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Bookies get Oscar fever
'I've never met a gangster in my life'
Post-WTC, the reality bug bites Hindi films
Riots affect release of Bollywood films
Adnan's tribute to Dev Anand
Ram Gopal Verma: Known by the Company He Keeps
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Bookies get Oscar fever
Will Lagaan win an Oscar? If city bookies are to be believed, Aamir Khan's
magnum opus might just lose out to the French entry, Amelie. As per rates
quoted by bookies, Amelie stands a better chance with 70 paise for every
rupee bet. Lagaan is next with Rs 1.75 per rupee.
While bookies expect these two to be the top contenders in the Best Foreign
Film category, bets are also being placed on Norway's Elling (Rs 7 per
rupee), Argentina's Son of the Bride (Rs 8 per rupee) and Bosnia's No Man's
Land is (Rs 10 per rupee). "Our rates are based on the betting happening
currently in the US," says a Borivali bookie.
Bookies have their own reasons for placing Lagaan second - "Woh gorey log
bahut biased hotey hain," says a bookie in Bandra. "Aaj tak koi Indian film
ko Oscar nahi mila." Despite the odds being offered, 65 per cent of the bets
placed are on Lagaan.
The betting, which began on Monday, has touched Rs 30 crore throughout the
country. "We expect the amount bet to cross Rs 50 crore," says a bookie.
Top
'I've never met a gangster in my life'
Mumbai, March 20: HIS is going to be the next big reality film on Mumbai.
Company takes over from where Satya left, and with it, Ramgopal Varma
broadens the canvas of the underworld. Featuring Ajay Devgan and newcomer
Vivek Oberoi in roles that are allegedly based on real-life dons Dawood and
Chhota Rajan, Ramgopal Varma says his characters in Company are entirely
fictional.
What is it about the underworld that interests you so much so that you
decided to revisit it again after Satya?
The underworld is a very big backdrop. You can probably make a hundred
stories out of it. In Hollywood itself, they've had so many films on the
underworld. There's been Godfather, The Untouchables, Goodfellas, Once Upon
A Time In America and Scarface. Each of these films touch upon different
aspects of the underworld, but eventually each of them is about people. It's
not really about the subject or the background as it is about the people and
about relationships.
How is Company different from Satya then?
Satya was about small-time gangsters, and you only get a slight feel about
the underworld, you don't really understand their operations. Company,
meanwhile, is an overview of the underworld, and it gives a much larger
picture. It's about how the underworld functions. Company is where a team of
people get together and work towards a profit-just like any other company.
It's about how the differences between those people create conflicts.
Obviously in an underworld company, those differences would result in
violence and death and mistrust.
The other aspect of it is about how when you're working for an organisation,
the organisation takes over your mind and your soul, and that's exactly what
happens, I think, in the underworld too. You quickly lose touch with what is
you and what company wants from you.
The Mumbai police force is an important character in Company, isn't it?
Yes. As far as the police are concerned, I always had this impression of
cops as tough guys who arrive in jeeps and dramatically arrest the bad
guys-the typical image that Hindi cinema feeds you. I just wanted to see how
the top brass operates, so I secured an appointment with Mr Sivanandan, and
my first impression of him was that of a college professor. He looked so
gentle and I was quite taken aback by his appearance and by the way he
speaks. But when I started talking to him, he almost came across as a doctor
who deals with crime like it's a disease. He doesn't have any personal
antagonism or animosity towards anybody-it's not like he's playing god. I
thought it would be interesting to create a character which would be a very
new way of looking at the police, and to look upon them as strategists
rather than action men.
To a large extent, Satya was accused of glorifying violence. Are you likely
to escape that charge with this film?
I've just tried to see the guys who belong to this organised crime in a
broader light-these guys who are victimising society but are themselves
victims of a larger force. And that larger force could be legitimately in
society, so it becomes a full circle, really.
Aren't the two main characters in Company inspired by real-life underworld
dons?
When you are making a realistic film that reaches into the pysche and the
minds of people through what you read or see in the media, there are bound
to be certain similarities to real-life characters. Reports in the media
suggesting that the characters in this film are based on two existing people
are not true. But I can understand why such rumours are circulating: If
there are two people in the overview of the underworld, your mind would jump
to them. I want to clarify that this is a fictional story with fictional
characters, and the film deals with company politics.
What was your research for Company?
The film is more about the mindset of the characters I'm dealing with, and
about the politics of crime. It's not so much an informative piece on the
operations of the company. Take The Godfather, for example. In the whole
book, you really don't know what they do. You just assume that they do some
criminal activities. What they do is just in the background, the film is
about relationships. People must think I have interacted with many gangsters
and underworld elements while working on the scripts for Satya and Company,
but the truth is that I've never met a gangster in my life.
Top
Post-WTC, the reality bug bites Hindi films
The Hindi film industry is spicing up its standard formula with a dash
of reality. Scripts peppered with real-life situations seem to be the
flavour of the moment, especially since designer romances and patriotic
dramas have had a poor run at the Indian box office in recent times.
So, as the Bollywood dream factory draws inspiration from grim reality,
protagonists of soon-to-bereleased films will grapple with the terrorist
attacks on the World Trade Center in the U.S. and the oppressive Taliban
regime in Afghanistan.
"Film-makers have discovered that controversial and sensational real-life
scenarios integrated into standard Bollywood fare can be crowd-pullers,''
said trade analyst Komal Nahata. The logic worked for Yeh Dil Ashiqanaa,
which seemed to have been inspired by the 1999 hijacking of the Indian
Airlines plane by terrorists.
Movie scripts with the right blend of masala and relevance have the
"potential for great action dramas'', according to cultural anthropologist
Arjun Appadurai.
They also fill in the gaps as far as the common man's knowledge
aboutterrorists and their activities are concerned. "The director can flesh
out characters by attaching motives and emotions. In fact, he can weave many
sub-plots of patriotism, terrorism, love, etc, into the main story,''
explained Shalini Bharat of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.
In fact, five films with undertones of reality are currently under
production or scheduled for release. The Manisha Koirala-starrer Escape from
Taliban portrays a Hindu woman's escape from the Taliban regime after her
failed marriage to an Aghani.A multi-lingual film A Wounded Tigress,which
again has Manisha in the lead, focusses on the attacks on the WTC and
Parliament House in New Delhi.
There is also J.P. Dutta's L-O-C, which is reportedly based on the Kargil
war between India and Pakistan in 1999. Mani Shankar's December 16, which is
slated for release on March 22, bares a Pakistani plot to orchestrate a
nuclear blast in the Indian capital and probes the nexus between hawala
operators and terrorists.
Some characters in the film seems to have shades of alleged Al Qaida
operative Aftab Ansari who was involved in the attack on the American Centre
in Kolkata.
Meri Zameen, a film by Kashmiri Hindu activist Ashok Pandit andstarring
Naseerudin Shah and Urmila Matondkar, is a true-life account of the struggle
of his displaced community to return to their homeland.
But is the Hindi film industry capable of handling these issues with the
sensitivity they deserve? Given Bollywood's track record, there is a
possibility that these movies could turn out to be a confused cocktail of
fact and fiction.
"These movies could serve a critical function of not only providing
perspective to average moviegoers, but also reassuring them that such
terrorist events are not as overwhelming as they appear to be,'' said Mr
Appadurai. In other words, it is up to the filmmaker to strike a fine
balance.
The directors, on their part, claim that they have taken care to ensure that
the movies are handled sensitively.
Mani Shankar, director of December 16, said he has tried to portray the
geo-political background between the two warring neighbours in the
subcontinent as authentically as possible.
According to Ujjal Chhatopadhay, director of Escape from Taliban and A
Wounded Tigress, "The focus of both my movies is how terrorism affects
normal life. In Escape from Taliban, which is adapted from Sushmita Bose's
autobiography by the same name, I have not strayed away from the book and
tried to portray the confrontation between the Mujahideen and the
Najibuallah government and later between the Taliban and ordinary Afghanis
authentically.'' Care has also been taken to ensure that the script of A
Wounded Tigress is as close to truth as possible, he said.
Top
Riots affect release of Bollywood films
It's not business as usual in Bollywood. The tragedy in Gujarat has altered
the film industry's script. So, while Bollywood is calling, film-makers
aren't answering. After all, reel releases are a risky business during
troubled times.
Take the case of Tutu Sharma - the man who produced Raj Kumar, Rockford and
Gharwali Baharwali. Tutu wanted to create a Bollywood history of sorts on
March 29. His formula was simple - with two films that are complete - Anurag
Kashyap's Paanch and Govinda and Preity Zinta's Khulam Khulla Pyaar Karenge
- Tutu planned to release both on the same day.
In times when no film wants any competition on the day of release, Tutu
planned to throw both at the Indian audiences.
Unfortunately, the Gujarat tragedy forced him to change plans: "Since both
the films have a different target audience, I had no problem releasing both
on March 29. But the Gujarat crisis, and more importantly, the fallout of it
- the postponement of exams - made me delay the releases of the films," says
Tutu, adding, "Khullam Khulla... will release in April and Paanch might go
on to May," he adds.
And now, on to some filmi facts: Apart from Paanch and Khullam Khulla...,
Ram Gopal Varma's Company, starring Ajay Devgan, Manisha Koirala and Vivek
Oberoi, was supposed to hit the theatres in March. Indian audiences will
have to wait for the company of Company with the postponement of its release
this month.
"Gujarat could be one of the factors but, more significantly, the reason for
the delay in the release of Company is because Ram Gopal Varma did not want
to rush up some post-production jobs," says Ginni Chaddha, the distributor
of the film, "There are a couple of special effects, which need time to be
fine-tuned. It is now slated for a release in the second week of April," he
adds.
And what's more, the result of the shift of Company's release might have an
effect on Ajay Devgan's other film, Chori Chori, which is also ready for a
release.
Earlier, Chori Chori was to hit the silver screen on April 12. "Various
permutations and combinations are being tried out.The picture will become
clear over the next few days," says Chaddha, who is also distributing Chori
Chori.
Till then, it's picture imperfect for Bollywood. But knowing the film
industry's penchant for scripting a twist in the tale, it's just a matter of
time before all's well. That ends well!
Top
Adnan's tribute to Dev Anand
Believe it or not, Adnan Sami, who is one of the highest paid singers today, refused to charge any remuneration for a song he rendered for Dev Anand's LOVE AT TIMES SQUARE. "I did sing a song for the film; it was an honour to do so. It was my childhood dream to sing for Dev-saab's banner (Navketan). I've been an ardent fan of Dev-saab since my childhood days. You may not believe it, but I've seen GUIDE so many times that I've actually lost count of it. So when he called one fine day, I couldn't believe my ears that I was actually talking to the living legend," Sami disclosed in an emotion-choked voice.
Sami adds that the song he rendered for the film is a "humble tribute" to Dev Anand. But would Sami be open to the idea of acting in the film, knowing that the veteran actor cum film-maker was keen on picturising this particular song on him? "The possibility cannot be ruled out. I've not decided on that as of now," he smiled.
Top
Ram Gopal Verma: Known by the Company He Keeps
Magic Lantern
Ram Gopal Verma is back. This time around he is hoping that his magic will work with 'Company' which is set for release in the coming weeks. His last two films, 'Jungle' and 'Mast', did not do all that well at the box office but with 'Company', Verma is hoping to regain lost ground.
It may be recalled that Verma had established a rapport with his viewers with his very first film, 'Shiva'. Among contemporary directors, he is probably the only one who has tried his hand at every genre. He has made a musical saga in 'Rangeela', a horror film in 'Raat', a mushy love story in 'Mast' and a suspense drama in 'Kaun'.
'Company', of course, is generating a lot of heat in trade circles. It is touted as the most expensive film made by Verma. He has shot some thrilling scenes in the forests of Kenya and says, "For me, 'Company' has been like a dream in the making. Since the day I conceived the plot, it has been with me 24 hours a day, 30 days a month."
Even though the subject of the film is the underworld, Verma says that it is different from 'Satya'. "It is very different in narration if you compare it with 'Satya', which was a humanitarian look at the characters of the underworld. Here, the focus is more on the rivalry of two gang leaders (played by Ajay Devgan and Vivek Oberoi). 'Company' also tries to explore the nexus between the film world and the underworld."
Is one of the characters based on film financier Bharat Shah who is presently in custody? "No, I have not taken any character from real life, be it the underworld or the film industry. Neeraj Vora (who incidentally played a music director in 'Satya' who is attacked by the underworld for refusing to give a chance to a girl to sing) plays the role of film director in 'Company'. He is also harassed by the underworld, but this is just symbolic of what is happening in the film industry today. His character is not based on any person from the film industry. 'Company' is a pure fiction and any resemblance to any real life people is not intentional."
Verma has changed the lives of many performers like Urmila Matondkar, Manoj Vajpyee and Fardeen Khan by bringing out their latent talent. He has also introduced many technicians to cinema like his prot=E9g=E9 E. Nivas and music director Sandeep Chowta. Madhur Bhandarkar (of 'Chandni Bar') fame was also his assistant once. In 'Company', too, he has given a break to new faces like Antara Mali and Vivek Oberoi (son of character artist Suresh Oberoi). How does he react when he is termed as the Godfather of a whole bunch of talented young individuals? Verma is modesty personified. "I think the word 'Godfather' does not suit me at all. I cannot make a dumb person speak in my films neither can I make a person act if he or she does not have the talent and energy. I can act as a catalyst, but the actual performance has to come from the individual. I am mere facilitator at best. In 'Company', if I have given an opportunity to Vivek Oberoi, it is because of his willingness and eagerness to do the role. I first considered him for a role in 'Jungle', but he was interested in a more challenging assignment and was willing to wait for some more time. His father showed me his some photographs of his while we were making 'Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya' and later I had an opportunity to see him in a video at his home. It was then that I decided that he was the person who would play Chandu Nagre in 'Company'. He has worked very hard to get into the skin of the character. And after seeing his work in 'Company' I can say that this boy is going to go far."
Urmila Matondkar, who was once considered a permanent fixture in Verma's films, does not feature in 'Company' (giving way to Manisha Koirala) but is acting in another of Verma's productions, 'Road' directed by Raja Mukherjee of 'Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya' fame. What explains her absence from 'Company'? Verma, though initially unwilling to talk on this matter, later clarifies, "There is nothing the matter between us. We are on good terms as we were all this while. It is only that the character in 'Company' needed a more mature look. So I took on Manisha. For 'Road', the cast was finalized by Rajat. And I am of the principle that once I hand over a film to a director, I don't interfere with it. I have not stopped filmmaking. If roles in future demand Urmila, she will definitely feature in my films. I do not want to say anything more on the subject."
'Company', incidentally, is all set for release in March or early April.
Top
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Admin Message
All the best to Aamir Khan and Ashutosh( Lagaan team) for the Oscar Awards on 24 March ,2002.It is worth praising to be even in Oscar nominee!
-mumbai-central team
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