NO SMOKING - VISHAL - PIYUSH - GAJJU - MANISH - RANVIR - AYESHA
NO SMOKING - VISHAL - PIYUSH - GAJJU - MANISH - RANVIR - AYESHA
Ok this is a longish post … covering my interactions with the aforementioned people…. since what has happened has already been covered by anurag in his post here… I’m delving into a more personal one-on-one level discussion with these people. Additionally, sometimes the post ventures itself into hindi.
Wednesday evening - 7.30 pm
Eskay Resorts Club doubled up as the highway - resto-bar where Abbas(ranvir), K and Ayesha’s scenes were to be shot. Of course it had also the now famous Gajju - ala Gajraj Rao - ala Dhingra drunk scene.
Sumit and me arrived on the sets and we were treated to an ‘orgasmic delight’ when we saw Vishaal Bhardwaj and his wife Rekha(the singer)on the sets. I approached them with fear and trepidation. I informed Vishaal that I was there in FTII pune as well, at the writers’ conference and had met him there too. I told him I’ve seen Maqbool - Omkara atleast 10 times. He smiled. His demeanour is a lot like manirathnam in that sense, smiling, shy, unassuming, reticent…can’t say whether he too is a terror on sets or not ??? His wife certainly expressed happiness when we told her that we were from PFC. “Yeah I do read PFC. How do I write on PFC ??” I told her to click on the contact button and send a request to Oz. I also told Vishaal about the Maqbool vs Macbeth - Omkara vs Othello post mortem that I’ve done here. How Omkara (Othello) is Maqbool (Macbeth) told from the point of view of Kaka(Banquo in macbeth- played by Piyush Mishra)… If kaka was an evil character how he would have reacted ?? Take that and you get the starting point of Omkara !! His eyes lit up and he said “Achcha ??”
I kind of felt stupid and embarassed. Now I know what the phrase “Suraj ko diya dikhana ” means (trying to show off light to the sun). It happens while meeting people you respect so much.
The nervous and terrified me forgot to again ask the following questions
- Blue umbrella release date ??
- Julius Ceaser remake rumors .. Sanjay dutt and Irffan khan ???
- I want to sing a song in No smoking.. (Oh cummon Kartik .. Anurag gives u an inch and u will take a mile !!!)
Anyways, Vishaal and Rekha left. I was a bit dissapointed but became overjoyed to see Piyush Mishra on the sets. He and Anurag were talking.. Me and Sumit were staring like idiots. Piyush Mishra is one actor I’ve admired since the days of Dil Se .. and now Ek din 24 ghante (sic)- Deewar - Gulal - Matrubhoomi and of course Maqbool. Fortunately Anurag introduced us to him .. otherwise I would’ve kept admiring him from a distance.
I said “I liked your performance in Dil Se.” He seemed a bit amused… and everyone else (including Anurag) was pulling his leg. “Sir maine aapki saari filmein follow kari hain.. Even bits and pieces of Gulal.. which I’ve seen. You have given great music and lyrics in the film. And the oil waala-George Bush scene is such a subtly outrageous joke.” I liked your ‘routine investigation waala line in Dil Se (He plays a CBI officer and says diplomatic political correctness - “Ok Mr Verma.. It was just a routine investigation.. Jaisey aap journalist log kartey ho na ?? Ghabriye nahin .. Ab aap ja saktein hain.. Haan pls … inhey chodh key aayie”. I ENACTED THESE LINES IN FRONT OF HIM !! Piyush just smiled. Anurag chided “Piyushji humarey Mandi House key Hamlet hain” (for the non delhites - mandi house is a theater hub.. very much like Prithvi in Mumbai)
After the ice melting… Piyush warmed upto me and especially Sumit (who is a theater fanatic). Piyush said how Vijay Tendulkar’s “Shantath!! Court chalo aahey” (Silence - The court is in progress) is a masterpiece but the rest fall behind. He also lamented the degrading quality of theater these days. “Play mein kuch moral value wagairah honi chahiye.. Aisey thodi aap kuch bhi kar saktey hain ?? Jo producers (for plays) ka concept hai.. woh sirf mumbai mein hain. Jahaan theater mein paisa aaya .. wahaan theater ka idea khatam. Hum log jab plays kartey they.. toh kabhi 100 - 200 kabhi 400 log aa gaye dekhney. kabhi paisa mila kabhi nahi. Biwi - ghar - parivar - girlfriend chillatey they - ‘Naa paisa , Na Fame, Na further opportunity.. phir kyun kartey ho ??’
Lekin Jo mazaa live audience key saamney first performance mey hota hai… jo dar mein acting kar key kick milta hai..woh kahin nahi milta. Ek achchey performance key baad ek actor khuda ki tarah baith kar yeh kah sakta hai - Haan maine aaj kuch kiya !!! “
He talked about Maqbool. He knew Vishaal for a long time before the film.Even though he wasn’t the first choice for the film as Kaka, he gave an audition and Vishaal took him on. There was a 10 day workshop organised by Naseeruddin Shah which all the actors attended. According to Piyush - the script was not to be changed at all. There weren’t any improvisations at all. Only the rain-cops-pissing scene was improvised. The reason why the film is so good because, Vishaal back then was just one film old - Makdee, which wasn’t exactly a great film. He had cast big heavy weight performers in his second film.There was the fear as to what Vishaal would do with them ?? That fear made him excel. which is why Maqbool is brilliant. Now post Omkara, Vishaal has acquired certain brand-equity in the market. Anybody would be willing to do anything for him.
Why did he do a 2 minute scene in Deewar ???
“Beacuse I just wanted to work with Mr Bachchan.. I wanted to see how he performs. I did a few scenes with him and that was enough for me.”
Upcoming projects ??
“I’m doing the screenplay and lyrics for some films (I think he mentioned - 1971)”. For those who don’t know, the Legend of Bhagat Singh was adapted from a play written by him. He also wrote the dialogues for Yahaan (Not bad !!)
Sumit and he discussed a lot about theater “Theater main buddhey honey key baad koi kaam nahin milta.. Isiliye buddha honey sey pehley hi main mumbai aa gaya. Pata nahin Habib Tanvir sahib kaisey kaam kar lete hain ??”
working with Manirathnam ??
Mani wants actors who are ‘cows’. They should do exactly as directed. It is his working style.Very different from that of Anurag.
Met Gajraj Rao .. the man who was playing Gajju. He’s a character actor who was there in Dil Se (as Piyush Mishra’s junoir investigative officer) , the corrupt Mantri in Chhal, the sporting Dad in Yeh kya ho raha hai (ala the kool Dad of Jason Biggs in American Pie), and Bandit Queen. He’s an ad film maker who made the famous ad of Jana-Gana-Mana (a crippled old cobbler tuning into the radio, to find the national anthem playing, standing up in attention.. and watching him, the street children also stand to attention) He said he got Dil Se due to the casting director of the film - Timangshu Dhulia (the director of Haasil and Charas) and he also knew Shaad Ali. Almost every small actor in the film came from Delhi - courtsey the NSD theater contacts of Timangshu. He said “I don’t do films for money.. I do it for friends like Anurag Kashyap and passion. “In fact he refused to accept anything from Anurag, despite Anurag’s protests.
He improvised his character, changed his name, made him into a North Indian Punjabi guy. His comic timing and dialogue delivery, apart from the non dialogue moments/expressions were too good. “I’m a drifter.. For me it was a nice combo of passion (film making) and money. A bit of in between approach. Otherwise I would’ve become just another struggler. He said something which I will remember for the rest of my life. “Nobody does anybody a favour. Yahaan par kisi ney kisi key liye Anaathashram nahi khol rakhkha hai”
Seeing Gajju’s performance, any other actor/star might’ve become insecure. John was superkool with it. Gajju was pleasantly surprised and mentioned to me “Normally stars don’t allow character artists to ‘overshadow’ them in a scene. “
Next I met Manish Gupta on the sets. A mechanical Engineer turned writer and now a director. He wrote Sarkar, D and James. He had come probably to discuss a script with John. He asked about PFC.. and adviced what everyone is advising me to do (hmmm). I diverted his attention by saying that I loved the dialogues of D. He said “I have framed the dialogues - Dhandey main dost dushman hota hai in my office. He talked about Ramu and why he moved out of Factory (Do I need to say why ?? Here’s a clue - 15′th August 1947, 4th July 1776)
He wanted to show me the posters/promos of his directorials - Hostel (based on ragging, starring Tulip Joshi and Vastal Seth) and Sahib,Chai-Paani (corruption in Police Department starring Om Puri). He wanted me to cover his films for PFC (both have completed shooting and are in Post production stage right now), but sadly .. I didn’t see him again.. he probably might’ve gone when I went to the loo or something.
Ranvir Shorey walked in… looking like a geek/weirdo.. which is what I expected from his character Abbas in the film. The thing is that he had gone to the loo…and 2 minutes later the synch sound guy Kunal said “Why the hell is there so much disturbance ?? There are nor cars/jeeps moving. Where the f**k is the noise coming from??
Anurag then screamed out laughing saying that the mike attached to Ranvir is catching the sound in the loo. When Ranvir came out everyone laughed at a bewlidered Ranvir. He had been caught, sorry heard with his pants down !!! He took it in good spirit. This just goes to show the fun people are having on the sets.
Some kids came up to Vivek - the character actor (the driver in kaal, sardar in Mission kashmir), and said “Are you Vivek Bachchan ??” He said “No I will change my name to Vivek bachchan”
Ranvir joked “that is the height of trying to get a girl.. changing a name… Vivek oberoi becoming Vivek Bachchan.. May be I should rename myself as Ranvir Abraham”
That guy is crazy and has an amazing sense of humor. Frustrated by the mosquitoes on the sets, he said “I never understand the contribution of mosquitoes to the ecosystem .. besides sucking our bloods !!”
After much of my ass kicking by Oz, I met Ayesha’s mom and asked how Ayesha entered into films despite having no filmy background. Ayesha’s mom is a professor, and her dad is a computer engineer/buisnessman. Ayesha was just 4 years old when a kid required in a shooting didn’t turn up. So the director, a friend of Ayesha’s dad, ‘borrowed’ Ayesha for the shoot. Soon advertisments started pouring in. When Ayesha reached school, she stopped since her studies were given more pririty. At the age of her college or something, she got an ad for Airtel.. and from there, music videos, ads and then films happened. “I don’t mind ayesha being in films. I’m supportive of her and proud of her.”
Finally met Ayesha and spoke to her as to why she did the role in No smoking ?? She knew anurag from some time.. “AK is really talented.. Besides the role is good too!! I wanted to work with Anurag.”
End of the day (start of thursday morning- it was a 16 hour long shoot). AK was visibly happy.. “We’ve shot 7% of the film today.. and it has come out amazing. Thanks to the improvisations. Gajju is amazing”
He said… “If you do shot divisions you do not allow the actor any performance space, you do not allow the actor to improvise. Manirathnam, Ramu, Martin Scorcese don’t do shot divisions.”
We talked a little about actors. “Actors like Jack Nicholson can do anything. But Nicholas Cage, Micheal Douglas, Mark Wahlberg(Departed) look good in the film because their roles are based on their characteristics. Similarly, I can only play the role of Fanidhar (his role in the play Sir Sir Sarla) and nothing else.”
He was talking to someone.. “You start by 2 minute roles only. Manoj did 7 films before Satya happened. Do Anjaane dekhi hai kya ?? Maloom hai Mithun had a blink-n-miss role in it ?? Rajpal Yadav had 2 minute scene in Shool as a coolie, from where he got Jungle as a sidekick to the villan Sushant singh. He stole thunder the and even the best villan award from Sushant. Actors should’nt work on their cell phones. They should work on their characters.. how to ensure their performances are the best.. continue doing those roles till someone notices you and casts you in some big role.”
That guy (AK) is mad. He was in the car after pack up and his AD came running “Sir sir .. ek improvisation dimaag mein aaya hai… par aab bahut thak gaye hain .. main kal batata hoon..” AK said despite his heavy sleep deprived eyes -”Nahin nahin abhi bataa”. He listened to the idea patiently.
Anywyas, going on the sets tomorrow, Who will I meet this time ??? Paresh Raawal ?? Inshallah !!!
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Exclusive, Movies, The No Smoking Diary , Theater
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43 Responses to “NO SMOKING - VISHAL - PIYUSH - GAJJU - MANISH - RANVIR - AYESHA”
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Wow.This is yet another insightful post on the making of the film.Keep them coming..
i was watching ‘D’ this afternoon.. again. and yeah, dialogues are fucking amazing. when you mentioned Ayesha… i was looking forward to reading your lengthy chat with Ayesha Takia! but… neverthless it’s a good start!
Phew!!!=d> Nothing less than a good performance… Good interaction with the who’s who of the film industry…
KK, I really hope you meet more people yaar…and then tell us about it in as much detail… I really envy you in this situation..but have fun and meet as many people as you can!
Thanks a lot KK. It’s a real pleasure reading your experiences…
KK, really appreciate all the effort you and the other guys go to in providing us such in depth posts
keep them coming!
one thing which AK said, raaly a gr8 tip for a wanna be writer-director…
“Dont fall in love with your own lines. No writer is writer enough to decide how 2 people will react.”
- Sumit, Yesss~~~~~ Ask KK to paste this line on his bathroom mirror :d
KK, good to see a fan’s point of view…
Anyone heard anything about Adnan Sami singing for No Smoking?
mani ratnam wants his actors to be cows?i heard he gives lot of freedom for actors?
can u elplain what piyush was intended
raghu .. no offence meant to mani sir … im a big fan of his myself.
piyush did say that mani wants the actors to do and enact as per his own idea … perhaps that is piyush’s perception … he has anyways worked with him in one film…
It seems a bit contrasting to what u and i have heard .. but this is what piyush said …
Everyone - thanks
Sumit and Oz -
“Dont fall in love with your own lines.”
Im completely in love with the lines … so i disagree … no poster up !!!
“No writer is writer enough to decide how 2 people will react.”
This one is definitely going to the mirror….
AK - “If you do shot divisions you do not allow the actor any performance space, you do not allow the actor to improvise. Manirathnam, Ramu, Martin Scorcese don’t do shot divisions.”
thats really surprising.
i once read somewhere amitabh bachchan saying that ramu edits his movie in his mind even before the shooting. then i thought he divides shots to precision, and therefore shoots his movies in a considerably less time.
wt d u think?
thanks for all the info
very valuable
Hey Kartik where is the set put up for the next few days?
premal …
shoot me a mail at nagrathnam@gmail.com ….
send me ur cell no (if ur in mumbai) or if ur uncomfortable doing that, ask for mine ….
Would not like to reveal the place of shooting online … at least not without anurags permission
Kalki - cant say how true that is about ramu… but can say for sure that he doesnt do shot divisions … thats wat anurag said …
Kalki n Kartik: Anurag named Manirathnam, Ramu, Scorcese and few others and said ,”I admire these people and they all do shot divisions”.
Kartik bhaiya slight jhol
Nice insights of everybody, who visited the sets!
kk.. another great one!
and anurag.. “Actors should’nt work on their cell phones. They should work on their characters.. how to ensure their performances are the best.. continue doing those roles till someone notices you and casts you in some big role.”
well said =D>
Good Post gagain KK….yes this one was awesome..Actors shouldnt work wit there cell phones…so, shudnt the directors…remember Mahesh Bhatt used to work with 15 diffeent movies at one time…Set 12 pei shot ready…action…Behenchod…set 12 pei bola not 11…kaam jaari ruk…tring tring…hold karna..kya bei? Saab falana falana actress nahi aayi…chod de usse..ask the best looking extra if she can act?
?????? ???, ?? ???? ??, ???? ?? ?? ???? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ???? ????? ???? ?????????? ?? ???? ???????? ????? ???? ?? ???! ???? ??! ?????? ???? ?? ???? ? ??? ?????? ????? ???, ???? ???? ?? ???????? ??? ????????? ??? ???? ?? ?????? ??? ?? ???? ???? ????? ????? ????? ??, ??? ??? ??, ????????? ??? ??????? ?? ?? ??? ?????? ??? ?? ??? ?? ? ?? ?????? ?? ????, ??? ???? ?? ?? ???? ?? ????? ?? ?????? ??????? ?? ?? ??? ??? ?? ??????! ???? ???? ?? ?????? ??? ?????? ?? ???? ???? ??? ????? ?????, ???? ?? ??????
Debashish… aapse thodi galti ho gayee… yeh anurag bose nahin… anurag kashyap hain…
Ahhaha Oz bhai..he said Anurag Boss!!! Not Anurag Bose…=))
Shayad issiliye koi hindi mein nahi likhtha
- Om, galti ke liye khed hain… “boss” hindi akshar mein “bose” pada gaya…
Oz: I wrote “Boss” not “Bose”
The font size are bit small for Hindi I supose.
Good work, KK.
I had waited long for this. the best bit was Piyush’s discussion of theatre n films.
I have a moderate theatre experience so always looked upto his kinda “josh”waala theatre instead of numbing done to death citi-milieu plays.
would love to see you do that Dil Se jig of his.
I am crazy about that guy’s acting. esp. dil se was a delight in those magical moments, be it the shouting lady with the dog or the trumpet guy…pom-pom-pom-pom…
- Debashish, I like it… keep using Hindi if you would like to… I have a plugin which I can turn on to offer writing comments in English/Hindi… didn’t cause then I would have to find plugins for various other languages… PFC aakhi “World Cinema” ka platform hain…
Yes debashish..even i liked it…you brought a something different on platter…
???????? ???????! ?? ????????? ?? ????? ???? ? ?????? ?? ????? ???? ??? ?????? http://www.nirantar.org ??? ?? ?? ??????? ?? ???????? ???? ??? (???? ?? ?????? ???? ???, ??????? ???? “????” ??)? ???? ???? ???? ??? ?? ???? ??????? ?? ??? ??????? ?????? ??? ????? ???? ??? ??????
???? ????? ??? ????? ?? ????? ???????? ?? ???????? ???? ?? ????? ??? ???, ?? ???? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ???? ??????? ??, ?????? ?? ???? ?????? ??????? ?? ??? ????? ??? ????, ???? ?????? ?? ??? ?? ???? ? ???, ??? ?? ??? ??? ???? ???????? ?? ??? ?? “?????” ?? ?? ??? ?????? ?? ????? ???, ?? ???? ?? ??? ?? ??? ???? ??? ???? ???? ??? ?? ?????? ??? ?? ???? ???????? ??? ?? ????? ?? ?????? ?? ?? ?????? ?? ?? ????? ?????? ?? ?? ?? ???? ????? ??? ?? ?????..???? ???? ??? ??????? ?????? ??? ????? ????? ??? ???? ????? ? ????, ????? ?? ???? ???? ??? ????? ???? ?????? ???? ????? ??? ?????? ?? ???? ???? ??????
?? ?????? ?? ??? ?????? ??? ???? ?? ???? ??, ????? ?? ?? ?????? ?? ?? ?? ???? ???? ?!
debashish, aapke hindi mein likhne ke vichaar tho achche hain lekin hamare vaartalaap se doosron ko baadh na aa jaye.. waise bhi PFC ki yaatra mein sabhi yaatrion ki ek hi bhaasha hai.. aur woh hai cinema
PFC mein aapka swaagat hai
debashish bhai..abhi abhi type karna seekha haii..nahi to aksar haath se hi likhta hoon..na to hindi fonts hain mere paas aur agar hote bhi to waqt lagta..
Banaras ka launda hoon..hindi mein likhnen mein koi hichkichahat nahin..bas kar paaoonga ya nahin yeh nahin pata..
suggest you take a trip to kashi before the movie’s release.. as for where to stay while you’re there, look no further.
??????: ??????? ?? ??????? ??? ???? ???? ?? http://www.akshargram.com/sarvagya/index.php/How_to_Type_in_Hindi ??????? ??? ?????? http://geocities.com/hanu_man_ji/ ?? ?????? ???? ??? ?? ?? ???? ???? ??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ???? debashish at gmail dot com ?? ?????? ?? ???? ???, ?????? ??????????? (???????? ?? ?????? ??? ?? ?????????? ???? ???) ?? ???? ????? ???? ??? ?? ????? ??????
???? ????????? ?? ??????? ?? ?? \:d/ ??????? ?????? ????? ??? ???? ???? ???? ?? ????? ?? ?????? ????? ???? ?? 8-|
chitthakaar..kya baat hai..mein jaaoonga site par..
Striker babua, hum khaas bhelupur mein, theek chaurahe par ghar hai hamara..gaaon kadirabad, jila chandauli..
Anurag:
Banaras connection. You and Pankaj Mishra did not know each other there? Did you read his first novel “Romantics”?
kalki..yes ramu edits in his own head..
doing shot divisions is editing on paper..that predetermines the flow of the scene..everyone who doesn’t do shotdivisions on paper does it in his own head and also edits there..
that way i also do shot divisions in my head but i tend to decide shots right after my previous shot and before my next one..that is because i am editing in my head so i kind of know what shot am i going to need..
i hope that answers your question..
Debashsish:
bhai apko jankar khushi mil rahee hai ki duniya kitanee chhotee hai? kash kee kam se kam bharat kee duniya (jameen) badee hotee to hum bhartiyaa bhee hote kuch kaam ke:)
Banaras!
It seems soon we will be seeing talks of Lanka, Sankat Mochan etc on PFC. Now Anuarg has given clue about his mohalla:d
How many from Banaras here? counting begin:d
@RK
i spent 4 years at IT-BHU doing my B.Tech. Lanka, and assi ghat were where my theatre brain storming sessions happened.and i have spent drunk nights on the other side of the ghat on sand.
R u from Banaras??
- Announcement: oz is starting new website: PFB… passion for banaras
- Sumit, kahan ho bhaee… waiting for action…
Sumit:
No but had few friends from that city. Have visted the Uni and city.
Perhaps you will like ” Kashi ka Assi” a memmoir by Hindi author Kashinath Singh, who was professor of Hindi there in Hindi Deptt. he has published his memoirs about “Assi” and you read enough of Lanka there. Certainly that will be nostalgic for you when you will read about your favourite Chai wala and paan wala shop.:)
Oz:
PFB’s membership will be restricted for Banarasi Babus or anybody who feel good about Banaras can join PFB?:-?
all this banaras talk has me craving some pani puris and chaat from the guy outside sankat mochan =p~ if only you knew how loaded that dude is..!! $-)
Nice work karthik
I liked ranvir saying “I never understand the contribution of mosquitoes to the ecosystem .. besides sucking our bloods !!”.
Its good that u get a chance to meet people whom u admire. Make most of it and try to be like them.