta rehta hai- gaav ke khet, ghar, galiyaan, pad paudhe, gaav ke log, sun rise, sunset etc. who apni aankh, dil aur dimaag me bhar sakta hai. Even woh gaanv ke kutte, billiyan, bail(bullock), bhens, khelte huye bachho me bhi khoobsurti dhoondh leta hai aur har jagah apne dono haath lambe karke hatheliya failake (jaise director log karte hai) use capture karne ki koshish karta rehta hai. Baba se chhupke paas ke town me aur TV pe who bahot saari filme dekhta rehta hai. aur jab bhi titles me “Director of Photography” ya ”cinematography” dekhta hai to apna naam wahan pe imagine karke excited ho jaata hai. Uski baaton ko samjnewaalo me sirf uski chhoti behen aur gaav ki school ke drawing teacher hai. Masterji ke paas jaakar woh drawing ki kitaabon aur magazines me pictures dekhta rehta hai aur uske baare me padhke kuchh sikhne ki koshish karta rehta hai. Masterji ka bhi ek bada painter banneka sapna hai.
Ek din Iqbal ke chachaji video camera lekar aate hai. Chachaji us camere se shaadiyaan shoot kareneka soch rahe hai jisse kamai ho sakti hai. Iqbal maa ki sifaarish se apne baba ko jaise taise manaake chacha ke saath jood jaata hai. Uska kaam chacha jab shooting kar rahe ho tab paas me light ka bada fox leke khada rehne ka hota hai. Iqbal chahta hai ki chacha use bhi shooting karne ka mauka de par chacha apne aap ko Santosh Sivan se kam nahin samajte. Ek din chacha bimaar hone ki wajah se use ek shaadi shoot karne ko bhejte hai. Iqbal ke liye to jaise Bandar(monkey) ko sidi(ladder) mil gayee. Shaadi shoot karne ki jagah woh gaav ka sunset, sunrise, khet shoot karke aa jaata hai. jab uske chacha yeh dekhte hai to baba aur chacha us par baras padte hai. Par jaise taise uska record kiya hua kaam woh khet me chhupa leta hai. Par uski sajaa use shooting chhodkar khet me kaam karke chukani padti hai. Khet me kaam karte waqt bhi woh shooting ke baare me sochta rehta hai. Kheto me paani daalte samay paani jaise zameen par girta hai tab mitti ki chhote chhote kan(particles) udte hai use slow motion me capture kiya jaaye to kaisa lage, Khet me bail ke saath kheti karte waqt hal pe baith ke bail ke paav ke neechese shot lenge to kaisa lagega, door se dhooaan chhoodti huyi aur lower angle se train camere me kaisi dikhti hai- yeh sab sochne me hi uska poora waqt chala jaata hai.
Ek din use pataa chalta hai ki paas ke gaanv me kisi film ki shooting chal rahi hai. Apna sab kaam choodke woh shooting ke location par pahoonch jaata hai. Film camera ko dekhke who itna thrilled ho jaata hai jaise bhagwaan ko dekh liya ho. Shaam ko shooting khatam ho jaata hai tab woh bhi filmwaalon ke peeche peeche unke guest house tak jaata hai. Wahaan kaise bhi karke watchman se contact banaakar film waalon ki chhote chhote kaamo me help karta hai jaise khaane ke liye doodh laana, shooting ke liye achche location dikhana etc. Woh actors se milne ki jagah cinematographer se milta hai, use apni cassettes dikhata hai. Cinematographer (called as Mr. X) bhi jaan leta hai ki is ladke me kuchh baat hai. Woh use apna card deta hai aur Mumbai aane ka invitation deta hai. Kuchh dino ke baad shooting complete karke sab chale jaate hai aur Iqbal apne sapno ke saath gaanv ki duniya me waapas laut jaata hai par uska sapna use na chain sone deta hai na who apne kaam me dhyaan de paata hai.
Aur ek din apne baba ki naa ke bawajood masterji se thode paise lekar woh ghar chood ke Mumbai ki train pakad leta hai. Uske paas Mr. X ka diya hua card hai so us pate par woh pahonch jaata hai. Par wahaan watchman use bahaar se hi bhaga deta hai. Railway station pe raat bitake doosre din woh phir se wahaan pahoonch jaata hai tab use pataa chalta hai ki Mr. X to USA me shooting ke liye gaye hai. watchman use gaanv waapas jaane ki salaah(advice) deta hai. Par iqbal ki maayushi dekhkar watchman use ek studio me spotboy ki naukri dilwa deta hai. Sabko chai dete dete, set ko saaf karte karte woh kaise bhi karke camera ke paas pahonch jaata hai aur thoda bahot sikhne aur samajne ki koshish karta rehta hai. Apne man me uthte bahot saare sawaalon ko crew members ko pooch ke unko pareshaan karta rehta hai koi use support karta hai koi neglect karta hai.
(background me “aashayein” song bajta rehta hai).
Ek din koi aur na hone ki wajah se cinematographer camere ke saamne khade rehkar iqbaal ko camere me dekh ke lighting aur angle ke baare me poochta hai. Iqbal ke liye to yeh zindagi ki sabse badi ghadi hoti hai. camere me se jhaankte samay who jaise swarg me pahonch gayaa ho aisa lagta hai. Cinematographer uska set kiya hua angle dekhke hi prabhaavit ho jaata hai. woh iqbal ki gaanv me recorded ki huyi cassette bhi dekhta hai aur jat se apna assistant banaa deta hai. Mumbai me survive karne ke liye iqbal spotboy ka kaam bhi jaari rakhta hai. Iqbal apni success share karne ke liye apne baba ko khat(letter) likhta hai. aur phir ek din uski family use milne ke liye aati hai jahaan iqbal set par sabko chai de raha hota hai. uske baba use gaanv lautne ki salaah dete hai par iqbal apne nirnay par atal hai. Bache huye paiso se apni family ko achchi restaurant me khaana khilar waapas bhej deta hai. Restaurant me who apne baba aur family ka sachcha pyaar mehsoos karta hai.
Phir se uski struggle shoroo ho jaati hai. Film complete hone ke baad woh phir se bekaar ho jaata hai aur survive karne ke liye courier boy ki naukri kar leta hai. Ek din woh Mr. X ki building me courier deliver karne ke liye jaata hai aur fortunately Mr. X ko tehelte huye dekh leta hai, woh jat se wahaan pahonch jaata hai Mr. X use pehchaan lete hai aur apni agli film ke liye use assistant rakh lete hai. Phir se iqbal ki cinematography sikhne ki process shooru ho jaati hai. Mr. X se woh bahoot kuchh sikhta hai. Uske kaam se prabhaavit hokar Mr. X ke producer friend use apni agli film ke liye as a cinematographer rakhte hai. Woh pal iqbal ki zindagi ka sabse bada pal hota hai. Par shotting start hone ke do din pehle hi internal politics ki wajah se woh producer naya DOP rakh leta hai. Iqbal ko apna sapna tootataa hua dikhayi deta hai. Iqbal phir se assistant aur spotboy ke role me aa jaata hai par Mr. X ke support ki wajah se apna sangarsh jaari rakhta hai. Ek din Mr. X apni short film ki cinematography iqbal ko saumpte hai. Iqbal usme apni jaan daal deta hai. Woh short film bahot saare awards aur critical success paati hai. Use dekhkar phir ek din use India ke sabse bade director apni film me as DOP rakhte hai. Excellent cinematography ki wajah se use us saal ka best DOP ka national award milta hai. Award lete samay woh isaaron se apne vichaar samjaata hai jise Mr. X translate karte hai ”abhi mera sangarsh khatam nahin hua hai.. abhi to me duniya, prakruti aur logo me khoonsurti dhoondh rahaa hoon aur dhoondhta rahoonga”…
Tags: iqbal, nagesh kukunoor
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
Interesting dream…
& a good narration too…
Very interesting read.
Nice read man. Would like to share something with you guys since I was part of the film Iqbal. Our DoP Mr.Sudeep Chatterjee once joked to us on the set, but he said seriously, that, what if Iqbal was blind and he wants to become a DoP! And we all cracked up!
Himanshu: thanks buddy for sharing this indside information.
btw i read your resume. you have done trmendous work in films. all the best for your scripts and future ventures.
Waqt ka ye parinda ruka hai kahan main tha pagal jo isko bolata
Touching….excellent.Simply loved it. But the happy ending seems kinda forced.Hope you can elucidate . In a nutshell…AWESOME:o^:)^:)
Sulaksana: thanks for valuable input. this is only first writing inspired from a thought in dream. may be changed sometime later.
Thank you Shailesh!