Trying to make my film in the big bad bollywood- Dev.D. and others
Now that it has been announced.. so let me say it here.. i am making Dev. D. in november with abhay deol.. we have been trying to make this since last year, never could find any takers, because the industry makes proposals and not films.. initially i would be very tentative about my intention to make this, because i didn’t want to jeopardise my so called market that’s supposedly open up.. everyone i would meet had the same thing to say.. Abhay is a very natural actor but.. BUT he doesn’t sell.. i would say we are selling Devdas not Abhay.. devdas is almost like the indian spiderman when it comes to selling.. you can’t sell devdas to indians.. come on.. but they would negotiate.. then i wouldn’t even tell them that a complete punjabi actress who has done films like “miti wajan mardi” and “Hawayein” is to play Paro.. they would be shocked at our take on it.. the subversive Devdas, paro not a virgin, chandramukhi an escort out of choice and that yeda yakub guy from your unreleased Black friday as Chunnilal.. and he bloody roams around with a vibrator.. what is wrong with you.. and i would tell them that don’t you know.. palika bazar is the biggest hub for sex toys in india.. didn’t you know that many a karolbagh hotels masquerade as an escort service..
so are you making a social film
no sir
then what are you doing
i am making devdas
what kind of devdas is it
my kind
what’s your kind
where devdas doesn’t pity himself, he discovers himself
what does he discover
that he is a debauch, a hypocrite, he is a sensualist, hence self destructive.. but he doesn’t know he is destroying himself..
do you think audience will get it
they will definitely watch it, they can’t ignore it, they might come out hating it, the purists will have something to say, so would subhash k jha
why subhash k jha
he will talk about why i am the wrong guy to do it, he will look at me as blasphemous, that will get you your publicity and me my film, how is that..
do you think you are really that important that SKJ will even bother to react
may be not in print, in person he will definitely have something to talk about
how will that get us publicity
i don’t know, i am hoping
sorry , if you can do it under three crores with abhay or get john we will do it for whatever budget you want
but it’s abhay’s concept, he thought of it first
then do something else
ok,
…and that’s how it would go, i would pretend to think about something else while secretly wishing to find someone..
And then there is another script , i have it etched out in my head, “The Girl who would sleep with anyone”.. i borrowed the title from Murakami, one of the characters in one of his books..they would immediately be curious and then they would hear it and say,
but where is the sex..
exactly
we don’t get you anurag
why, what’s wrong
when there is no sex in the film why would you call it what you call it
but don’t you see that’s the whole idea
and then they would advise me” anurag, you are talented, you have waited too long, now is your time, everyone wants to work with you, why are you throwing it all away, do some thing commercial, but your way, we are not asking you to copy a hollywood film, but commercial”
well i think i am commercial, all my ideas are commercial [i would get angry] you just don’t see it yet..
why the hell is everyone interested in me, black friday did not shake the box office, it couldn’t even scratch it, then why the fuck are you interested in me, just because some star has taken a fancy to me, and he has told you i would like to work with anurag kashyap,then why the fuck when he listens to my idea he looks at me like i am talking gibberish.. they all looked at me like that before every film of mine and after i made them they said we should do some thing together.. you know what, someone should do a collective IQ test with the whole industry and guess what , i would be surprised if anyone goes beyond 120..
this is your problem, you are always angry, no one can talk to you, do you know nobody here hates you as much as you want to believe it.. even people at yashraj say, he is a nice guy,all he has to do is stop being so angry.. they really want to help you..
hello, do i look like i need help, i need people to believe in me, i need them to stop trying to help me, i want you to stop trying to make my life better, i want someone who can see i am not trying to make someone bankrupt, i am not an art filmmaker, i am not trying to sell philosophy, all i want to do is make films that everyone sees, i also want to reachout to the same audience that everyone does and how would you know i can’t if i am not doing what i want to.
stop screaming anurag
well that’s how it went in one of the meetings, other were simpler, they just were not interested.. my big films for 2008 and 2009 are locked, we are negotiating my big one for 2010.. small ones are still left wanting..
also the small ones are not so small any more, they are small compared to big ones..they still are between three and a half to five.. well i have become lax..
then when me and abhay decided we will produce it ourselves, Dev.D., and for the other ones i met this guy Samrat and i made a short film for him and i liked the experience and i liked his attitude, so we decided to form a company together based on mutual admiration for what we want to do, the films no one else would like to make and that’s exactly what we are doing..
and then came along Vikas bahl, someone crazy enough must have seen him for what he is..he is the boss as i know in SPOTBOY, the UTV arm and guess what he likes my ideas, and he wants to make them, the ones that would get me thrown out of offices, too.. and now they want to do Dev.D…
well there is hope after all
P.S. Saratchandra always regarded Devdas as his worst book ever, which ended up becoming his most celebrated..Indians loved to pity themselves.. hence songs like “ghungroo ki tarah bajta hi raha hoon main”
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
Good Luck Man!
It sounds very interesting to me.
************
Last FIlm – SICKO (9/10)
Music – www.pandora.com
Hi Anurag, I was wondering if you saw my last email/comment regarding wanting to source your films and others in the same vein for a permanently curated,specialty film series in LA, organized by the biggest archivist of rare,eclectic and cult fare in Los Angeles…my friend Hadrian.
The series would also get a fair amount of publicity via LA Weekly,LA Times etc…
please let me know
thanks
yes i saw them ..
can’t do anything else except put you in touch with my producers..
i have no say in the matter ..
Well, that would be a start…
I havent seen Black Friday, but will soon. I don’t think Bombay producers would be averse to garnering some int’l publicity…?
Also, I’d like to get in touch with Sudhir, I loved his blog..he is a very intelligent human being, his last film would fit right in..
And those others you mentioned….Manorama,Frozen..etc. It would help if you emailed me your email.
Hey, if you want to see some really subversive cinema, I highly recommend Jodorowski’s ‘Holy Mountain’,Jarmusch’s ‘Dead Man’ and De Maistre’s ‘Boy From Lebanon’(maybe you have..)
best
xxx
I was waiting waiting waiting for this one… right after the news of DEV.D. was announced and the media was talking about it… just this morning I was watching DEV.D being discussed on television… THE CAVEAT : Everyone was talking about Anurag Kashyap’s take on Devdas… a modern Devdas… questions were raised… will Kashyap do justice to Saratchandra… serious discussions all over… I was waiting… when the hell are you gonna tell them about the hilarious characters…!!! a complete opposite from what the media was projecting it to be… this post would come out as a shocker!
Anurag // Dev.D idea is wicked. (WB bows to AK and AD) You should also, perhaps, contemplate giving us your version of Siddhartha too. Imagine the chatter that would generate globally – not counting the internal SKJ-ish fumes.
yeah vic, have seen all of Jadorowsky, and jarmusch.. would look out from Boy from lebanon..
will mail you soon..
thanks
Hey AK, this is the excerpt of an article that I had written for Mid Day, just before FK’s Don released –
….And I say
magik i wish your dad was filthy rich..
thanks man
idea achchha hai.casting jabardast hai.darshak milenge aur pradarshak bhi…badhai!
Haha. anyways, wut abt Dilsilay… remember just after Satya you had announced it… I love that title… will u ever paint it on celluloid?
Hi Anurag
Saratchandra “Devdas” was loosely based on his personal affair in his village and its was his one of the early word and due to immaturity of characters or his his writing skill,he always took devdas as his worst book but its fact due to its dramatic Love and ending,this book has a very special place in indian sahitya.
for me devdas in not a name of character,its name of a time period of life when anyone is so mad or moved due to some “chemical loccha”,he can difference between reality and escapism.
Bhansali’s Devdas was bullshit in term of making and treatment and Bimal roy devdas was just awesome and i can’t forget its first scene in which movie start with opening para of book devdas.
anurag may i ask u one question,your devdas is also hailed from village or small town and have same escapism mentality???
When I saw Bhansali
sirji,
what about Allwyn Kalicharan?
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hi anurag , want to meet u . as im big..big fan of urs…:
so many skeletons in my cupboard magik..
shailesh’allwyn definitely someday..but needs a rewrite..
its great means thrilling for devdas soul..and sir what about cast and crew crew last night you mentioned absolute newcomers..well hope god bless you for pro in company with dev D…really its double deal… will definitely sell..b of L
>-
EKDUM HIT IDEA — it will have an appeal across generations — waiting for DD as a WINNER and not LOSER, as my teenage daughter refers to him
AND GUYS THE SCRIPT IS STILL BEING DONE.. any thing, any interpretations, any ideas , suggestions.. pl throw them
Anurag Bhaiya ……………Ek baat aur puchna hai yeh telephone se related kaun sa picture ban raha hai…………….r u associated with it in anyway on which Farhan is working?………………I saw u on zoom there at some launch of that
hmm.
All the best for your Dev.D. When SLB’s Devdas was released, myself and my friends in software industry were making spoofs of it basing it on our profession and called the mythical software coolie as Dev.Das – AKA Developer Das. So When I saw the flashes of Dev.D, that flased across my mind.
I wish you and Abhay Deol all the success for your perversion of a perverted self pitying story. I hope that you guys screw up the love failure guy slow killing himself story so much that no one else should go near that bengali novel to make a movie again.
Good luck AK. so is Dev ‘dot’ addicted to the internet?
AK – OK
here goes my first idea for the movie.
Dev.D lives in a hill station and is well educated. His dad works and lives in Dubai and his mom a sociophile with no attachments to the family. The estrangement is so much that Dev.D gets only new year post cards to which he solemnly replies. His emotional refuge is in his friends who are all from rich affluent households with similar background. Only problem is that while the rest are able to reconcile and enjoy their unfettered freedom, Dev.D is unable to enjoy the “hold less” life. One weekend Dev.D and his friends break out and venture into Calcutta for an “adventure” in “escorted” area.
One night stand with a lady in the brothel changes Dev.D. While his friends get back to the college, Dev.D is afflicted by his encounter and stays back in Calcutta trying to woo that lady and in the process “discovers” so much about life and finally “death” too. He sacrifices his life to seek redemption for the lady’s adolscent daughter – Paro.
See AK,
this was one story i had saved up for the sunday-100.
Anurag: thats very interesting to know abt Devdas.
Original book might not have been having an image of a good book in the mind of Sharat Babu because he wrote it at very young age and often people start hating their works done at that early age but Devdas is the most alluring character in the cine history. I am not sure how many actors would not wish to play this character. Dilip Saab though said that he never kept accordance with the character’s ideology but even then he could enhance the impact of this character. Moreover this character is used by various film makers in the past also but with different names. Like Sikandar of AB in Muqadar ka sikandar, Sharabi is story of Devdas and Chandramukhi.
In short meaning is to say that whoever has taken shades of Devdas has given different name to his film except Sanjay Bhansali who made big changes and still called it Devdas.
You also seem to have different take on the whole concept of Devdas. so would it not be better not to call it Devdas. at the most “Aaj ka Devdas or adhunik Devdas or Modern Devdas”! When story is changed then why old name? It hurts feelings of lovers of older Devdas and start generating hostility towards new product. SRK’s Devdas is the example. RGV’s Sholay is the example.
Abhay certainly can do justice to the charcater after all indecisiveness of Devdas he has already played in his first film SNT. If Devdas is still have that core characteristics then Abhay has to be careful about his natural comical touch in his performances. Devdas is arrogant, self destructive, indecisive but he is not witty and humrous. Till now Abhay (his screen characters) has been thriving on these qualities and these are absent factors in the character of Devdas. If he has wit then its covered with sarcasm and somewhat acerbic.
If Your actors are not finalized in other roles.
Vinay Pathak matches with a fantastic Chunni Lal. Ranvir Shorey may make very good out of greedy big brother of Devdas(if this character is in your story)
All the best with the efforts.
hey RK.. yes all the charactetrs are there.. and we are calling it Dev.D. .. and abhay as an actor can do much more.. wait for manorama to come out.. will keep you updated with the developments
V.P… developer das is brilliant.. lol
uhmm DEV Deol as i would call it !.. but the idea is still murky to me , a nice script could emerge ! now don’t tell me devdas ends up being gay :o !! hy thatz just an urban joke ! but are u doin this as a theme in the movie or is it gonna end as a spoof ???
by the way .. Man black friday was amazing and i feel sad on part of the ppl who cldn’t appriciate it !! unfortunately good cinema has only critics and a few ppl behind them!
all the best for this new venture
Anurag: with kind of frenzy this news is getting. I see no wonder if this film sends Sanjay Bhansali’s version of Devdas in to oblivion. Becuause people were genuinely unhappy with that blatant version but because of box office success(due to SRK’s presence)people started believing it as somewhat opara kind of version of an otherwise simple story. Hope your film brings back the sensitivity of the Bimol Roy’s version.
If this goes on floor soon then this can be the most awaiting film of the present time.
atleast I am highly excited with the idea
While take Devdas in D type company. Contrasting Story in pre and post interval..first one in Calcutta devoted to devdas and paro chemistry.. just by 2nd half Paro get married.. her husband an ICS officer in bombai or any other small big city…Deva came bambay.. where he meets chunnilal..a part time underworld gentleman..
in the end, Deva died also slay Paros hubby (a short fight).. and chunnibhai adopted paro… pulp fiction type dialogs…lol ..idea while bath..:))
but no mazak sir..while you are making, a typical anurag noir kashyap’its owe to be treated in thats way..tc
HI!!all the best sir!!it is very nice of you that you are sharing this with us bt sir i and probably manier would be more happy if you gives us some tips on scriptwriting!like manier and even i havnt even know the indian script format so how can one start with; there are many sites of uk,usa like script o rama etc etc giving scripts for free…bt no one in india and i am sure this is the matter why india are not producing great scriptwriters!!!sir i will request you that u should share script of satya,black friday with us so that i and many can read that and learn how to write a script.hope u will listen.and keep blogging thanks
shiva and all the very best for no smoking and modern devdas:)
you know I am having a flash back about how “my Brother Nikhil ” was made… right from questions like… “cant you make nikhil hetrosexsual”, what about “Yana Gupta instead of Juhi”, “Sanjay Suri is good but lets think of Fardeen”, ” Cant you get Bipasha to give him AIDS”. ” good concept why dont you produce it , we will finance, lets get an experienced director on board”… finally Sanjay and I got really tired… we formed our company with friends to support, had just 20 lacs to start the film… and thats how we started and finally made my first film. ..
feels good to hear that SPOT BOY is willing to back DEV. D…
Hi Anurag,
All the best.. daresay you need it sir ji.. WHY ABHAY??!! despite your explanations..this is looking like a compromise..whats the inside dope on it sir? Somehow on the net I have noticed , even on this site recently a very pro abhay campaign..now it sems to fit. But again.. you r asking for trouble Anurag.. He discovering himself as devdas.. doesnt fit.But then you are the final word.. so offer my best wishes..phir nahin bolna ki pehle warn nahin kiya ..lol
Anurag Bhaiya
Sandeep:
If you consider Box office only then you can say a big project with Abhay Deol may look as compromise but if you consider acting ability then you cvant say this.
Vulnerability is the key for any actor and he has this. If we go for the character Devdas, then we dont find actors who could play this character because
(1) 90% male actors have been allured by gym toned bodies and thus a character who can be bit frail in appearance is a far situated idea for these actors. Now one cant make a poet out of Suneil Shetty or Sunny Deol or Jacky Shroff. Only Dharmendra was able to break this bridge because of his acting ability. he had pehalwani body and yet could play a poet with
ha ha ha…wah guru..n after anurag screamed n walked out of the room,the big guy said he is too confident. cant deal with him…messaged passd by a fly on the wall.
do anything but avoid red colour. only thing i remember about that slb’s devdas is that it was red,red n red all over. had to bear the pain only bcz m big fan of madhuri dixit!! n ya how terrible ash looked in front of madhuri…man what dialogue deliveri of mads n ash…poor soul! that was funny.
Rk you are happily forgetting one thing. Anurag sir is making a todays Devdas!!! not 50’s version. So a today guy is a fitness freak..i am a gym freak so are all my buddies not just the stars. So what is wrong if in all other matters it is a today film then why not in the fitness mantra? you think I cannot be a poet kind ? sensitive and caring just cuz i go to the Gym? what logic is that sir?
As for abhay one knows he is computer savvy and so are his close friends ;)
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I think Abhay is the right choice… he is so endearing. Also please retain the small town flavour, the modern one, now referred to as tier II city and new destination for BPOs or call centres…at least initially…no hill station please!!! The story can then move to the BIG BAD METRO
Mumbai is still facing a power crisis after the last Devdas was made…. Hope and wish Dev.D puts an end to this crisis and lightens up Indian cinema….All the best sirjee..
Error made by Deva,in Chunni group of C-Company… sori sorus full of mistakes %-(
would love to hear & see mr. bhansali’s reaction on this. chhunilal with a vibrator is still keeping me in splits.
Dodge this.. DevDas reinvented
I presume it will look like a “Satya” meets “Devdas” with the mood of “Black Friday” or “Page 3″
Why don’t you try science fiction instead?
ha ha ha,Science fiction is interesting, let me put them in the year 2050 and reinvent.
Yeah, put Devdas into the future and see how he reacts then! But seriously, how many versions of Devdas are we going to see? The Black & White Devdas, the Colorful Bhansali Devdas, now the moody and “satyaish” Devdas…Ultimately its the same story of a loser.
Anurag, why not tell us some new stories? Your taking is brilliant, and with the right stories, your movies might become master pieces.
He will react the same way yaar, he is devdas, but we can play with his external situations like he has a gadget which makes him turn to a machchar Devdas, I mean small devdas, who then then turns Paro to female macchar Paro and they fly into eternity.. la la la
devdas with science friction???? pakistan with democracy :d:d:d:d:d
Actually on second thoughts Chandramukhi should also kick him out, “what a loser you are, you have everything going for you, money, looks, a great career and you are drowning you life in lala la bacardi rum….for that p p Paro,”and Devdas’s ego is hurt, how can both women kick me out..I think I am a real loser drowning my life in drinking,” So he quits and he start blogging..
wow!! one hell of a story… :d:((
Sandeep: gym freak+poetry or say literary activities ( creator and not only admirer of literary works) are good topics.
There is no prototype and anything can be possible. Man can do anything.
Not making any judgement but thinking:
on an average It can be debatatble if two kind of freeks can live in same body and mind. To become freek in poetry and literature one has to devote some special attention, time, energy etc and if daily 4-5 hours are going in making abs, then creativity can be suffered.
A poet writer can be interested in maintaining good health but his becoming gym freak is somewhat doubtful.
Exceptions can always be there.
Too much gym, also need a strong focus and with that strong focus, mind’s flexibility is somewhere affected.
—–
well we were discussing Devdas,
Devdas of 50s or Devdas of 2007- if Devdas becomes so focussed in his approach then he is not Devdas but his reformed version and with so much reforming this character will lose its flavour.
Deviations in his mind are major charateristics of this character.
One can make any kind of character but Devdas cant be freak in positive fields. He is freak in all negative fields. Arrogant, impulsive, angry, indecisive, and immature also. He is not focussed at all in any of his endeavours except drinking and thats not in his hands, his body has become addicted.
Devdas can be reformed to portray him not as a loser but as a person who knows his weaknesses but still has no strength to control them.
A strong Devdas, Prakash Mehra already has shown in MKS and in Sharabi he is not a loser but a achiever in the end.
so some new things are needed.
Machchar bhai…..yeh black friday..aur…satya ….ke beech PAGE 3 kahan se aa gaya….PLEASE……NO…..not page 3…..it can never be anything that meets page 3….
Suchita – SUPERB!!!!;)
ha ha ha.. this is hilarious.. mine is not a spoof.. it begins in a small town in punjab, moves to the capital city.. it retains all the characters but skips some elements of the story..
it is sensitive and subversive, edgy and contemprary..
it is devdas minus the red and the grandness..
its small, intimate , psychedelic
it is devdas
darn… I was hoping Dev.D. was comedy.
Devdas on
oz,me too.
well, sorry to disappoint you..
one might laugh at the interpretations but none intended
Ek rahin Bimal…ek rahin Barua….Ek rahin Bhansali aur ek rahin Kashyap….bimal ne kaha humao devdas banayi….barua ne kaha humao devdas banayi….bhansali ne kaha humaoo devdas banayi….kashyap ne kaha hum Dev.D banayee….bimal aur barua chonk gayee…..eek kashyap Dev.D ka banayee….Bhansali to kuch bole hi nahi…appne version ko itna chamkayee ki aur kuch nazar hi na aayee….bhansali fir barua aur bimal ko samjhayee Devdas jo humne sorry maine banayee so banayee…ee Kashyap ke bas ki naahi…Bimal aur Barua ek doosre ko taake….ee Bhansali sasuri kab Devdas banayee…Itni roshni aur kanch ke mehal mein aur laambe laambe sadiyoon mein Devdas to kahin nazar hi nahi aayee….Bhansali muh utha ke chali aayeee…bimal aur barua kashyap se poche….tum to beta kuch accha banayee….chunnilal ke vibrator ka kissa sunke bimal aur barua aab tak shock se ubharkar nahi aayeeeee……..
=)) Vasan… too good =))
ha ha ha Vasan way to go, rocking!!!
I still think Dev D should be science fiction. Mr.Dev D with a Capital D is all down and out when he loses his girl, so he wants to go back in time and change things! Instead of drinking whiskey, he uses it to power his time machine!
On his intergalactic journey through various time bubbles and parallel universes, he takes a break at a restaurant at the end of the universe where he meets a universal whore and her pimp! What do you say guys? A truly larger than…errr…life Dev “D”!
Dev.D. meets a new character in this story. Chunnilal’s vibrator supplier… B.O.Da… still cooking… brb.
whatever you do anurag.. please have a shot of abhay watching bansali’s version. it’ll be the best shot of the movie :D
i kinda like sandeep’s idea of him being a gym buff.. as the story progresses, it could even work against him.. i.e. he stops going to gym, becomes fat, lazy, and a drunkard as he gets intoxicated with thoughts of paro.. could show the two contrasts.. paro could even be a girl he meets on the internet.. while c’mukhi could be his f*ckbuddy who comes over everytime he asks her to bc she actually hopes that someday they could be together.. and he tells her to f*ck off towards the end of the movie when he finally arranges a meeting with paro.. only to realize paro is actually a 300-pound gay dude with a handlebar mustache and a water tank for a gut.
Well, Strikers story sounds like a Tamil film to me.hehe
Machchar, sci-fi would be too much a budget, you won’t get a producer, you mite have to hunt Spielberg or lucas. Think of some thing within the budget.
machchar.. hahah.. sure, paro could be a tambrahm named PAruthiveeran ROngaswamy that runs an internet cafe ;)
Anurag Kashyap is happening so budget should not be a problem for him…!!
Well anyway, I think the best Dev D anyone can think of is a 21st Century Dev D…He won’t wait till his 20’s to become a loser…He does all that in school!!
Yes, our version of Devdas is actually a 7th class student. He has hots for the first bench paro but she gets hitched to a second bench assole instead of our Dev D who sits in the last bench!
Heart broken, Dev D starts hanging around with the neighboring government school loser students and starts mixing with this guy Chunnilal and girl CK of 8th class who gives guys what they want behind the school for 20 rupees!
Well, the rest is history…
Suchita, nothing can get low budget than this…
M, I don’t think AK needs our sci- fi script, his script is already written, its we who are doing TP over it, rather honning our writing skills:d/
The school one is real low budget, Mansoor. K would be interested, add lots of cycles in it.. tobu cycles..
On a serious note, I never sat through any Devdas movie completely and always got up mid way. I never liked weak heroes. My vision of a Hero is who stands up against all odds for what is right and does not self destruct himself. When Devdas, inspite of his London education and western exposure could not stand up to his father, he does not deserve Paro…Today it was his father, tomorrow it can be a street goon, instead of protecting his wife, will he let her get raped and then drown in alcohol?…weak guys like this don’t deserve Paro’s.
Personally I don’t think women like a weak, meek character who whines most of the time.
This blog is becoming halorious.
Vasan’s kavita was awesome.
Finally Some one Dare!!! Devdas for sure needs a change and when Abhay Deol is there it will be a icing on the cake, he is so different from his cousins, I mean so normal, no screaming, gives 10 on 10 most of the time……Way to go!!!
Now coming to SLB’s Devdas, It looked like as if some one is making Fairy Tale not a story from a novel, it was shown that Devdas was a rich brat, who can afford to drink 24×7, no worry and hassles of the life…But way to cliche’ for a sensible MEANINGFUL indian to digest, and as you mentioned people were dicussing jhoomers, jewelery and costumes of the stars and the real essence was missing altogether, our poor devdas was seeking sympathy and daya from the audiences, and also from himself, which was taken with the pinch of a salt
Now atleast we can think that Dev.D is in a SAFE HANDS!!!
Keep Going!!!!Good Luck
So, when Dev D. wants Chunnilal’s vib, does he sing “Dildo la re…” to the tune of “Dil dola re…”
hemburger =)) =))
Devdas is not a story of a man losing to life….rather it is the story of a man going through an existensial crisis and fighting with his own apathy. While people don’t talk about it as much, this is the story of everybody’s lives. In that sense it remains relevant, even today.
I think it would be great if the hero is seen as having resolved his crisis and come out with a positive view of life. However it would be lame if the positivity is just painted over, and does not come from true understanding.
I think it would be cool if devdas is freed from the bondage of relationships and realises that he does not need either paro (or chandramukhi or alcohol) to be joyful. That existence is joy itself. That he would like paro to come with him not for his sake, but for hers.
Though Unrelated but see the impact of Indian Movies on Indians Abroad.
(MunnaBhai MBBS)
1) http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-07-11T035044Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_India-284101-1.xml
2) http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=f4b3076eb0f93110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD
3) http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?p=103700
Such above articles in regards to flower campaign is going to be flooded in NYT,Chicago Tribune and LA Times and several other newspapaers in next week in US.
Anurag, what do you think of the 3 important Devdas’ made before? KL Saigal, Dilip and SRK one. Also, I think this can easily work as every film has some amount of Devdas in it, someone ditching, someone hurt, someone compassionate, so on. I think Abay Deol can surprise. I love the yeda yakub guy, he was one of the best played characters in BF. I re-watched only his scenes too many times. Good Luck Anurag!
Admin, my apologies.Was my first brush with PFC–its a great companion to a frustrated actor! And thanks for forwarding it to AK.:-)
AK,
how about making Paro a ghostly fictious character who is a figment of alcoholic Dev’s hallucination. how Chandramukhi helps Dev discover that Paro is a hallucinary figure is the knot of the story. how abt that? And Dev himself is not what he imagines himself to be. He is actually a girl imagining to be a man – a case of extreme intoxication and hallucination caused by chemicals used in the farm fields of Punjab.
Bhaskar, bang on, coming out positive is what even I mentioned in my crap story.Because if you see, Devdas was written in 1917, the first film was made in 1928 by Naresh Mitra, second in 1935 by PC baraua, third by Barua again in 1936 starring Saigal, then in 1953 into a telgu film by Vedatam,then 1955 by bimal Roy,then 1979 by Dilip Roy, then 2002 by Shakti Samanta, which was in Bengali,then 2002 again by Bhansali,the film is also been made in Japanese. So we are talking about 9-10 remakes of the novel which was written in 1917!
Imagine what a sure shot hit the character Devdas was. Which means there is a devdas in all of us, the submissive,meek guy struggling with his own inner demons unable to fight… loosing his love, his family!
But this is a “3 minute maggie noodle generation”. Love doesn’t go beyond a few days to months, egos are sudorific, ambition has taken over love, the entire def of love has been changed and THAT is the worst thing to have happenned to our generation! Because at the end of the day its love that makes the world go round, not money, not cars, not nothing. So a character like Devdas who is affable should perhaps end on a positive note..
Mr. Kashyap just one wacky suggestion – YOU play Devdas. As you are anyways often angry and have suffered depression I think you will be able to fit into the role perfectly! With Abhay Deol, maybe you can something in the genre of ‘Socha Na Tha’ that was his debut movie and I for one really loved it, it was a breezy, light humour movie….
For me, Devdas is more a symbol of hate than of Love.He hated himself more than he loved paro. he hated himself for not being a man enogh to stand up against his father’s dogmatic ideologies or perhaps he hated himself for not being able to accept paro’s marriage to another person.
Devdas started runing himself till he reached a point where redemption was not possible. He is somewhat similar to Gail Wyanad of Fountainhead, who started doing what he hated. The death of Devdas looks more like a victory rather than defeat. At last he will not be doing things which he hated. I believe today’s Devdas is more like Vijay Mallya, ostentatious to the core
if there is any music, then you must have Qwaali/Ghazal feel to it. but give it a non-classical feel to it.
:-?
in fact, it could/would be better without songs….
:-?
Aashtha, respecting your POV, i think Mr. Kashyap can be anything but Devdas, coz, as afar as I have heard about him he is a fighter, a pioneer and at times a revolutionary. And as far as depression is concerned thats a part of any creative process. Devdas, i think was more effeminate and despondent, unable to fight!
And Aastha I don’t think any one has the right to comment on people’s ‘depressive’ stages without actually being in their shoes!
Though SLB is not my favourite director (in fact I thought Black was BAD) I kind of liked his version of Devdas. He tried to impart an operatic feel to it. He floundered by, as is his wont, making it too loud.
The unintentional fallout of the movie was that the movie ended up making Paro look like a hero and Devdas like a Zero. Though people love to criticize Ash, I though Ash was v.good as Paro. As played by her Paro came across as a very strong woman who was willing to shoulder her responsibilities and duty with strength and courage unlike Devdas. Again unlike Devdas she was able to make decisions and move on with her life instead of crying over anything and everything.
The thing that I understood about Devdas was that in India women will always remain the unsung heros. Characters like Paro and Chandramukhi who ought to be hero worshipped are given the short drift while a petulant, self absorbed, irresponsible person like Devdas is worshipped and made out to be the ultimate jilted (????) lover.
So spare me if I am not as excited about the umpteenth remake of Devdas.
Anurag sure chooses topics which raise a storm eh ;)
jesus the kind of interest yet another re-interpretation of devdas gets…
its infuriating. dhaal chawal kaane walon ko, abhi dhaal manchurian with fried chawal milne wala hain….great…yipeee….whatever.
you do paanch-inspiring
you do black friday- my heart thuds.
and now….this this KLPD-DEVDAS.D!!!!
please anurag…sure devdas will skateboard and cry on his blackberry or sweat in his armani or hide tears in his aviators or get drunk on a martini, he will fuck other women with a limp dick to get over his paro, we will have eagles fly, instead of doves, the sky will be black instead of blue, he will snort cocaine, he will be the king of debauchery, he will walk with a hard on, he will give spitty salty kisses, his mouth will be frothing, his hair will be styled, he will have a scar on his face, we can see his veins burst thru, you will magnify and magnify his infinite grief
hey anish.. this is no tribute to devdas.. you look at it one way it is devdas.. and take away the name it could be a story of today..
why devdas.. because it’s a pathetic story of a pathetic human being.. that we celebrate.. trust me.. there must be something in what abhay narrated that kick started it all.. i have tremendous respect for your opinion, and you will not be disappointed.. may be the audience which has loved the earltier faithful versions would be disappointed, definitely not you..
you take something that’s revered to death and twist it.. don’t take my perverse pleasure in making it away..
you can abuse me, kick me all that you want but do it after i have made it.. love your reaction.. you and RK are the two extremes when it comes to devdas.. i am the one in the middle.. you both don’t want me to do it is reason enough for me to be wanting to do it..
Anurag, if I recollect properly, you mentioned once that you wanted to shoot a love triangle of a man, woman n dildo, on 16 mm handheld ..
The thought itself is so unique!!
Is your take gonna be dark humour?? which is my guess.
The visuals of the concept spreads a smile:) brilliant sir ji!!
that one too manjeet
Anurag: I 100% support the idea that you should make a film
(1)dealing with the character inspired by Devads.
(2) even remake of Devdas fully devoted to original story
I had put forth my reservation about naming it Devdas (which I do with any remake if major changes are involved) and you had already kept different name. only thing I had not caught your title as I thought just as a habit to name it in abbreviation you are writing Dev.D!
I stopped me forcibly to write a comment after reading Anish’s comment. As you yourself has responded so I feel more free to comment.
I wished to write that you should surely make it because now there is a opposition in minds of people who have been liking your work that means you have been getting a fixed image in the minds of your fans and in reality you may be having far wider range.
With these reasons and reasons people see you more associated with films other than Indian stories, I wish wholeheartedly that you should make it. While making on an Indian character how far you can go from indianess? So in my opinion that will be expansion of your vision among audience which they may not know now considering your past 2 films.
I am ready to get any good shock. whatever will happen will take cinema one more step ahead.
and re: Abhay, I am one who has been liking his performance and I see full potential in his personality to play a Devdas or Dev.D.
good post.interview ke roop mein bhi kuch aaye to achchha.mera matlab print media mein interview se hai.mujhe baat kar khushi hogi aur mere readers ko fayada hoga.
i think, Dev.D is an adaptation of the book Devdas would be a better saying than remaking Devdas. so Dev.D does not get categorized under the remake trend.
8-|
sorry anurag, I think I over-reacted. I apologise. I didnt see the fun side of this I guess…
you said, “you take something that
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm:-?:-?:-?:-?:-?:-?:-?:-?:-?:-?
Anish:
your amalgamation of Kubrick and Speilberg is amazing.
sorry to extend it bit more. but MTV may come up with their kind of sci fy film on Devdas
When ice melts, Deva is astonished to see that there is an underground way there. he goes down and he sees there, body of Paro lying on a bed of soil.
and to his greater astonishment he sees a bitch there. he remembers that this is the bitch which astranuats had left at moon in 1960s.
Deva and Paro live there at moon with the bitch.
here on earth, children of Chandramukhi points out first time that moon has now three faces and not one faces like older time people used to see.
In the end camera goes to grave of Sharat Chandra where its inscribed
” Here lies the author whose created characters live now on moon”
in the background we hear re mix version of Saigal’s song
“Is Deva ke tukrhe hazar hue ek yahan raha ek chand par gaya”.:d:d:d:d
jesus. i apologise again. i cant believe what crap i am writing, somebody get me off this computer.
yikes. i am going into hibernation right away.
Anish, you are being too hard on yourself… you are doing just fine and we are enjoying your point of view…
anish, a little sarcasm never hurt anyone
especially anurag!
well, as I’m sure I’m the only one here who liked all Devdas’ versions (yeah, also Bhansali’s, please don’t kill me), I just wanted to say that I fully support Anurag’s idea, I also think it’s a timeless story… which can be understood universally, although it’s full of Indian symbolic. And as a Devdas-fan-through-the-ages, I have to say I know for sure I won’t be disappointed by Anurag’s work. And as a SRK’s fan (please don’t kill me), I can say too that Abhay’s the perfect choice to embody a modern Devdas. He’s a great actor.
I love SRK TOO:((
suchita, it’s ok.. is mein rone ki kya baat hai? [this inside crying of what talk is?]
Striker, Where am I crying!
anurag sir…i hope that whatever u r gonna make…it should be just inspired by the stor – D.das…but u would definitely not treat it like everybody else has treated it…waiting to watch something new…not actually d.das…but something like d.das…the pain should be there but in a different fashion probably…this is what I can expect from a filmmaker like you…if u r trying to make d.das…like bhansali…then i am sorry that’s not my expectation from u… sunil…
one question as well anurag sir…why abhey?
sunil.. the answer is in anurag’s post..
producer: sorry , if you can do it under three crores with abhay or get john we will do it for whatever budget you want
AK: but it
Why the F is everybody after Abhay? what is wrong with Abhay? He is one of the finest actors, have you seen his films, 1 fourty local, ahista- a, he slips into the character to the T. He is so much better than all these hard core commercial actors who are getting work for everything but their acting skills. If he chooses his roles rightly he is going to make it real big in the times to come.
you’re right Suchita. He has only done four films, where he proved he could be different from other commercial actors, so Dev-D (and Manorama too apparently) is his big chance to prove his talent to everyone
Thanx Ophelie, for supporting.:)
Does Chunnilal use the Vibrator on himself?
Or is it a gift for Dev D?
**************
Last Film – BattleGround: 21 Days on the Empire’s Edge (7/10)
Music – www.pandora.com
Thats the surprise twist in the story yaar. Modern Devdas hai. His love for women destroys him, so by the end his is so sick of women, he hooks up with Chunnilal.
Its fun to read the other AK blasting the Devdas to pieces. His rage can be used for a retro Devdas.
I have an alternative take on Dev.D here it goes.
It is inspired by a song Kannadasan wrote for a love failure guy in a Thamizh film.
There are two lines in the song which go like this.
” God must be born as a man
shud fall in love and get damnd”
We can take this concept and say Dev.D is actually GOD who gets to hear all the lofty things ppl have been saying and doing in the name of LOVE.
So he decides to walk the earth again as a “Man”, even though GOD is a “she”.
How he falls in love and almost “destroys” himself is the crux of the story.
In the end he even forgets that he has all the “POWER”, yet no power to change the “FREE WILL” of Paro whom he loves and believes that she is also loving him( in reality, she is a money minded modern whack – available for the best price). Finally GOD understands that real LOVE is not there in this world and it is only a yearning in the collective consciousness of the society. Infact his own “LOVE” is just lust redefined. So he sets out to create the real “LOVE” and does he succeed? that is Part 2. to say anything more u guys have gotta pay me.
Are there any old TalkCity guys out here?
Anurag you are real ‘KRANTIKARI’..a Krantikari for this genration… in past & in feature Socity always hate & try to chop or cut into many pices of this kind of Men
but your men with Answer & solutions?
ill always appriciate you & your work.& your insperation for all age genration……
long live Anurag & your attitude
lots of love
DSantosh
striker dude!…I can understand its Abhey’s concept or whatever producer says…however what I was trying to put across is that dont make films just for the sake of it…if Abhey suits the character and the film can be made under 3 crores it must be made…but not with the compromises…making film is one thing and following passion is something different..I also want to make films but it doesn’t mean I’ll make any film just for the sake of it….enjoy!!
hey suchita we’r not fucking after abhey…as u r interpreting it that way…if u think he’s one of the finest actors…it’ll be proved after watching d.das…I dont think he’s gonna do wonders as d.das….lets c …time will tell
Suchita, I wasn’t taking a dig at Mr. Kashyhap’s or anybody else’s depressive stages, I am sure he doesn’t think so either… And trust me I would know better than to comment on anybody else’s state of mind as I myself have spent more than 2 years in therapy.
suchita i don’t think anybody is takin a dig at anyone.. i think we all are just digging Dev.D.
sunil i think abhay is a very natural actor and a very intelligent humanbeing..
AK is this Dev.D set in the same timeline as other devdases? Is the title finalized as Dev.D.
Just imagine marketing guys acronyming this to DD(people will think of DoorDarshan!! Apocalypse Now!!):o
So As RK suggested put something before or after Dev.D
And are you gonna have a english tag line along with the title?
Something like He loved, He lost, He died or something like that???:d
VP control yaar..
i loved the way RK’s version ends.. with sharatbabu’s grave and his characters living on the moon
DevD a Punjab da puttar –the idea just rocks and is full of scope…how about a gay encounter with chunilal….
Yes Anurag, you are right, no one was taking a dig at anyone, I misinterpreted it, then.
Sorry Aastha to hear about your 2 year therapy. This is slightly off the topic, but did it really help? I mean if you could pass any numbers to me, I need to take a friend of mine to a therapist. She is suffering from depression I think! thanx.
Sunil, you are absolutely right about time. no bigger teacher or healer! So you are also on PFC, and I am also on PFC,and we both have long lives, we can always have a virtual sword fight dear.:”>
And by the way its AbhAy, unlike AbhEy. Thanx for letting me correct you, hope you don’t mind, you can correct me if am wrong:)
hey suchita hope you are not pretending to be your own friend..:d:d
and don’t feel sorry.. going to therapy actually helps you write good, often funny psychiatrist scenes.. one of those sessions inspired a whole script of mine and inspired me to stop going there.. have you ever met a therapist who needs therapy more than his patients.. most of them do..
Ha ha ha , not at all Anurag. I am a therapist to lot of my friends, trust me. And all for free, its great to help people. But this one friend is not working out, so I think I need to take her to someone who can faff more than me.:d
like ramgopal verma ke sholay, the title may be Anurag Kashyap’s devdas aur “Aaj ka Devdas” aur “Devdas strikes again”
Dev D is an NRI who comes to his village in Punjab. He show offs a lot thinking that all the girls in the village are attracted to him. But nobody cares about him. Even Paro his childhood gf gets irritated with him and leaves him for a old rich man could not get his thing up.
Dev D meets Chootilal, a psychiatrist, who takes him to a restaurant where all the waiters are girls and also do extra favors. He meets Chandramoohi there who gives him a bl.. job. In the midst she asks him, “macchi chahiye” ? She is very proffessional and he enjoys the way she uses her mouth and so he agrees to whatever Chandramoohi asks him.
Paro is unsatisfied with her husband. She also meets Chootilal who presents her with a vibrator. Later Dev D gets aids and gets killed by Chootilal who tries to stop Dev D from spreading aids.
Justin was just joking
:d:d:d
Hi Anurag ,
So many opinions already . A new take on Devdas is most definitely on and inspired by so many interpretations here are some more.
Devdas and Paro are both victims of sexual and physical abuse from childhood. This has scarred both of them for life. And since they live in a extremely sexually repressed environment , they are each others emotional succour. But once they move to the big city , they love their anonymity and go completely wild. Paro has a revulsion for sex but to get into the ‘city scene’ , she projects a bohemian facade and sleeps around with a lot of men , who use and abuse her. As for Devdas he just can’t get any action from the city girls. They find him to gauche. Devdas and Paro can’t stand each other in the city. They start hating each other. This where he hits the bottle , drugs and runs into Chandramukhi. Its Chandramukhi who free’s Devdas from his sexual inhibitions. She dymystifies sex for him. She liberates him from the demons in his head of his past sexual abuse. These demons always surface when Devdas is high on intoxicants. Chandramukhi tries hard calm him down. But she can’t coz he still wants to possess Paro.
Goodluck with your film. I don’t any of these suggestions help.
God help you JJ if you weren’t joking!!!!
This is VP joking – in an unjust way.:d:d
Just deviating from JJ’s story, paro agrees to have an affair with DD to beget a child as the old man can’t move even a grass. The child is told DD’s story in a lengthy 3 hour flashback in his summer holidays by Paro.
I see Dev.D having more potential to become DD’s comedy show!!!
:d:d:d:d:d
Sorry AK if you had a serious psychadelic story in mind.
“going to therapy actually helps you write good, often funny psychiatrist scenes.. one of those sessions inspired a whole script of mine and inspired me to stop going there”
hmmmmm anurag – you talking about No smoking ?? :-?
Dev comes back from Chicago after 12 years. At the airport there is a security check. Dev refuses to remove his shades as the Jat havaldar ask him to. Dev insists it’s not necessary for the check. It’s harassment. Jat havaldar looks at his mate comments “yeh huggte samay bhi peehan ke rakhta hai….”. Dev removes the glasses and stares at the cop. “mujhe meri tatti dekhni pasand nahi…issliye pehenta hun….”. Dev pushes the havaldar and tries to walk away in style. We see the Jat Havaldar move his hands towards Dev
i think i have gone mentally sick too…..i’ll stay away from the internet and PC for a while….and get fresh and healty to get doing some real work….bye for now.
sunil, no problem boss.. you asked, i told.
thanx anurag sir for the reply..
Well Suchita I would have no problems in giving you the contact nos. but where do you live? I am assuming Mumbai, coz if its true then that won’t help coz I put up in Delhi.
ha ha ha….where is all this going ???!!! saratbabuuuuuuuuu……slbbbbbbbb…..skjhaaaaaa……..bachao!!!!!!
Hello Anurag,
Dev D sounds cool. I hope you also work with some more talented actors like Irfan Khan, Sanjay Suri, KK(ofcourse u hv worked with), KOnkona , etc.
I think directors like youself, homi, onir, vishal bhardwaj should create a creative camp to beat other camps …like it happened in early days with hollywood. Copolla could create that and i think you guys should create that and others would regret not being there and we audiences are saved from mediocrity.
Well glcuk with your endeavours.
marcello
By the way the stories are being generated here about Dev D, the final version seems to look like “Caligula”! haha!! Well, why not mix Caligula and Devdas and come out with an Indian version!!
Paro can be Devdas’s sister..
Anurag,
I have heard sooo much about you from Aniruddh Wahal that I feel I know you like he does.He loves you, you know…
Anyhow, I don’t know how I came across this blog but having eagerly sat up when I saw your name in the credits and smiling inwardly after the movie ended..I had to write to you ..just once. Never mind if you read it or not!
Ani and I were friends once in D’school.
Take care..
hey shiva,
ani use to talk about you too.. he always wanted me to meet you.. but those were my early days in bombay.. i was too busy sorting myself out.. funny thing is that ani is right here in mumbai and we don’t meet, well he was the reason i came to bombay.. am saving your mail id.. check your mail
love
anurag
Aastha, your assumptions are absolutely right. Although Dilli, wouldn’t be a problem, but it would unneccessarily complicate things for her. no sweat. thanx
Devdas——-what vibe has it created its just amazing? I could never understand the passion it generated for Devdas(the character) was nothing but a WANKER PERSONIFIED. Devdas infact is so much in love with himself that the society convinces him to love some woman on purpose coz staying in one room with mirrors and just masturbating is not a very fulfilling job in modern times. You cant waste your seed all by yourself SPREAD IT AROUND. sow some oats and reap some carrots. So a transformed Dev with a new found vigour wears a LANGOT and vows to change his lifelong passion for masturbation wears a tatto (copulation for procreation).
to be continued my boss is stalking me. FTP
“DEV Da ASS” – SLB’s version was an oppurtunity for da Art directors,,to prove themself,,dialogues——..prem roguish,perfomance,,FILMI,-MUSIC-BEARABLE,Jackie-unberable,WORSER pathetic perf,in other words,,A HOG WASH CINEMATIC FAILURE,,executed IN A COMMERCIALLY VIABLE Format with SALEABLE Faces,rememeber da original PAROS (Vaiyjanti Mala) opinion,,—she said it was SHRKUKH evrywhere and she was lookin 4 Devdas,,,,,that itself SPEAKS VOL,,Literature turned to Litterature,,well cmin 2 anuraag,,ve total faith in ya,,,n ur perspective,,bout da often,,,bashed character,,,ALL da BEST….DEV_DARES,,,,,,They’ved-ass gud as it GETZ,,—-
QUIZ TIME—WE BOLLYHOODLUMS USED 2 PLAY THIS GAME IN our KATTA!(hangout) wherby one of them will say some portion of a DIALOGUE OR MIGHT enact some gesture and,,,we hafta say KAUN AUR KAUNSI PIC…and one of da toughest of dem all was
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY VIDYA”……
JAWAB DO>>>>>>
Sounds interesting… waiting for this one.
Whoever said that there are no good scriptwriters in India is a clown. They should simply visit PFC.
I have been rolling in laughter reading some of the stories above. VP, Vasantbala, Justin…each one of your plots are awesome.
Btw, Anurag are you sure that a Chunnilal carrying a dildo will be passed by our censors?
randomly started thinking of casting suggestions on the drive home today.. and sandhya mridul came to mind.. for either c’mukhi or paro.. preferably c’mukhi.. something about her is so sexy.. her smile is amazing.. if you’ve seen rushes of kitu ghosh’s “chowki”, you’ll see why i find her so attractive.. she totally reinvented herself in that one. she plays a bar dancer.. damn..
OK guys! this is one more plot idea for Dev.D.
Year 2220:
———–
Men population is fast decreasing due to a strange disease that kills of boys before they can become men. The disease doesn’t affect men but only boys. As a result the planet is predominantly ruled by women who have to do with only old and older men. All kind of pills like viagra have become almost staple food and women fund and drive research to cure this ailment.
There is a team of women who send out space probes into far reaches of solar system to hunt for able and healthy men who were born and brought up in the respective planets as part of early settlers. These folks have done the hard work of harvesting a planet and making it fit for human life. They call themselves cultivators. – The indian cultivators in Io one of the moons of Jupiter rename Io as “Punjab” as there is a lot of water from a sub terranean stream.
The head of the planet punjab is a tyrannical patriarch who has reinvented the caste system in Punjab and ever since the news of disease in Earth reached him, has forbidden marital and biological ties with women of earth as he considers them “cursed” and hence lowest of lower castes.
Our Dev.D is the only son of this guy and he expectedly falls in love with Paro who is an earthling astronaut who is the part of “search healthy men for procreation (SHMP) team” that lands in Punjab.
Does Dev.D’s interplanetary love win over Papa.D’s plans? There is an intertwined mystery over how the disease spread in Earth and how the other human settlements are also threatened by it including our very own Planet Punjab!!
Hey VP, excellent idea. Now THAT is hit sci fi material, trust me! Masala and intergalactic courtship…
As always, Anurag…you have proved that you have balls. I can only imagine the fury of the purists who are just waiting for DevD’s release to scream FOWL, and there you are gently absorbing it all…giving indian cinema a new lease.rock on
Why only Yeda Yaqub from Black Friday…why not Imtiyaz Gavate..?????????
Sonu Nigam’s open letter against Subhash K Jha
Respected Mr Editor,
Without wasting too much of your precious space I’d like to say that for a long time I’v been reading, at the insistence of my fans and well wishers, various articles which contain one or more ways to include and humiliate me and my work, written by Subhash K Jha. All I want to say is I am sure he is a great asset to your reputed paper and very well known to his fraternity, but I’d like to put into your notice that he is the same guy who has always had over-whelming great words of praises for me once upon the time, from my impeccable singing abilities, to my acting prowess, especially in my movie “Love in Nepal”.(Please surf the net and read his review of the movie 3 years back)
So what suddenly happened that today he humiliates me every fortnight in some or the other article in your paper or the other’s that he writes for? Of course I am not the only one in his hate list, there is Shahrukh, Aamir, Salman, Shilpa, Ashaji, Anu Malik, Ismail Darbar, Alka Yagnik, Adnaan …and the list goes on..but here I wanna talk about myself!
Let me spill the beans open for you. I’v kept quiet for too long just hoping that his conscience will someday overcome his vengeance for me. Its not a secret in the industry that he is a homosexual (read Bi-sexual). God Bless him for Homosexuals are normal people with just different sexual preferences, just like men lusting for women is not a taboo. But a man Punishing a woman for not complying with his sexual advancement is an issue right? So why isn’t a man imposing upon another man an issue? Isn’t this a free world? Am I suppose to reciprocate to something that I am not interested in? And do I have to be subjected to this kind of DADAGIRI for no fault of mine?
Some time back, there was an article where he states that I threatened him. Yes I did! He challenged my audacity for not allowing him to take my interview. I didn’t want to talk to him. I did tell him to stay away from me when he comes to Bombay . What is my fault in this? No one is obligated to interact with people who make one feel uncomfortable! And especially when someone would constantly talk either negative, or suggestive!
I am not just an artiste but also a reader of your newspaper from the time I gained consciousness to this world. I demand you to treat me like a common man.
I am not alone in this world, I have a close knit family, friends and admirers who feel deeply hurt when this kind of unaccountable bashing is inflicted upon me. I want to be left alone. I am going to have my first baby soon and I want to give him/her all my time and focus in the next few months keeping myself away from the routine for sometime. Like any other father I think I deserve this space. I don’t want to be subjected to this strange kind of sexual assault where all that I did like a “phenomena” in his own words, some time back, has become something so hateworthy for this sick man.
I have his “I miss you and Love you Sonu” and “I am sorry” messages saved in various phones of mine and today I thank God that I never erased them!
Whether I succeed or fail, I have never resorted to cheap means of publicity or scandals, have been respectful to my seniors and encouraging to my juniors. I have seen poverty, struggle. I am not a star son and God has given me the blessing of entertaining the world with my art which I have honed with tireless hardwork. Everyone, from my seniors to my colleagues to my juniors, swear by my hardwork and dedication.And then, there is this man, who drags me in all his articles, lambasts me, shamelessly tries to tarnish my hard earned image, step by step, almost like a lover scorned by denial! I can very well take this all lying down too sir, but I just read somewhere recently once again that taking injustice lying down is a bigger sin.
Its my duty to exercise this right of mine by writing to you. By presenting my case in front of you. I leave in your worthy hands the task of presenting my case in front of the world who is witnessing Sonu-spanking for last 3 months.My parents have been hurting reading all this cuz they know the reality! Is my not being a homosexual so punishable an offence? If someone can do this to me, I wonder what the new strugglers, models and actors have to go through in this industry? My heart goes out to them. Please let them know we are not living in a jungle where someone’s silence is taken as a sign of weakness by a beast! Let them know that homosexuals have their right to be themselves in this society, but so do hetrosexuals!!
Thanking you in advance.
B.P.S.. I don’t sound nasal when I go on high octaves as written by him to justify another singer. Even a kid will tell you that.
B.P.S.B.P.S… As Mark Twain said, I’d rather deserve all the accolades and not have them, than have them and not deserve them!
-SONU NIIGAM
The above letter was sent by Sonu to various publications that carry Subhash K Jha’s daily PR oriented bullshit
anurag,
u are very talented and u should succed, probably your time is not favouring you send me your dob and time and place of birth, i would guide u astroligically in your career.
ashokthakur
ha ha ha where did this come from? where is this post heading to…..
By the time I got to post #158 I was worn out! I’m really glad I found this great website. Even though I’m more in the “Bollywood” mentality for Indian movies(I live in the US and discovered Indian movies about 6 yrs ago) and I loved the SRK version of DEVDAS for the sets, costumes,music and cinematography (but it felt like a 5 min story stretched to 3hrs)after reading all these posts I’m suddenly open to the New Wave Devdas…..so my idea is to have Chandramukhi be a Transsexual…I’ll be waiting for Anurag’s reaction:-w
Hi Anurag,
if u r making movies on novels.
Then pl make one on “Raag Darbaari” by Srilal Shuka.
I think its a classic.
Hey this letter by Sonu Nigam has given me an idea for devdas. Why not make it a modern day devdas with the male casting couch as the background. Dev and Paro could be the childhood sweethearts and he tells Paro to wait for him as he goes on to make a name for himself in big bad bollywood. Dev has a really hard time as a struggling actor until one day he meets journo cum broker chunni lal, he agrees to give him great reviews for great performances in bed. Dev complies coz he has got no other choice and soon he becomes a star but he is still a sex slave to chunnilal. So Dev takes to alchohol to get over his disgust for himself, he is so ashamed of himself that he can’t face Paro, and Paro thinks fame has changed him so she marries a businessman in Delhi(that is where Dev and Paro are from). Enter the much bedded item girl who is now top actress chandramukhi who knows what it feels like to be a slut and sympathises with dev. The ending could be sumthin like Paro realizes that why Dev became so distant and with Chandramukhi’s support Dev finally destroys himself to expose Chunnilal and he is succesful at that. At long last both Paro and Chandramukhi meet on the banks of Ganges as Chandramukhi is putting his ashes in the water and Paro has lied to her husband to wish Dev a last goodbye.
Tell me what do you all think…
Oh and yeah, take a look at this link that where I got the food for thought, or watever …
http://lifestyle.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-2211075,curpg-1.cms
Anurag,
My id may suggest the life I am living right now. But somewhere deep in my heart, I have a dream to write scripts, meaningful, original scripts for movies. The hope was going thru a nadir and I was just goint to utter the last dialogue of Monster’s opening scene(”…And then the dream stopped”), when I stumbled upon here. A.R.Rahman sold out,Govind Nihalni sold out,Gulzar sold out even Nasiruddin Shah sold out…you are the last hope to bring a definitive dimension to Hindi-movies which always kept us waiting in the threshold for decades. Don’t yield man , at least for thousands cubicle bound misfits , like me.
Kudos,
CBM
In retrospect, this seems more of a story in the Pyaasa mode than in the Devdas mode… hmm interesting :-w
hi Anurag,
I really loved the chunnilal with a vibrator idea, i think its superb… and will go quite well with DEVD in todays time… dum hain boss…
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117968891.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
Anurag, Onir and co. set to make big budgeted studio films to be co-produced by Viacom and Studio 18. The six films greenlit by the Indian Film Company ( the movie production and finance outfit backed by India’s Studio 18 and Viacom) are:
I’m anxious to see AK’s version of Devdas with Abhay Deol. Now I read even Sudhir Mishra will be making his version of Devdas with Shiney Ahuja in the lead produced by PNC.
Indiafm reports,
http://www.indiafm.com/news/2007/07/21/9772/index.html
But, I still don’t understand what exactly is driving these supremely talented writers and directors going for a remake. I’m a huge fan of AK. Why not something new? I know AK has answered this question. But still….I wonder..
Hi anurag,
I somewhat feel, u want make fims for urself. U want to project ur ideas. U want to bring out ur feelngs whether someone is intereted to know abt it or not. If u want proove ur point, just write a article or a story on ur own risk. Films should be made , by keeping viewers interest. Thats the difference bet’n art and nonart movies. Art movies shows, wt the director is interested in and wt he believes in. Commercial movies have all the facts , wt makes the viewrs interested.
Sorry anju, i COULDN’T RESIST responding to your statement, even though its not directed at me. Every good filmmaker makes a movie according to his believes, faithes and sensibilites and that is not dictated by the market terms and conditions. Every good filmaker makes a film to project and show certain part of the society which needs to be shown , debated and is thought provoking. When you start making films according to what market wants then you make heyy babies and daily soaps. And every good viwer and a person with passsion for films would want to see real, good cinema, great cinema.. not daily soaps, unless you prefer that, which is not wrong it just your taste.
And Anju, its because of people who are similar to you, who have the same attitude as yours, due to whom the indian cinema market is not emerging, is not growing, we are churning the same old shit so called and so easily used term commercial.And when some people are trying hard to make what they want to say not wihtin the confines of the formula they have to fight their as… off.. so think before coming on a site and putting your POV, are you justified.
@Anju
You seem like get offended by the kind of cinema AK is doing. But i can’t understand why … There are hundreds of film-maker who are making ur so called “entertaining” movies .. u can watch those movies, u have got plenty of options. But for a minute think ab’t people who don’t like those entertaining movies. Where shud these guys land in weekend or so ? … Even T.V is also now a days “entertainized” from soaps to News. Show some mercy on these guys .. leave AK what he is making.
BTW have u seen Heyyy Babyyyy ?
must have tons of “entertainment”. Oh i forget .. today one installment of “******ment” is also releasing in the name of “DHAMAL”. You got plenty yaar.
hi sir,,
all i want to tell you is i would like to assist you on this film,,, please,,,it really sounds interesting and really wish to work with an ‘ANGRY’ man and see what plays in that mind which churns out brilliant ideas….
shailee, haha…a new and almost fail sure way of asking for a job!
mr. machchar,
often what seems an almost fail sure way happens to be just the right way…hehe
i was just trying to express my support for the concept..
i was just trying to be the representative of teens and tell him that we WANT to see more of such cinema….
Hey congrats! Just saw on Reuters the announcement of Dev D. I had thought you had dropped the idea of Devdas or had perhaps put it in deep freeze.
@anju,
that was a pretty myopic view on what movies are made for… as well as the kind of movies.. anju..
also check most of the good ‘commercial- non art’:o
movies which u have liked…
im pretty sure 90 % of them they would be rip offs of what U call ‘art’ movies…
Sawariya ow bawariya when i saw this movie the first thing came in to mind was a song from Sudhir Mishra’s film “Hazaron khwaishen aisi”, “muniye bawra sudh budh kho raha dhudhe raat din kya bawra”.
Someone must tell SLB that amazing shots, camera angles and huge production value not only make the film. Filmmaking is beyond all this.
If he thinks that his blue dream(sawariya) will amaze people then i totally disagree what is more important is a story.
Story? i think that’s going to be the first question which he is going to ask me if he’ll read this blog.
Well i personally dint find any story in the whole film and was eagerly waiting for the intermission. He was quite successful in fooling people u cant guess when is the interval going to come. Each time when you think now this is going to be a interval its not you’ll be left with ambiguos state of mind that when is this bloody interval is going to come.
Though i appreciate him for few shots specially the one in which the whole wall is filled with mirror and he estableishe all the three characters one by one and CC but the whole 3D created city of sawaariya is so bogus that you cant digest. It will remind you of walt disney’s Alladin in the aerial shot. His dreamy land sometime looks so stupid and unreal that you’ll laugh when Rnbir Kapoor writing Sakina’s name on the wall the wall is so unreal and even dabbed inside iside as if he is not writing on the wall but on the cloth. I guess they dint get much POP from the production.
My dear SLB you lost it. Please dont do this to yourself. You have earned a good name.
The whole movie is oscilates from one period to another you wont understand the period. For once you’ll think by Zohra Sehgal’s Accent or the sets is one period but in another moment you’ll think its someother period.
People who’ll be benefitted by this project are Ranbir Kapoor all the Televsion and Adfilmakers for referencing he actually gave very good references for the people.
Ranbir Kapoor will be benefitted because he was not that good but he managed to convey his convictions in some of the shots. But whenever SLB wanted him to be stereo type he delievered Salman’s best. He reminded me of Salman in many scenes.
Sanjay….. Sanjay….. Sanjay….. i guess you not overated or you lost it….. sawariya matt bano Bawariya kuch complete dont present us something incomplete…… please……….
Cordially,
Nitin
I think ur a very open minded interesting director. I am yet to see Black friday but i sure do plan on seeing it. As for the devdas idea im not sure if it will work considering the star cast.. But if u don’t care and u want to make a film that might not do good at the boxoffice then go for it. because I am sure it will be praised by alot of people.
I think ur a very open minded interesting director. I am yet to see Black friday but i sure do plan on seeing it. As for the devdas idea im not sure if it will work considering the star cast.. But if u don’t care and u want to make a film that might not do good at the boxoffice then go for it. because I am sure it will be praised by alot of people.
hi ,
just was browsing this site wots all this abt mna,
yeah i blong tothe industry , i m an editor forthe last 14 yrs , but pls tell is only 4 the industry walla or others alsoandcan i speak to any one in the industry?
thanx santy
Dude, that is awesome. I would love to watch Dev. D. or whatever you name that story…that story was a piece of crap always…and over time that crap is repackaged and remodeled and represented by some cool directors…only audience refused to let a debauch drunkard have peace…all of our moral dilemma about drinking and prostitution goes to sleep in the name of watching “a classic”. Please make it…at least somebody has a mind to cut through glitters and see some reality (even if the original writer did not intend to view it this way). Kudos!!! Do not worry about industry. Remember whatever you do anyways there will be critics who has not achieved a single thing in their life time except off course some words on inexpensive papers known as film reviews.
hello anurag bhaiya
main aapko bohat admire karta hu.jab aaj se kareeb 1/2- 2 saal pehle maine black friday ka first promo dekha tha,main tabhi samaj gaya tha ki is movie main kuch baat hai.tab se leke uski release tak maine wait kiya..and one day when i rade in the newspapers that the ban on the movie is removed and will be releasing soon, i was the most happy man.I went and saw the movie and it proved the saying true’sabra ka phal meetha hota hai’.
I also liked No smoking except for the fact that movie maine kuch baate thi jo samaj main nahi aa payi,jinhe samajhaya ja sakta tha movie ki thodi si length badha kar.Maine aapko advice dene wala kaun hota hai:).but i m writing wat i feel u should know.
thats all
best of luck for DEV.d
i hav a character sketch of devdas(abhay deol)and i would like to share…
dev ek rock band ka member hai…(may be a vocalist,or guitarist or anyone from the band)
he is a drug addict as all rockstars are..he has this decent fan following coz of his attitude and his stage presence.(for example :slash in GNR)
how is it….
hi,
i saw ur interview on zoom & i got ur idea about movies,for me its sad that u think that bollywood need a revolution ,no they do’t need ,i watch almost
2 to 3 movie in a week in theaters.i’m a student what i saw this year till “123″ every movie is good,see when u create a thing at that time that is best, i like every movie a,b,c grade whatever,here people r of 4 kinds 1.who watch any thing for 3 hours.2.one who want to enjoy a movie only comedies
ny kind.3.one who watch and make a perception about it.4. who read a f**in review in times and go….
hi,
U do’t think that ur movie Dev D. will become a spoof of the remake one.Bcoz people have a habit of comparing two things of same name,whether they r rootly different from each other………
It seems that you are going to make a another version of Abhay starring Ahista-Ahista…..
wot sort of demented idea is it..another devdas!better film an eulogy to cannabis
hiii,
AK ur concepts have always rosen lot of intrest
be it black friday ,no smoking , or aamir
glamourisation of dharavi, best part is ur charectors speak out rather than actors despite or ur lack of sucess u sill stick ur neck out thts cool
i also would love to make movies , rather assit u 1st & then make movies wht would be ur advice to budding flim makers …….since you have facced the brutal glamour industry
P.S- NOT a ADVICE But a suggestion
you can make a better remake of GOD FATHER ( INDIAN STYLE )
Hi AK,
U rock..I have seen both of your movies.Loved them>Just saw the theretical trailer of DevD .Loved the line”Tera emotional atyachaar”.Wish its a big hit.
Hi Anurag,
Firstly, i want to congratulate you on being able to make films u want to. It is difficult to do so India. And i think Black Friday and No Smoking were top notch films, though many didn’t like the latter.
Anyways, i just saw the trailer of Dev D. And I wish you all the best for the same. I eagerly await it’s release.
Ur contribution to Indian cinema was what Akria Kurosowa gave to the so-called ‘concept’ to World Cinema, while maintaining his virtuosity in film making. I heard about Paanch long back as a kid and I still yearn to see after what I’ve read about it. With Black Friday and No Smoking, it just bolstered my belief and I was happy. With sudden flurry of commercially viable yet goo film making around after you have introduced, you have given that concept to Indian Cinema.
I have a nurtured an idea for a film by you. I would like to see a surreal but very dreamy satire made by you .. something similar to Otto E Mezzo (Fellini)… a story about a person who is a story – teller and he likes to tell stories about himself – his adventures/mis-adventures. People don’t like him, he is irritating. But people fail to see that he actually narrates each story with a twist of the listener’s character and life. So listening to incidents which shows the listener their true self subliminally, he manages to piss them off ….
- Ashok Bania (http://www.ashokbania.wordpress.com)
i really like abhay for the kind of film he choose s to do, i really like his films, and anurag i liked your no-smoking too much it was great, but it was a mistake to take john, people expected it to be a general film because of john, you had to take a non conventional hero like abhay in no-smoking it would have kept the film in budget and would have attracted the relavent audience. As for hanuman returns it was first animation film with a disney quality script. I am certain Dev -d is gonna click for you
hi, dieing to seee DD, i liked the colours, texture, and highspeed camera, and ofcurse the crosscuts, and snorricam.
The promos are looking excellent – sort of a trainspotting feel. Really looking fwd to watching the movie even more after reading the write up.
Hi,
Anurag, i have always liked the movies u made because they had same sense of anguish which i saw in this interview…never let this fire down
rock on
sandeep
Hey AK,
I have choose my words carefully and never repeat them. You know the date and time of this post and if you think it is a bit too early to comment or why exactly on ‘this’ article – you’ve already missed it.
It was good to know about AD’s involvement with the character. You know where lotus blooms.
I enjoyed the movie. It was uplifting and still in-your-face. It has been quite sometime since I have seen such screenplay with seemingly effortless ‘hook-ups’ – especially the 1st half. It was nice of you to mention Boyle. I am sure he’ll be proud. The stylization is a sight for sore eyes. I applaud AT for his ‘Original’ST.
Great job. Well done. Waiting for ‘Gulal’.
thanks for trusting us with this one. Amazing.