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scattered thoughts including money and lust
saw johnny gaddar and manorama last week and was quite uplifted at the kinds of subjects we are tackling. means the talent was always there but now monies are also being poured into interesting projects.
an update first on quick gun. it’s slowed down further than before and i was told by the vfx and producer team that we will get the vfx shots by november beginning. which means we are looking at a print in december. self pity is the only emotion i can describe. we rushed thru and finished the shoot in june so that september would be first print. and now we have december. ah well, life is like that i guess. the film was supposed to go to AFM and now a trailor will have to do.
i got a comment from panini that kamal’s film is being funded by anand and 20 crores is the budget. actually kamal had told me that i was to direct it about 8 years ago. and i took him to anand. i was a bit puzzled when suddenly i was told that kamal does not want me to direct it anymore. anand actually felt the budget at 6-7 crores was more that he could afford and so i dont know how true the 20 crore figure is. must admit i am a bit disappointed by kamal’s sudden turnaround. am curious as to who will direct it. i feel kamal shouldn’t. he is a fabulous storyteller but he is not comfortable on the floor unless his budget is unlimited.
as far as anand is concerned, he has a great and unusual take on subjects he choses to produce on own. am looking forward to seeing the fakir which he is on the final stages of finishing.
on a personal note i just finished shooting an advert [for money] and a 10-12 minute film [for money and it seemed a better option that sitting and twiddling my thumbs waiting for quick gun's visual effects to show up]. have gone completely the other way and tried an almost arthouse experiment which has all my team asking why why why? they have submissively cooperated but given half a chance at any point i get an earful from all of them including my son who definitely doesn’t think the sun shines from my arse [it shines from anurag's i fear]. am now confronted with the results on the edit table and am scratching my head whether to make it like a thriller or a drama or fuck knows what. this is my attempt at doing that ‘journey’ thing that a lot of filmmakers tout is cinema. strange feeling i must say. am not a good traveling companion with uncertainty.
have a straight commercial comedy film offer on hand and i am bemused again that my team feels i should not do it. i wanted to do it out of curiosity; to see how much i would twist a bound script, with just visual interpretation. but the guys yelled at me and said i should stick to whatever i seem to churn up. am confused - a good producer, a surefire hit a la golmaal etc, and my exec prod says no. i;m the one who should be struggling shouldn’t i. she should be offering mannat at prabhadevi or tirupati that i might just become mainstream. well we’ll see where this one goes.
at the moment i am writing a script, am negotiating a second film based on an earlier story - the betel nut killers, and biding my time with quick gun. all i can dream about is money [fuel to live], mountains [escape] and undirected lust [the residue of frustration i think]. i keep saying that there are 2 currencies we have - money and time, and you gotta trade one for the other till you hit the big scene. and i am departing from my one thing at a time approach and just doing whatever shows up under my nose [of course stuff i feel i can do].
i dont know how it sounds to you but i am a mess. have to explain to my dad and mom that filmmaking is not what they grandly dreamt it to be. or maybe i am a middle class whore who has too many EMIs.
i wish i had anurag’s energy. that man buzzes and is on a roll. so is our industry. it truly is that time of plenty. i hope a whole new breed comes thru in this phase.
ps: we arrived at a vague description about quick gun as an epic comedy. it spans time and space across 22 years and from a small western town to modern mumbai so it feels like an epic and is [hopefully] funny. are there any other that fits the bill?
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wow…some honest killer lines here… uncertainty,lust,commercial comedy, quickgun, emi,epic,cinema…life cant be messier than this.but then we all r in some or other kind of mess.isnt it? otherwise its boring. n whoever thought about calling ur diary confessional, it cant be better. as i was reading felt as if i was scanning ur brains with a microscope.
sad to know about quickgun’s delay…bad to know about kamal hassan….is there u way that u can clarify things. but will it serve any purpose, wonder!! quickgun…we r waiting n how.
haylo what prompted this.. we need to get drunk together.. anxieties anxieties.. lets rough it out over the TT table..
love you sir
This too shall pass!!! Take up the commercial film offer. There is a saying in the industry ki “kaam ko kaam milta hai.” And you are talented man, so what’s the problem? Just keep on jumping and before you know it, you would have hit the big jump. In the meantime, just have a long island iced tea… the cure for all angst!!! Keep the faith…
Ok, don’t need coffee anymore on a sloppy down blue Monday morning… another read should perk me up… but the way this whole issue seems to plague many of you guys - does it mean that Bombay needs Agents or Professional managers (maybe Producers?) to take care of all the biz and crap side of things so you can focus on the creative aspect and get the kind of work you could relish around the year.
Middle class whore who has too many EMIs..maybe this could be your ticket to becoming mainstream..till then just chill with two four- letter words—-lust n time..A sure fire hit is round the corner.
Trials and tribulations..well documented.
Ek bum ki pappi meri bhi kabool keejiye.
Twill be interesting 2 know what u & anurag converseafter getting drunk
Just read this after reading Mainak’s post on George Clooney, and am left with the thought that there is nothing wrong with a commercial project, if it gives you the opportunity to make what you want. That has been what Mr Clooney has done with his career, take the commercial money to fund his personal projects…
Even better, instead of selling out for the project, you think of taking it just to see what you can creatively do with it. The world needs more directors with that type of vision…
Welcome!!!
===
Last movie watched: Bus Stop
“i keep saying that there are 2 currencies we have - money and time, and you gotta trade one for the other…” this line is not leaving my head ghoshbabu…. stay put sir….
Shashank, i had met you before you began Waisa bhi… i had come to assist you.while waiting outside, one of your ad’s or production guy i dont remember found my shoulder free of charge to lean on and vent out his frustration. you know those kind of lines “Sir, is industry mein paisa bilkul nahi hai. aap tv chhodh ke isme kyun aa rahe ho” this post just reminded me of that day.
“i can dream about is money, mountains and undirected lust..”
good luck and respect
I accidentally bumped into this website via a list of SAJA(south asian journalist’s association).
Shashank was one year senior to me in MBA marketing at Jodhpur University. Living in New York and working for an Indian Television, I have kept in touch with Hindi Films. Shashank’s
‘.. Bhi Hota Hai- Part 2″ was different, enjoyable and a mature film, distinct in its own way.
I heard good things about him from singer Kailash Kher also at Bollywood Music Awards.
I am sincerely waiting for Shashank’s next film.
May this Deepawali get him the desired financial support.
Movie making is more about passion than anything else became clear to me recently after my interview with Dev Anand, who was in New York to promote his autobiography, ‘Romancing with Life’
Way to go Shashank, such honest, confessional expressions shows the seed of another sincere film. with good wishes.
Ashok Vyas
Program Director, ITV, New York
Hi shashank… chintay parlay? lets put it this way… you have crossed the first hurdle - your first film (which i loved)… sitting on my arse and doing tv and yet having that glazed thought at the back of my head that someday i will make a movie is slowly seeming like an insurmountable hurdle to cross… how do i give up my well-paid job? how will i pay that dreaded EMI? and on a fucking floating rate?? bachche ka school fees? old monk ka stash? and so you get the picture… we are all in a mess in some way or the other… but dada you have crossed over… and seen that the grass is not greener… dekha toh hai na?? hum toh idhar fence cross karne ke liye bhi taiyyar nahi hai… or as a dear common friend called amrish sethi once told me - “you talk fellini, but shoot vox-pop”. i think that defines my life… but i know QGM will be a hit… i found the prophecy in my masala dosa yesterday… god bless.
makes me mad to see designer potholes and very low bridges for gondolas get all the moolah while quick gun languishes…and i am told to leave your script with two page synopsis and a treatment page with the security guard at gate no.2 of our studios.
i was hoping you would make my 2008 by doing betelnut killers…siigh…
Shashank,
Just stumbled upon your diary and waiting to trip some more on it.
6 years is a century but I still remember you raving, ranting and but mostly regaling me in the wee hours of the morning in a studio .
We had just finished shooting my silly little adfilm for TVS Scooty - a sadhu baba, bed of nails and other corny cliches that helped me win a gold at the TripleAs.
Never thanked you for it then, but it is never too late.
So - fan q.fan q. fan q.
Also remember going back to the hotel pinching myself. Because years of One Tight Slap, Bakra and devilknowswhat, quick gun was the magnum opus that even VVS Laxman couldn’t have scripted better.
More amazing, still, to see you so real even today.
Aap jaise bandon pe hi Allah meherbaan hota hai.
Hope we can meet next time I’m in India. bichishort@hotmail.com