SANKAT CITY – REPRISE
10th July 2009 – the day of release. Reached Moviestar Goregaon with Chiru to check the 1st show at 11.15 am. The projection was awful, completely out of focus. The operator stopped the film, threaded the new Terminator film and tried to correct the focus. The meagre audience waited patiently. The polite manager tried to calm my frayed nerves.
Someone called from an FM station for an interview. I bumbled through it. Fortunately it wasn’t live and I could give a few ‘retakes’.
The projectionist arrived at a temporary solution and started the film again. There was something wrong in the lens and the manager promised to get it changed. It started raining. Our next stop was Movietime Goregaon. My heart sank again when the film began. It was a bad digital projection, courtesy UFO. I had checked the film in their demo theatre and expressed my dissatisfaction with the colours. Despite many complaints, they hadn’t corrected it and images looked faded.
But the audience didn’t mind, they were hooked to the story. Made a few calls to try and get the problem sorted out. My next stop was Juhu PVR. The moment the lights dimmed and the film began, I heaved a sigh of relief. It was a print, the celluloid kind. Watched the film for a while, then made my way to Fame Inorbit for the 6.15 pm show. Flashed the official letter to the security, sauntered into the foyer and asked the manager which screen is Sankat City playing in.
He consulted his papers and said with a blank expression, “Sankat City isn’t on my list”. “But it is there in the newspaper listing!” Was informed by the producers that there had been some projection format issue visavis the screen that had been assigned and the distributor hadn’t been able to sort that out.
Numbed my frustration with a subway and went to 24 Karat. The projection was good, but the audience few. “Kya saab, publicity karega phir hee to audience aayega na”, suggested the box office guy. The popcorn vendor was watching Sankat City. When he came out during interval, he had a big smile on his face. “Kaisi lagi film?” “Fultoo time pass, mast!” Many of the halls I’ve lurked in, I found the ushers, from other screens as well, glued to the screen, enjoying the film.
Next stop Cinemax Versova to check the 8.45 show. The audience turnout was good and what is more, they were having a ball. Hung around with my fingers crossed till ‘samapt’ flashed on the screen. Projection was makkhan, so also the sound. My final stop was PVR Goregaon for the 10.30 show. Not a bad turnout for a late show. The digital projection here was pretty okay.
Saturday and Sunday – Went theatre hopping again. The crowd seemed to be growing, there were quite a number of full shows, the reaction was great.
I went through this process the entire week. Was appalled to see that there were no standees of Sankat City in most of the halls, in a couple of foyers they had been relegated to a dark corner. There were no posters on the marquee as well. Put pressure for the above goodies, finally they did appear in small numbers.
A few more shows were added in the second week, couple of new promos were concocted hastily and put on air, hoardings were cancelled, I fought some, argued, coaxed, cajoled to get things done… and of course, continued my theatre forays.
All the actors and crew were constantly in touch on phone and text. Got many calls and smses from various quarters, appreciating the film. The reviews were kind, well most of them 
, word-of-mouth has been good. There have been detractors as well, thankfully not many.
Getting Sankat City made and released has been one hell of a ride which can easily be turned into another script full of adventure, comedy, high drama, action and even some horror!
The cast and the crew have been superb. Anupam Kher, Kay Kay Menon, Rimi Sen, Manoj Pahwa, Yashpal Sharma, Hemant Pandey, Dilip Prabhawalkar, Rahul Dev and rest of the cast – thank you all from the bottom of my heart for the efforts you’ve put in. Chirantan Das (DOP), Hemanti Sarkar (editor), Ranjit Barot (music director), Harmeet Manseta (music programmer), Ashok Lokare (art director) and the rest of the crew – thanks for believing in me while making the film. Appreciate the producers for having backed the script.
And last but not the least, a big thanks to Oz and PFC. You guys have been truly supportive. I give total credit of the good buzz generated prior to the release, to PFC!
Have gone through all the reviews and comments here, but couldn’t respond earlier as I was tied up, also because I couldn’t find words to express myself. If there are any questions or queries, if anyone wants to comment or rant, please do so here, will try and respond to all.
Mumbai – a city on the move… frenetic, energetic, chaotic, dramatic, even neurotic, a melting pot of cultures and languages, a city with a heart, a city that never sleeps, a city on the brink yet a city of hope and of course, a city of contradictions. Hope I’ve been able to bring out the above in Sankat City.
The characters – a gallery of rogues, but of the loveable kind; rats and cockroaches scurrying for loose change and trying to sniff their way out of holes they’ve dug for themselves. Hope I’ve been able to do justice to their portrayals.
People have been asking, why was the publicity so low-key, why weren’t the promos in synch with the film, why did it get distributed in this manner, why didn’t my earlier film Urf Professor get a release and so on and so forth. No false illusions here, I guess we’re in the business of paving way for the cinema of the future.
Damn, that sounded grandiose. Off to supervise the DVD mastering now and then, will meet the monk.
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
Haven’t watched the film sir, since I couldn’t find a show in my town. Awaiting the DVD with great expectations though. All the best, the word of mouth publicity seems to have picked up and of course PFC came out in full front to promote the film. Kudos to your art and dedication
Sir…is it releasing in US???…
Lemmle theatre in LA is a family owned business and support independent cinema…checkout the link…I think all small budget indian cinema should be sent to theatres like these…
http://www.laemmle.com/qualification.php
Is that konkona sen sharma in the picture…??? Whoa just looks like that shot in the film where Yashpal and Rimi are watching a movie and he gets a call from Manoj Pahwa….DEJA VU…
Anyways congrats on making this wonderful film…a greaaattt effort considering the budget and constraints….hope you have a very long innings sirjeee…
“Pacchisia dance bar ke counter par hamesha ki tarah baitha tha,stage par gori chamdi ki ladki safed poshak men saji hui koi madmast gaana gaa rahi thi,uski madhham aawaz,uski ithlaati adaaen sabaka dil le udi thin,uske badan par sabki nigaahen thi,Lekin Paccheesia aaj wo sab nahin dekh raha tha,Use sirf foujdaar ke haathon ka tamncha aur apani Panwel wali zameen dikh rahi thi,Tabhi uske jehan men Kukreja ka khyal aaya,Woh producer Kukreja hi tha jo uski zammen ka cash payment kar sakta tha,usne phone mila kar kukreja se baat karnee shuru ki,Is masrufiyat men use pata hi nahin chala,Kab bangaalan uske pados ki jagah le chuki thi”.
I watched Sankat city yesterday and found it most amazing.It looks like a direct transformation of one of the novels by the likes of Vikki Aanand or Surendra Mohan Pathak.The story has been told by such ease and wonderful presentaion of Mumbai’s Underbelly and what a way to show that!! Amusing charectars and funny situations.Virendra Saxena’s picture in Foujdaar’s office was a brilliant idea and so were many more!! My congratulations.
Hey Akshaya, is this dialogue really taken from the movie?? coz if it is than it is the best promotion of the movie so far…….If it is not frm the movie and its ue way of expression than it is even more impressive…
Manish:Its not in the movie;Thats written in the way-hindi pulp fiction is written,Thanks -you liked the idea.
So that’s why I got a bamboo when I went to Fame InOrbit for the 6.15 show!
How did Konkona get into this ‘mindblowing’ picture?
Are sirji good to know that you have been trying to go all out to smoothen out things from your end.BTW its too early in the day for me to be in the influence of ‘the monk’ so how come I see Konkona in the pic?
A cinema ride in a city that never sleeps…and dont even let you sleep. Such is Mumbai..such is sankat city. It definitely calls for another story from you – Sankat me director.
Jokes apart, whosoever has seen the film in my circle has liked it and appreciated the Mumbai essence captured in the movie in a very distinct way.
It was nice talking to you on monday and now I am looking forward to watch Urf Professor wid you.
~ Ashu Bhai MAPRM Wale
One of the grouses I have is that it is not given its due share of attention in South. One show in PVR @ 2:40 for one week (now innovative is playing it @4:45). Weekend show which I went was houseful for Sat n Sunday. I am not sure if there were people in weekdays (since mostly multiplex junta are working class). And I hear the same in Hyd and Chennai. IMO these centers have junta who go to multiplexes after reading reviews and since most of the mainstream reviews were positive I think it is opportunity lost. Hope the future small time distributors take this more seriously.
Pankaj, I think you have done enough for your next – big film with little heart…your small film with big heart has won enough hearts
It seems that real work starts after releasing of a film.
Pankaj, you still didnt retort to why the film wasnt promoted prior to its release! Only one person in my whole office has seen the movie and he didnt like it. Thus, there wuz no buzz, like it was during Sarfarosh, Satya and Jhankar beats.
Pankaj you have become the most adorable of all writers at PFC!
Mindblowing movie hai Pankaj ji… but what is Konkana doing in this picture…? Well sir ji let me tell you i watched Sankat city last sunday i.e. in second week of its release at PVR saket Delhi and it was full house, every seat was occupied and most of the people were appreciating.. but sm were are not… People were not aware of this film, but mouth publicity is doing its job… but still i think some publicity is needed to let know people about good cinema… what do you say..?
I have met many people who haven’t watched the film. But I haven’t met a single soul who has seen it but not liked it !
Great to see you back in writing here (unlike other ‘promotional’ writers who vanish after release of their films ;-)
Pachisia looks like attending Kukreja’s call beside another Kon(kona)Woman !
*I cannot touch. I cannot eat. What should I do then? *
ROFL !
Cheers!
Pankaj this photograph of Yashpal and Konkona looks right out of Sankat City. Brillianto!
hi pankaj, sankat city is getting great responses from movie lovers across. congratulations! i too have enjoyed watching it. well, mostly. i totally loved the characters and they way they came to life on screen.
please don’t mind me telling you about a couple of things in the movie that left a bad taste or didn’t quite work for my cinematic tastes.
first: the hyderabadi actor played by chunkey pandey. this was clearly over-the-top, slapstick and unnecessary imo. dude, hyderabadi’s don’t talk like that. and it is possible to talk hyderabadi and sound funny without sounding like the way chunky pandey did. i mean, mehmood’s comedy was of exaggeration, so in that context it was okay to speak in that manner. your film was clean, close-to-real funny. and this part stuck out real ugly.
second: the music tracks were bad. made me wonder if you needed to use them at all. everytime “she’s a bad girl…” played, i cringed. this was zabardasti. i found the other bar wala song distracting. just a question: is having bad music better than having no music at all?
anyways, cheers! and i look forward to your next.
Well i loved the film. Sad, it seriously needs more buzzzzzz….. Konkana and Yashpal do look like out of Sankat City. Why its so hard to believe that Yashpal
can ask Konkana out to watch this movie with him?
The DVD released a few days after the release of the film in the US, really good movie. I was so close to hating the movie when the truck ran over the bag, but luckily the climax went in the direction I wanted to go to so I ended up liking it. I had some issues, but over all pretty good. Not sometihng I’d pay $8 or $9 to see in the theaters here in the US (though the smaller films don’t really see a theatrical release oversees), but the $2 i paid to rent it was well worth it.
@Vindows – where are you at? hope you’ll buy or rent a legal DVD
.
@Anand – regarding release in US, your guess is as good as mine. thanks for the url.
@Akshaya – nice voiceover! haven’t read viki anand or surendra mohan pathak, though did read a lot of ved prakash kamboj and major balwant.
@Ashish – had no idea i was speaking to MAPRM wale!
@Cherish – confused asto why the film isn’t playing anymore in Bangalore, Chennai or Hyderabad.
@Vinay – maybe the distributors didn’t believe in the film, maybe this kind of a release was due to some sort of a strategy. i wish the promos and publicity were in synch with the film.
@Akash – i would say that the right kind of publicity is required.
@David – sheshaiyya was meant to be over the top, some people liked him, some didn’t, same goes for the music – ab kya karein.:)
@Pravin – glad you got 2 bucks worth of enjoyment out of the film.
@All those who liked it – I’m glad you did. thanks for the words of encouragement.
As regards the picture, it could be a doctored image!
Hi Pankaj, I was not knowing that you would remember MAPRM wale…
.
kya sirjee, kitna bland post tha.. pehle jitne bhi post the aapke, sab mast tha..missed your stamp on this post..
movie was good time paas..
@Pankaj: Sirjee, filhal to Uncle Sam ke chatra chaaya mein hu. Lekin legal DVD ka vaada raha!
Sir Ji, saw it and for me it was full too time pass….after many days I saw this kind of comedy…the recent comedies are too cheap but this was sense at the same time senseless
…as a viewer though I wasnt given freedom to think and wait and let myself know what will happen like the one shot in which chunky (sheshaiah) puts his diary in his bag (i noticed thats is similar to that of the guru’s) is too pedictable and it made me expect what was gonna happen and the bag swapping scene in the bus was a new way of excahanging the bags but for me it didnt go too weel (my choice of course)…..but sir the earthquake thing what was that?? too much of height of BAK CHODI 
but yet all said and done its a movie that has to be seen even to judge..for me ITS A FULL TIME PASS AND PAISA VASOOL coz I came out with a smile…THANK YOU FOR SANKAT CITY
All these positive comments are encouraging enough to watch this movie illegally since I am working in States..
Such movies require a big banner like UTV to give a proper release abroad as well as a real good publicity.. Also the genre which is being dealt here may not be everyone’s cup of tea.. The only last release in US which could be termed as a hatke film, was oye lucky lucky oye, which I gladly watched alongwith a friend of mine in an AMC here.. The problem is that here young people are so cost conscious (read kanjad) and are not cinema freaks enough to spend 10 bucks on an offbeat low budget movie, although they will spend 10 times the same amount gladly in a nightclub and still not gain anything in the process.. Saala, free mein porn hi dekh lo..
And the ones who are well settled and have all the money in life to splurge would stick to NRI crappy movies.. Then such movies should be publicised in film fests so that they get good recognition and buzz par wo bhi saala nahion ho raha..
Pankaj, I suggest you get your next movie produced by UTV motion pictures because they are really good at PR.. Oye Lucky suffered because of bad timing.. Also for your knowledge, the entire movie is on youtube. Please check and see if you can do anything about it.. Get it removed somehow.. I think it might do more harm to the movie .. And I swear on god, I didn’t see the movie yet..:) Waiting for its DVD release..
saw the movie. really liked it. i expected it to be a start-to-end laugh riot but it wasnt really that. but i wasnt disappointed cos the movie was gripping, got involved in the story and the sequence of events to be disappointed by anything. if its not a problem, can u pls tell us the budget and number of shooting days of the film?
Also, special mention abt the ending comic touch of the film. that cracked me up and i kept laughing till i got out of the theater. that was the funniest moment of the whole film for me. cos it was just crazy and silly. its like the film isnt taking itself seriously at all LOL.
Its so damn sad that nobody knows that there is a film called sankat city. im sure all my friends wouldve enjoyed this one but they just do not know that there is a film like this. to see a commercially good/strong film like this go unnoticed feels sick to the stomach. what could be the reason for no good tv & print publicity? is it bcos the estimation for returns from this film was low and it was not financially feasible to spend so much on publicity? may be the investors had good reasons..but how can solve this?
And why is konkona in that pic in place of rimmi? did konkona leave the role or did u leave her. or date probs?
As a lover of good movies, I can no longer have reviews or thoughts cloud my appreciation of the film going experience. Talking points are the latest necessity of the day and there is an ample amount available on the internet. Its like people are no longer able to see a film anymore without first guarding against the dreaded ‘it went over my head’ phenomena.
Just as cinema itself is a way of looking at the world through someone else’s eyes, criticism is a way of looking at movies through someone else’s eyes. Yet, the movies themselves don’t change — only our perceptions of them changes. On the one hand, a piece of film criticism is kind of like an adaptation. It offers an interpretation of the original, but does not replace it. Other “versions” still exist, just as they always did.
This is the reason people, not just cinephiles, will know box office receipts for the weekend, which matters so little, unless you have invested finances in the film, that it boggles the mind at its uselessness. But we demand quantifiable integers, we demand metacritcs to tell us the success of a film in easily understandable percentages, how it fares in comparison to other films released the same weekend in prio years.
Part of the problem with most reviews these days is the snark factor, ruined by reviewers vying to see who can be the cleverest in their put-downs.
For me, the most recent example of a bad movie ruining a good review–or rather, a plethora of good reviews–is “Slumdog Millionaire”. After nearly every critic raved about its status as the feel-good movie of the millennium, I was surprised to find myself sitting through a two hours of repugnant, reprehensible tripe. So there- you have it.
Film criticism often operates on a veneer of objectivity (”This film is…”) rather than directly addressing viewer response (”This film seemed to me…”). But is there an absolute standard for whether a film has “good health”? Different movies generate different responses, but that does not mean one is absolutely inferior or superior to another via that response.
Yes, there should be some absolutes applied but not to the extent that criticism becomes a matter of arithmetic.
One of the things we have to remind each other is that what’s in your head is not always what ends up on the page, nor does it translate into something that can enter someone else’s head.
But for a critic to “improve upon” a movie and not just alter the audiences perception they would have to write a new scene or go out and film something themselves, work within the form. Adding something to art, the way you define it. You do that and I can bet that hundreds will trash it.
Sankat City did to me what it was meant to- entertain. And HOW! It was entertainment that did not degrade itself to buffoonery. Or stoop down to any critics satisfaction of their own personal needs as the be-all and end-all of the art form they’re covering. It IS all that it could have been and more. Keep them coming, Mr Advani.
I may have missed it if you said it before – when does the official DVD release? Any dates for the US release?
@Azad – agli baar purzor koshish karoonga pataakha post likhne kee!
@Vindows – great, legal dvd hee dekhna.
@Bharadwaj – sirf smile? not a silly grin?
@Saurabh – interesting info on the state of affairs. bootleg dvds are horrible. legal dvds coming out soon.
@Kalki – budget was tight, no of shooting days around 30. agree publicity should’ve been better and in synch with the film. way out for small films is that the producers should believe in the film. visavis the pic – didn’t i mention somewhere it ‘could be’ a doctored image?:P
@Arjun – very well written thoughts on critics and reviews! glad you found the film entertaining.
@Sanjana – official DVD will release in a few weeks. no idea about US release dates.
@All those who didn’t like the film, yet want to interact with me directly by way of criticism, questions, suggestions etc and have something more to say than just “it was a fuckall film”, please do so here at ’sankat city reprise’, as i will be checking the responses and responding more often here. cheers.
Sir Ji, saw it and for me it was full too time pass….after many days I saw this kind of comedy…the recent comedies are too cheap but this was sense at the same time senseless
…as a viewer though I wasnt given freedom to think and wait and let myself know what will happen like the one shot in which chunky (sheshaiah) puts his diary in his bag (i noticed thats is similar to that of the guru’s) is too pedictable and it made me expect what was gonna happen and the bag swapping scene in the bus was just another way of excahanging the bags but for me and it didnt go too well (my choice of course)…..but sir the earthquake thing what was that?? too much of height of BAK CHODI 
but yet all said and done its a movie that has to be seen even to judge..for me ITS A FULL TIME PASS coz I came out with a smile…
Pankaj: Purposely put the picture to create an excitement, calling it doctored, and laughing at our expense….Saala Tu chaalu, yaar!!
And most of us have fallen for it, thats precisely a good film-maker does, manipulates his audience!! Look forward to your next one.
amazing post sirjee… emosanal hona hi baaki reh gaya… bakchodi ka badshah caught a lil off gaurd here… :-) i really really hope that you stay active on PFC and don’t go hibernate like most of the featured authors here… cuz wutz life widout some bakchodi… hope ur next projekt is abso-fawkin-lutely sankat-proof and all involved live happily ever after, of course with the benign blessings of the monk. more power to u.
“Life is a tragedy when seen in a CLOSE – UP, but a comedy in a LONG – SHOT” – Charlie Chaplin
Hi Pankaj,
any idea when the movie will be releasing in Singapore ?
I quote Tarantino- “I respect criticism. But I know more about film than most of the people writing about me. Not only that, I’m a better writer than most of the people writing about me. And I can write film criticism better than most of the people writing about me too.”
Filmmaking is a journey through uncharted territory. Every project has its own character, it is a unique organism that lives in its own world. You must feel your way around, explore the human soul, collaborate, and when lost, muddle through. The script is the instrument with which you chart your course. The stars lead you on your never-ending quest of exploration.
You made the morsel that others like to bite into. It is impossible to cater to the diverse taste of billions of people. What one hails as class could be termed crass by another. Or like someone rightly said- “ One country’s terrorist is another country’s hero”.
I watched Sankat City twice. Once with my entire office and the other time with my family members. We were unanimous in our opinion. It’s a movie worth applauding. I’ll give you a very small example. When Fillip Fattu says- ‘Condom pocket mein le kar ghoomta hai pan who kehti hai sex shaadi ke baad ich manayega’. This coming from a woman who sells her body each night to nameless faces. And to a man whose love is exemplary. Who eventually hired a supari killer to get rid of his & his lover’s tormentor. WOW. Suleiman Supari saying-‘ Fillip, Gogi aur Pachisia ki request thi ki phone kar ke maarna’. Guru dreaming of Mona as a mermaid ( given his intense love for fishes and the mermaid being a fabled, legendary creature with magical and prophetic powers ). Sri Lanka ki hogi Sir, Pachisia ( in a towel ) applauding the bomb squad, life is soooooo beautiful.. bahut miss karoonga, the garbage dump scene, the lecherous swami, main fataafat pee loonga, etc etc. I could go on and on. My ordinary mind can’t even begin to imagine how you must’ve woven all those characters together and plausibly so. And bring them all together to their justifiable end. The casting was superb, except maybe for Chunky Pandey who was mildly irriatting as Sheshaiyya/ Sheshnaag!!! This was a movie which didn’t try to be like any other movie. Which stood its ground and stood so well.
Autopsies will happen. Let them.
Critics are like eunuchs in a harem: they know how it’s done, they’ve seen it done every day, but they’re unable to do it themselves.
- Brendan Behan
I read on Glamsham that Konkana was initially signed up for this movie. Is that true? Looking at the picture, it does seem like she did shoot for a while!!! Do share the truth with us.
SANKAT CITY IS A SMALL BUDGET KAMBAKHT ISHQ.
Dear Pankaj, I will tell you why. When you dont have big starts, big budgets, then ek achhi aur tight script hi sab kuchh hoti hai. SC doesn’t have this.
Stale formula about money confusion, old locations, nothing refreshing.
I dont know why Sanjay Mishra, Hemant pandey unnecessary speaking in some strange sounth Indian and goan tone in UP and Bihari style. If you want to make Tamil character, then hire Tamil actor.
Same goes with Anupam Kher, Oh god, he has a still “HUM” hangover. He copied same tone from his Hum character.
Pankal I dont know if you are from FTII or not, but your film screams its FTIIish style which is outdated now. Only thing I love in your film is your Rimi Sen and KK. Rest of the cast is loud, un realistic, and spoofy, thats why I am calling SANKAT CITY IS LOW BUDGET KAMBAKHT ISHQ. Thanks
First things first, I have a first tummy experience of having trouble due to pop-corn or should i say ‘and’kosh tak takleef pahunch gayi thi :D
Pankaj, I liked the movie though in fits and starts…Like in ek chaalis ki last local/waisa bhi hota hai part 2/khosla ka ghosla, the flow was missing…I was laughing, but most of the times I was left anticipating the laughter…It was a good time pass alright but after your blogs the expectations had risen considerably..Also it reminded me of MTV Fully Faltu movies and speaking from personal experience they are absolutely great when you have 3-4 friends discussing the innanities and laughing in hindsight…not while watching the film…
I loved the bag exchange in the bus, bordering on ‘when the picture is zoomed and pankaj kapur is caught in the act’ from jaane bhi do yaaron…
Hi Pankaj, Saw ur film today… loved it… when can we read the script online?? please please put the script on PFC to read…
bhavesh
SANKAT CITY BAND BAJAO CONTEST – Somehow not being able to put this up at the Band Bajao post comments section, so typing it here. PFC desk, please let me know how to go about it, or alternatively, paste this there.
We would like to thank all those who participated in the ‘Band Bajao Contest’ – Chaitanya, Anand, Arunbrk, Sameer, Shivdas, Vaibhav, Moksh & Magik, Nikhil, VRS, Manan, Venkat, Rajan… thank you all for your efforts. It was difficult to arrive at a winner. In our opinion, Arunbrk’s track came closest to capturing the spirit of the film.
Congratulations Arun. Please get in touch with us at sankatcity@gmail.com so that we can take it on from there.
Cheers!
@Bharadwaj – Wish you’d enjoyed the bag swapping and the earthquake as well.
@Anand – me chaalu? naah. next one on it’s way sir.
@Magik – will stay active on PFC if sankat city rats don’t chew me alive. :P Jai ho!
@YK – did overhear someone mentioning a singapore release. hope it happens soon.
@Swapnila – nicely written comment. don’t worry, i’m quite thick skinned.
@Rajdhar – thanks for stopping by and expressing your opinion. Don’t agree with your comment about SC lacking a tight script, but since you’ve already made up your mind, there doesn’t seem any scope for discussion. Have made a note of the rest.
@Kshitij – the bag change scene wasn’t written like this in the script. changed it because of production issues.
@Bhavesh – script online? koi naheen padhega!
Pankaj ji, read a very good interview of yours on planet bollywood. I lurk around in the corners of PFC every now and then. I enjoyed your movie very much. I hope your next one comes soon enough. All the best!
Pankaj – saw your film earlier this week and boy! did i enjoy it or what?
SC is an engaging refreshing film. kudos to you and the entire team. some of the scenes, lines were downright howlarious.
i just have one grouse – Why why did you cast chunky pandey?? those parts of the movie when he appeared were death for my friends and me!!
else its a top notch film. wonder how brilliant it would have been if not for the hamming by chunky pandey!
Pankaj, Sankat City was a thouroughly enjoyable movie. It was after a very long time that all of us laughed as much as we did while seeing the movie. And I don’t speak just for myself. I also speak for my friends, family & the other people who saw the movie. What was surprising was to see people of all ages liking it. Elderly people have probably given up hope of expecting to see a movie that tickles their funny bones without degrading the intelligence or the sensibilities of the crowd. I like my entertainment to be clean & crisp. Your intelligence SHINES in the movie. It’s pretty obvious that a lot of thought went behind everything, even things that the viewer generally tends to ignore or things that might appear as run of the mill to a novice. It was black, sensual, stark, subtle- call it what you want to. I recently read a brilliant review of the movie in Outlook magazine. The reviewer says- ‘Sankat City could’ve been a cult classic of our times. But stops just short.’ I hope you will cover the distance left with your next.
By the way, I was a small time assistant in Channel V when you were churning out all that brilliant stuff. We never met and the loss is entirely mine.
Like most of the people, I too want to see ‘Urf Professor’. If you do screen it sometime in the future, please do give us prior notice. And keep up the good work. Here’s wishing you all the very best in all your future endeavours!!!
Congratulations, Arun!! Just saw your entry. Well deserved.
@Pankaj : lot of people will surely read it… basically want to see what all things were improvised n what was written on paper when u were on floor.. It wud be great exercise for lot of budding writers…. If you can please please upload script….
Can’t wait to read it
@Aliq – Thanks for stopping by, also for the good wishes.
, wish the character had worked for you. like the fact that you directed your appreciation to the entire team.
@Dhruv – I stand by Chunky’s casting
@Aarti – only time will tell where the film stands.
@Bhavesh – Let the script be, its too dogeared, nearly coming apart!
It is a mad mad world out here in Sankat city.. Obviously there were no cheap antics to evoke laughter from the audience, but a mad plot,replete with improvizations and some serious out of the box thinking.. For someone who has been a great great fan of madcap comedy, much like you observe in TV shows like Seinfeld, this was a blessing in disguise.. There was a feeling that this might not go down well after I read some not so favorable reviews.. But there were big laughs.. There were strokes of genius in scenes like the garbage dump scene, earthquake tremor scene, BEST bus where the bags get exchanged (the blindman portion), memory loss of faujdar’s henchman in the climax, bomb disposal squad(sri lankan touch), the homosexual baba touch, .. One thing is pretty obvious, that most of the scenes do not end in a conventional manner.. the forceful energy which we notice in most of the movies which keep the audiences in a mood of hysteria might have done most of Advani’s critics.. Like say for example,the scene after the money is lost, the energy does go down a lot what with kay kay and rimi sitting and pondering what to do next.. Now this is what normally the characters do, but most are not used to it. No wonder when there have been quite a few reviews which have called the movie listless.. and even blaming the script not to be too tight.. How i see is – there weren’t any intentional jokes in the movie.. because if you write a script totally centered around jokes, then that does not make a script.. the situations here give rise to funny situations, responses.. the characters are crazy and when placed in such mad situations, their responses give rise to laughter of epic proportions.. the director’s intentions here are totally noble to incorporate madness and mayhem amidst a reasonably sane plot complete with coincidences.. Now some might not be able to digest these coincidences, also. The movie is in no mood to throw one liners or punchlines in your face
And please for god’s sake, dont compare this to Kambhakth Ishq.. There is a method to madness here and an effortlessness in evoking laughter.. In my opinion, Chunkey pandey’s character was meant to grate on our nerves because it was an irritating character.. I believe, Chunkey did a decent job of hamming it up.. Apart from that, I laughed out loudest at the garbage dump scene.. The dude with AK47 was howlarious.. Who was that actor? He was spot on.. although could not see him, but he left an indelible impression on me..
That character itself was a masterstroke.
You have arrived.
Pankajji – Gaadh do apna jhanda..
God knows how you managed to bring a method to so many happenings. One thing that did come out was the unpredictability.
In the Deonar garbage dump, the crane just stopped short before the cash bag…. for a second and then blows away the money.
In the casino, the comet and the subsequent earthquake saves the day. Funny they chose number 13. And when Kaykay suggests that they place the won money as well, your heart sinks, but only again for a second, because the level headed mona decides otherwise.
The BEST bus scene was wonderful as well, and Seshaiyya turning out to be a sardar was funny- Gurnam and harnam
What a circle of events, and everything was linked to Faujdar. At every point during the first half, I was just hoping that everyone comes together so that money can exchange hands and all debts would be off, and Faujdar could be turned off the cycle. But then how could there be a story otherwise
. They do come together and that too at Faujdar’s place itself…. to hatch his end. Just one song and that too etched well into the story at Faujdar’s Jhoom. Good pace.
I marvelled at the first half when everyone’s character is introduced. All scenes moved seamlessly.
I am surprised at some people at PFC, who found out that there wuz absolute absence of jokes. How come! I laughed out loud at the scene showing Faujdar’s cronie at the sewing machine! Even otherwise why should there be lol jokes when there is always interest in the goings-on!
Bahut maza aaya. Thank you Pankaj sahab for making the movie. Itna achcha pichchur bananeke baad I am surprised your feet are on the ground and you are graciously accepting your critics and detractors. If I would have made the movie, I would have been singing “Mara detractors kaun che, mara critics kaun che”!
Hi Pankaj, just read this-
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=hub010809lunacy_uninterrupted.asp
WOW!! Please include me in the list of people who want to see ‘Urf Professor’!!
I hadn’t heard of ‘Sunday’ before. Care to throw more light on that movie??
I must unashamedly confess that although I have been your fan for quite a while now, reading this article on Tehelka has quadrupled the respect I have for you. Loved Sankat City to the pointy of insanity and eagerly waiting for your next.
Thanks!
Thanks for the posting the link here.
Pankaj- We demand a show of ‘ Urf Professor’ !
@Saurabh – J D Ashwathama is the actor who played King of the garbage dump.
@Vinay — “Mara detractors kaun che, mara critics kaun che” – that was funny! both of you, thanks for stopping by and leaving your comments.
@Vikram – go slow with the fawning, please. it could get me into serious trouble here.
@All – teesra hafta hai, jai maata di!
Well not a bad movie though!
Not a bad movie but i wish it could have like ‘Welcome to Sajjanpur’
an honest , original effort..the characterization was gr8!!have already recommended it to around 300 odd ppl out here…pity twasn’t released in jabalpur..or has it ?!!to call a spade a spade,i did thoroughly enjoy watchin the movie…did have me in splits..awesome!!have sent out the word & recommended it strongly online as well on my mail list ,fb & orkut!!WAY2GO,PANKAJ!!LOVE!!CONGRATS2U N RADHIKA AS WELL!!
“Kya saab, publicity karega phir hee to audience aayega na”.. i do agree… only way i came to know about the movie is through bloags and PFC. never saw even a single promo on tv. movie was great anyways. Congratulations.
Dear Mr. Pankaj,
‘Sankat City’ is in my opinion an excellent movie. CONGRATULATIONS to you and to all the cast, specially to Kay Kay (I love him!), Dilip and Anupam. I’m sorry because I’ve seen it on a pirated dvd support (in Italy Hindi films haven’t a distribution), but I swear I’ll buy the original copy on the net as soon as it’s available. I think on big screen your film must be even more fantastic! It’s a pity I don’t live in India…
Ciao!
Celeste
(Milan – Italy)
(If your movie has been ‘pirated’, it means it’s an important film… so RELAX! Success is behind the corner waiting for you!)
Sankat City was a great surprise. I was in splits throughout the climax. I have added them to my list of the new age indian movies like khonsla ka ghonsla, oye lucky.., omkara.
Great Work !
sirjee..
wat a film…..i really liked the pace and the way u explored the space. without using any kind of cliched symbols the mad rush and the character of the city. i specially enjoyed the casino wala scene. however i thought the climax could have been done better. i came across sankat city bcoz of an article in tehelka. the magazine proclaims that sankat city is good but “urf professor” is ages ahead. is there any way i can get hold of the film? i live in pune and study at the deptt of communication……very luckily i missed the ftii exams due to viral fever. can i get the film from ftii?
i would really like to work for u someday…..
sankat city is exactly my genre of cinema and i love you for making something like this