NO SMOKING-hmmmmmmm so many decisions still not taken
Spent yesterday waiting for John to get free from his meeting..saw the thai-combodian-hongkong movie Dog bite dog..outstanding..FACEOFF meets OLDBOY ..rajkumar got upset with me because i asked someone to get me tickets for DON..
Raj k.-”how can you watch other films in the middle of your shoot”..
ME .-”sameway like you have the sexual urge 24/7″
he got angrier..first fight..many to come..had the big production meeting..i don’t know how to do the flash backs,if i use animation it would look too much like KILLBILL..don’t want to do it normally..neither do i want to do it abnormally..the whole film is abnormal anyway..i need more time with myself away from schedules..the production hustle bustle..how do people do shot divisions..i can’t..have always been spontaneous..that’s the only way i can work..
We discussed the Probe lens yesterday..great possibilities..it can go anywhere..hope it doesn’t go up my ass..need to find out how much it costs..are we ready for tomo nights shoot..is it really tomo..or day after..i am so confused..a day before diwali..night before..that’s when there will be most available light..thank god for supreme court..no crackers after ten..we could shoot easily..hope they don’t put off the decorations..
Discussed the song today..gave varun’s song to Vishal..everyone loved it..good song dost..finally got our main house location..if we need to begin house on seventh..we need to finalise the actress in next one week..Wasiq(my art director for all my films) got the baba bangali card designs.. prayogshala designs have come in too..now paresh rawal or irrfan or naseer or big b..two more possibilities..no clarity..need to lock by mid next month..why is every one so busy..how will i shoot the alex song..what can one do with songs that no one has done before..should i just leave it to the choreographer..we should get Prabhu Deva..
Big reading today at John’s house..matthew is coming..hope narendra would be there too.. ready with john’s suit..aarti(paanch,black friday,salaam-e-ishq,gulaal) is the editor..Rajiv Ravi(chandni bar,gulaal) is the cameraman,Kunal(all my films,devdas,etc) is doing the sound..who am i missing..Anna is the costume designer..nari is doing john’s suits..i want to kill Gautam(my casting director)..who the fuck will play my Gabbar..can someone get me Jack Nicholson..eh Martin Guru, mere khuda..any suggestions..needs to be between 45 to 60 or more..needs to be slightly saleable to justify the budget..Kaykay doesn’t fit..
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
Varun dost … congrats …. let’s hope it gets there in the movie !!!!
AK here are my suggestions (if u humour me)
Om puri ??? He’s there in Don ….
Boman Irani ??? He’s the ‘happening’ character artist these days …
Mohanlal (since he’s probably there in RGV’s sholay… he might be intrested in another hindi film)??
Piyush mishra …. the crazy music guy in gulal (i saw the preview \:d/ ) and of course kaka … but im not sure if he’s saleable ..
Flashbacks …. here’s another potentially stupid suggestion – Karam .. Sin city ??? Black and white … glazed lighting …
And what i can’t understand is … how do u work without a shot division ??? I’d gone insane for the shot division of my short film …
I mean no planning nothing … just going on the sets and shooting spontaneously ??? Seriously ?? How is that possible ???
How about Zakir Hussien? i love that guy!
Gabbar? in No Smoking?
Think I am missing the plot.
Danny seems to be in self exile. If he is available and ready to do a role then he can spark any evil role given to him. He has built and potential and one can show him anywhere between 50-60 as he has that vulnerability in looks. He has done enough offbeat roles and you have capability to convince any actor. Danny needs to be active again. We miss him a lot.
Jacky Shroff is another actor to able to do experiments. His name should bring saleability factor also though he is not saleable as a solo hero but when he plays unconventional roles it becomes attractive enough to give the news a view.
Wow RK …
Danny is a brilliant idea …Where THE FUCK IS HE NOWDAYS ????????
Jackie shroff ?? Naaa ….
Kartik,
If I read correct then Hrikesh Mukherjee never used a, so-called bounded script or plan of shooting. His actors used to reach at shooting at scheduled time and HM used to tell them the scenes which he had thought for the shooting in that shift. and he made wonderful entertaining films with his way of direction.
RK …
maloom nahi tha yaar … Shit !!! Waisa bhi hota hai 8-|
@ANURAG
i am extremely happy that Varun’s song is being used by u. He is a passout of IT BHU(3 yrs senior to me)and unlike me he left his fucking software job to write films. you cant imagine how happy we r right now!!!!!!!!
He wrote a song for “Evam Indrajeet”, a play which I directed 7 months back.My rock band composed it amazingly and even till date i know that people sing that song in the mess.the song is….
Mukhda
Kankad daana, baasi khaana, tooti chappal…
Udta panchhi, bikhre rishtey, jhoothi chappal…
Dialogue
1: Jhoothi chappal..? What’s that…?
2: Well…I don’t know. Why do you want to know?
1: Well…I don’t know.
Song restarts
Kankad daana, baasi khaana, tooti chappal…
Udta panchhi, bikhre rishtey, jhoothi chappal…
Gehre moti, baatein chhoti, jalti roti…
Chalta pankha, rukta pankha, udti choti…
Ginte-ginte, thak jaayega, haarega, karkash hoga sangeet…
Indrajit…O Indrajit…
Antara 1
Kitna kuchh hota hai, Hota kuchh bhi nahin…
Milte sab hans ke yahaan, Hansta koi nahin…
Raste saari dishaayein, rasta koi nahin…
Basti mein bheed bahut, basta koi nahin…
Dialogue
1: Excuse me, can you repeat that?
2: Why..?
1: Well…I think I have heard it before.
2: Then don’t worry, you’ll hear it again.
Song
Kitne meel chalega,
Kitne kuwein bharega,
Kitni jaanein dega,
Kitne chaand jalega…
Ginte-ginte bhoolega, dobara ginega, chir-anant ki reet…
Indrajit…O Indrajit…
Antara 2
Tu prashn-chinh hai…
Botal ka jinn hai…
Dhakkan khula agar…
Tu chhinn-bhinn hai..
Tu maut ki khabar,
Tu satya ki kabar,
Tu aas ka juloos,
Niraas ki dagar…
Dialogue
1: Hey wait…you are going too fast.
2: I gotta train to catch.
1: Then you are going too slow.
2: Well…I want to miss my train…
Shabdon, ankon, hunkaaron mein, kissa koi bana nahin…
Chaand ke paar bhi jaa kar usne, apne pag ko gina nahin…
Gina tha shaayad, bhool gaya ya, baat gayi baaton mein beet…
Indrajit…O Indrajit….
Mukhda
Kankad daana, baasi khaana, tooti chappal…
Udta panchhi, bikhre rishtey, jhoothi chappal…
Gehre moti, baatein chhoti, jalti roti…
Chalta pankha, rukta pankha, udti choti…
Ginte-ginte, thak jaayega, haarega, karkash hoga sangeet…
Indrajit…O Indrajit…
hey kashyap ,what happened to ur heroine?who is finalized.
think of manoj bajpai
Anurag, an off-topic question: A lot of people like me want to watch “Paanch”. However, given all the trouble you have distributing the film, if you think the chances of it reaching us viewers through the conventional methods are very low, then would you consider putting a copy somewhere online? That way, your film will at least be seen by a lot more people than right now. Perhaps you can even work out some way to get a paypal-like system to get some monetary compensation. Or tell me the best alternative to see the film :-)
Sorry for the effrontery, but I just had to ask :-)
- Ramanand, Paanch is tentatively expected to now release on 29th December this year. This as per my conversation with Anurag last night. Hope this helps.
Thanks Oz, that’s good to hear.
- Villian? 45 – 60 slightly saleable… :-w
1. Kay Kay… the John Abraham v/s Kay Kay mix could be exciting.
2. as RK pointed – Danny but then who knows where he is.
3. Kartik’s choices – Om Puri / Boman Irani
4. Naseer?
5. Sharat Saxena
6. Tinu Anand
7. Sayaji Shinde
8. Sunil Shetty?
9. Kulbhushan Kharbanda
10. Umm… Puru Raj Kumar (but guess he isn’t saleable)
11. You know Vikram Gokhale wouldn’t be a bad choice if he suits the character
12 Manoj Pahwa?
Many more ringing in…
Atul Kulkarni, Dr. Mohan Aghashe
Umm… why not Anupam Kher?
for me, zakir hussein and atul kulkarni were the first ones to come to mind after Omji and Naseerji..
maybe it’s the actor in me.. maybe it’s the guy in me who likes giving new people a chance.. i dunno.. but i feel that with a john abraham on board, a relatively lesser-known but talented name should be opposite him. anurag, if you’re willing to go that route, my suggestions are ravi kale and deepak dobriyal.
ravi kale acted as big B’s right hand man in sarkar.. (incidentally, he also acted in my friend, surendra hiwarale’s short film “0:0PM” which is being screened at the IAAC film festival in NY next month).. and deepak dobriyal played rajju in omkara.. rediff calls him “the man who made saif evil”
http://www.rediff.com/movies/2006/aug/21deepak.htm
Why Not Pavan Malhotra or Aditya Shrivastav after splended performance in Black Friday. Pavan Malhotra would be my first choice.. Or Maurya.. the guy who played dawood in BF… Anurag try for SRK for villain too..lol he has Darr behind him..lol..Ohh Ohh interesting choice.. Emraan hashmi..yeah i think he can pull it off.. and he is saleable too or even Shiney Ahuja..i am sure either of them would accept the role, dates permitting..
oh it’s for villian? erm, if you wish to get a well-known face then, erm, how about Ritiesh Deshmukh – that guy can act a bit? just need to give him a man look.
but i don’t know if the character requires an older guy.
- Damn it… I’m drugged with this post. The problem is that every line of yours contains some exciting idea or view that shoots readers’ brains in a million directions.
Flashback: Using actors in front of a green screen and then building the whole set in animation.
If Big B does the villian… damn it that gives me another thousand ideas…. I better log off PFC for the next few hours and do some work in office before the meeting with my VP.
i am not a big fan of having animation in films; i feel that it kind of spoils the mood of film. imo, there should not be a fusion between real-life characters and animated characters.
if i am write then this movie has that sort of crazy factor attached to it, so having animation in any sense… :-?
Anurag,
All the best. I saw your “Black Friday” and was completely blown away.
Flashback idea 2: The set is in black & white or sepia tone while the actors are in full color with a faint glow over them – OR – vice-versa but in this case there is no glow in objects present in the set.
Flashback idea 3: if set is in b&w (idea 2) and actors are in color, a cigarrette puff smoke keeps blowing from the right or the left side of the camera into the center and slowly clears out – this in happens at regular frequency – as soon as the smoke clears out from the center of the screen a next cigg puff blows in… :-w
Flashback idea 4: this may be really weird, but how about in the flashback the actors faces remain the same but the body is that of a child, animated or real… :-w
Oz on fire!
How about flashbacks portrayed as songs?
:-”
Flashback idea 5: If the actors are standing, walking all the time – miniature site with life sized actors. So if they are walking on the street, the buildings stand at shoulder level… :-w
All this thinking is making me hungry. I’m off to lunch.
I don’t see IR’s name :(
Man, I should stop cribbing my stupid software project being complicated to manage! Look at the management you are doing!
flashback idea 6: incorporate oz’s idea 2 with a first-person perspective, wherein there is a narration by the person replaying the flashback. in this flashback, no matter who speaks, you hear the narrator’s voice speaking those lines
flashback idea 7: idea2 + idea6 + make the flashback voice squeaky – that it sounds funny – incase the flashback is related to something funny.
after the movie has been made.. and when we look at this (flash)back it will be so funny, in a good way.
flash back idea 8: multiple different sets containing entire different scenes (house, street, desert, ocean etc.) and connected to each other by doors. The actors merely open the door and step into an entirely different scene. eg. An actor opens the door of his house and suddenly steps into a brightly shining desert… :-w My imagination is going on hyper drive… need to do something else before I insert Jenna Jameson into flashback idea 9.
How about Nana Patekar as the Villian or will be too much of ~X(
flashback idea 8.5: 8.5 because it’s an alternative to idea 8
this may sound a little complicated, but if the flashback does contain multiple sets, then starting in present time (PT), as the flashback is starting, focus and zoom in on an object in the surroundings of PT, and that object is now in the flashback (let’s call this FB1). this flashback can take the characters into a different set/scene or another flashback (FB2) by zooming in on a different object in FB1. if FB2 requires a further FB3, focus in on an object in FB2. to come back to PT, zoom out backwards and go thru FB2 and FB1 to get to PT. combine this with idea 6 to give the viewer a feeling of being “right there”
i realize this sounds complicated.. i’ll try to think of an example if it’s not fully clear as to how to achieve this
OZ-jenna jameson..does she speak hindi..go have your lunch..your VP will be angry..i promise you will never be my casting director..
Danny sounds like a great idea..hope to convince my producer..
Varun is seriously talented sumit..
How about doing the flashbacks like a sitcom..something like the frasier..what say..:d
- oz opens secret drawer. looks around. no one is looking. takes out his resume and its 3261 copies. Scratches first line and replaces it with a new one.
Application for post of CASTING DIRECTORNew Application for post of creative visualizer.
(2) Anurag, with Jenna Jameson in the flashback, she does not need to speak “ANY” language. ;)
My god… For fuck’s sake guys…So many ideas…:)
oz…CONTROL YAAR….:d
hmmm…too many choices:-w
Here are my inputs..
Sanju baba- Only if he is free from his court kachahri.
Anil Kapoor- tough cookie to get as far as I know
Pankaj Kapur- This actor needs no mention.
Jackie Shroff- I feel bad for him…what was that Bhoot Uncle thingy?
one more one more…just no now was reading an article on Sanjay Gupta’s next film and the person that stuck my mind is Mahesh Majrekar- I started liking him as a dancer..he is a good entertainer.
AK – I know we have all the names down there, but just thought I’d put in my 2 paise worth too.
Villians, villians… hmm…
* Sayaji Shinde
* Vijayendra Ghatge – Kithe gaya yeh manus?
* Farooq Sheikh – Ditto ditto
* Aditya Pancholi – Ke peechhe kya hain?
* Jayant Kripalani
* Sachin
* Annu Kapoor
* Subhash Ghai
* Kumar Gaurav
* Salman Khan
I am sure there are more….
* Anant Nag
hmm… who else??
flashback #1: blacken out alternate pixels in each frame, giving a somewhat snowy/hazy appearance to the flashback scenes
flashback #2: suppose the video runs at 30 frames per second..delete every alternate frame, run the video at 15 frame per second..so while the scene still moves at the same pace, it gives a illusion of slow motion since each frame is ON for double the original duration now.
>-
Hi,
my first post so i’ll keep it short.ALL THE FUCKING BEST!!! may black friday & paanch release soon.have seen BF.dying to watch paanch.
Hello Anurag Sirjee,
wassup? how are u doing? i wish u loads of luck for NO SMOKING. are u glued into the cricket as well. the matches at CCI are dam expensive. i wish they were at wankhede.would have been kinder on pockets.
will meet you after your shoot for the film gets over. meanwhile will be wired in here. cheers! take care
My two cents:
Pankaj Kapoor…he can really carry off the Villian look!
Boman Irani?
Hi,
This is my first time so I am not completely in the loop. But you mentioned 45-60 so most of the names suggested will not do. You could age a a Vijay Raaz and Ashish Vidyarthi to play villaneous roles.
Please use animation if you can as it will make it exciting and fresh to watch, as long as the animation is excellent.
Hi Anurag,
this is Pratim D. Gupta from The Telegraph newspaper in Calcutta. We have had telephonic chats (read interview) before. Quite overwhelmed to see a public blog exploring your creative mindscape.
You can try Dhritiman Chatterjee (Rani’s Dad in Black) in your film. He’s a Ray actor, very mouldable and brilliant on stage. You can check out his work in Ray’s Pratidwandi (The Adversary). I am sure you must have seen it. You can do the flashback in splitscreen – one half is the NOW time and the other the THEN time.
Reply if you are impressed! ;)
Cheers
\:d/ \:d/
im so excited that u are writing here at PFC, that too on the making of ur film – live.
thank u thank u
zeroin on your gabbar seems quite difficult. boman, om puri, danny, anupam to a certain extent seem to be good choices. saleable..go for feroz khan hah..could give johnny baba a takkar. but dont ever consider sadashiv amrapurkar..hahah.
Gabbar in Smoking:
Considering Gabbar’s role is really like Gabbar in Sholay and considering John as main protagonist (Though real life does not pick and chose villain for us):
Actors certainly capabilities to play any role but as country, situations and environment define themes of a story, in a same way
Why Danny : First and foremost cause, his persona which keeps him most suitable in the category of 50-60. His built is an added factor though he does not need it. people may see him in BRChopra’s Dhundh, where he is sitting on wheel chair all the time, but man, what a rage on his face. He is master as far as facial expressions are concerned. Second important reason is: Danny wsa the original choice to play Gabbar in Sholay but he had declined the role due to his dates problem. Destiny should bring him back in to the role of Gabbar or similar role. Danny’s case is like Pran’s plaiyng Villain again in Andha Kanoon. That was the biggest USP of that film, far bigger than the AB in guest role(though he was in 50% footage) or Rajini Kant in his first hindi film. Luckily Danny was also part of this film in a completely new avtar than his earlier villaneous roles.
Against John, villain should have a nice built so Vijay Raj, Paresh Rawal, Om Puri, Pankaj Kapur, Anupam kher, Boman Irani and even Atul Kulkarni( which could have been a good choice) etc dont fit in. Nana Patekar could have been a nice choice but he has just appeared in Taxi no.(whatever no)and it will create less curiosity in terms of commercial appeal of the film. Feroz Khan is too old to play against John as main villain.
Aditya Pancholi- a good villain with his sharp Michael Doglous type voice and pitch, but he wont look a man between 50-60 with his shining face. He is still handsome and sexy at 40+. so if villain is that type and make up can increase his age only then he is suitable.
Pawan Malhotra – if Gabbar is like what Bradd Pitt was in kalifornia, a psycho serial killer then he is a wonderful choice but if Gabbar is Gbbar then he will too intimidated by the demand of this role.
Ashish Vidharthi, Sayaji Shindi, Ajay Tiwari
(China gate) have perhaps shown all their capabilities in a villaneous role. They are very repetitive in their approach.
Jacky Shroff is at that stage where he can play role of Ravan if some one makes Ramayan and that capability brings him close to play gabbar. He still has potential left in him. Dobara and Antarmahal are his recent worth to see performances. He was meant to be a villain but Subhash Ghai made him Hero. He is not so busy and he is not that forgotten actor also. so he is at some intermediate stage where he can generate curiosity with some new kind of role.
Manoj Bajpai albeit can bring new shades if make up man brings genuinity in his looks where he looks a man between 50-60. This actor needs different roles with potentials.
VILLAIN CASTING…don’t know about saleability but…how about AMOL PALEKAR? When his over emphasized softspoken mannerisms combine with evil behaviour, they can work wonders. See Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s KHAMOSH with Amol and Naseer?
Danny is the obvious choice.
Anil Kapoor can be there if Danny is not available !
Sanjay Dutt is another choice (as far as box office appeal is considered).
??????? ????
????????? ???? arty ??? ??? ????? ??? ?? ??? ????? ???? ?????? ???????? ???? ????????? ???? ???? ???? ?????? ?? ?????? ???
How about Irrfan Khan?
why cant director Anurag cast the actor Kashyap ? He will be simply great. Just look at the picture of urs on this blog…unshaved, deadly look…can get easily all the angst onscreen also…thinking about Paanch’s release only. Now this was bad joke. BTW, also give subhash k jha one more chance to write a great headline “the doomed director is sealing his fate again, this time in front of the camera.” And if not kashyap then Vikram Gokhale. Secondly, about flashback…if the story is so bizarre and weird as everyone told u then why not atleast keep one thing simple…the flashback. If not the film then we morons will be atleast able to undersatnd that simple thing, when the story is going back.
anurag ji ,
its gr8 to know u are starting a new project… hope this one gets released so all the motherfuckers who put u down eat their shit.
btw i have been assisting a few film makers all thanks to ur inspirational ‘guest’ lecture in my college four years back.
ps – i ll send u more forwards when i get ur new number
AK,
How about these guys -
1) Anil Kapoor – smart, dapper, fits the age bracket.
2) Sanjay Dutt
3) Naseeruddin Shah
4) Paresh Rawal
(these were the most obvious names) but also – how about –
1) Mohanlal ( like what he did in company)
2) Rajnikant ( hey why not?)
3) Kamal Hassan – this would be a great casting coup!
4) Dharmendra ( heh heh..yeah yeah..just jokin)
5) Pankaj Kapoor – if raakh,maqbool and Jaaney Bhi do Yaaron are indications of his talent, then physicality wont matter.
6) How about non-actors – shibu soren could be a good choice as would Prahlad Kakkar.
Who plays samba?
@ Sophocles… Anil.. Na Na Na re Na re… Definitely not after Allwyn kalicharan…
Hello Anurag ji,
Just wanted to tell you something i have been trying to find out your website address but was not able to find. Finally i got this from Mid Day newspaper. I think you are a master piece as a director. I have seen all your movies including Black Friday it’s an awesome movie the characters which you choose for your films are not stars like Amitabh,Shahrukh but if a person sees your movies carefully all actors who have been casted in your movie are Amitabh in their own way of acting talent. I liked the character of Badshah Khan he has done a marvellous job. I just pray to god that Black Friday releases soon and it becomes a huge hit. ….. From my heart i feel you are doing great as a director.Bye may god bless you.
[ this message has been edited by PFC... Please avoid using PFC to ask for work, etc... we are working on building something where movie mavericks can look for work and exchange information... but until then please avoid such requests ]
Victor Bannerjee…?? kalyug had him in this suave,sophisticated and diabolic industrialist role… he can be made to let his hair down.
NO SMOKING…Rolls from today…
:d
once again working as a publicity photographer with anurag after gulaal. loads of thanks for believing in my work and style. thanks everybody who loves my images of anurag. see ya soon
hmmm..
Danny: if it works out nothing like it
Om Puri: Can anyone match him!
Govind Namdeo
Hi Anurag,
How about Suresh Oberoi with his barritone voice?
Nitin
Anurag: Glad you are doing this. can paanch / BF be out on DVD atleast?
flashback idea – dont show the character faces but show their shadows in a time depleted set ( with the ubiquitous calendar on the wall. kidding.) assuming there’s a smoker in each of the time windows, keep throwing off a cig pack from different eras. marlboro for now, goldflake for early 90s .. dunno what was before that. :d
hey anurag what about the tamil actor “naaser” …he is a great actor and also a constant in kamal movies …
:-? i love to smoke. :d i say rock on all you smokers! way to be rebels! \:d/\:d/ all you player haters who think smoking is bad can suck it! :o haha weed is good for the heart!
>-
oh yeah
i want to shout out to my nigga Darrel and Bigyy D
It’s past one in the night. I’ve had a long day. But I can’t log off. Not till I’ve read another post by you, Mr. Anurag Kashyap. I’m devouring large chunks of your very earnestly blogged life, vicariously living the tortured life of a tortured mind. Every sensible urge in my head screams to lay the sheep to sleep. But I think I’ll read one more before I lend my eyes to the dream ogre.
The movie titled “Thankyou for smoking” is a must watch.
anurag kashyap
quote – who the fuck will play my Gabbar..can someone get me Jack Nicholson..- unquote.
in this article i can not found even one line. so i am taking this one up.
its not about your film.
just a thought – can jack nicholson pass as gabbar.
it is impossible in mumbai. but deeper in india. just by looking at a persons face you can tell his cast. a baniya will look cunning. some idiocy will be on his face. they are business man. a Brahman face has an arrogance, even if he is in rags. the arrogance and sense of superiority is there on his face. thakur by face looks innocent. but if there is a fight and if the man is thakur by cast. you will see a physical fight instantly. i have seen innocent looking man pulling there belt out in a jiffy to beat up the other one. they are violent but simple. definitive word is simple. it is easily imaginable how a Brahman and a baniya behaves when engaged in fight.
gabbar sing is a thakur. he is violent but simple.
jack Nicholson’s face is such that he can not pass as a simple man. that’s why as good as it gets is considered his best performance.
jack nicholosn is best suited for amrish puri characters. never for gabbar.
>:)8-x:-??:o)