Brand new and loving it
SANGEETHA DEVI DUNDOO
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Make way for new ideas and fresh perspectives. Debut directors are here to take over.
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Coming up ‘Blue’.
Lara Dutta and Co. are all over television talking about taking diving lessons and shooting underwater for one of the most expensive Hindi films till date. Is Blue’s budget Rs. 60 crore, 100 crore, 120 crore? The producers and director are happy with speculation creating the necessary hype. At the helm is debut director Anthony D’Souza. But make no mistake, Anthony is no novice. He has a repertoire of ad films under his belt, has directed a few shows of Ripley’s Believe it or Not and has worked in Hollywood. Not surprising that he has handled a huge star cast, roped in Kylie Minogue, A.R. Rahman and Resul Pookutty as well. The latter half of 2009 belongs to first-time directors like him, serving us films of different genres.
Meet the Khannas
“This is a great time to enter films. Fresh ideas and new perspectives are being welcomed. Each of the films made by first-time directors is different from one other,” says Prem R. Soni, who debuts with Main Aur Mrs. Khanna. Prem spent his early years in Spain before moving to Mumbai and getting hooked to the entertainment industry. He assisted and directed television shows and nurtured a desire to make films. He happened to meet Salman Khan and expressed his wish to make a film with him. “Salman said he would do a film for me if my story was good. I worked on this story for two years and went back to him with a bound script. He liked it, volunteered to produce it and got Sohail and Kareena on board,” recollects Prem. Main Aur Mrs Khanna shows the Khan brothers like never before. “For once, the brothers aren’t doing comedy. It’s a romantic film,” explains Prem.
Prem Soni was lucky to be backed by the Khan brothers. Zaigham Ali Syed, who shifted to movies after years in television as editor and director, says it still isn’t a bed of roses for new directors unless backed by a big production company. “The footfalls aren’t high and producers want to play safe,” he says. His first film, Fast Forward, a dance film, was a slow starter at the BO. Fast Forward had young actors doing a lot of hip-hop, B-boying and salsa. “I didn’t want to make a film that would seem been there and done that,” says Zaigham, whose work for TV includes serials like Gumraah.
‘Main Aur Mrs Khanna’
Talking of unexplored territories, there’s Sudipto Chattopadhyay who tries to understand the psyche of child actors in Pankh. A child actor, baby Kusum, is actually a boy made to masquerade as a girl. The child deals with identity crisis, which has a telling effect on him later on. Sounds familiar? Sudipto says, “Many child actors grow up to lead lives of frustration. Their parents push them to become actors to fulfil their own unfulfilled starry dreams. Cross-dressing kids and men masquerading as women is quite common,” he says.
Sudipto has made many ad films, short films, TV soaps including the Hema Malini-starrer Naam Gum Jaayega before stepping into films.
‘Pankh’
“Pankh is a hard-hitting film. Bollywood has opened up to new ideas tremendously,” he says. Pankh stars Ronit Roy, Amit Purohit, Maradona Rebello and Bipasha Basu. Wonder where Bips fits in? “Bipasha is the alter ego of the actor. She is the tormentor, lover, and saviour and makes him question his sexual identity,” explains Sudipto.
Sudipto Chattopadhyay
Talking of new directors, after introducing Ayan Mukherjee in Wake up Sid, Karan Johar’s next production Kurbaan has first-time director Renzil D’Silva (who penned the screenplay for Rang de Basanti) addressing questions on terrorism. Kurbaan stars Saif, Kareena and Vivek Oberoi.
Prem R. Soni.
Coming-of-age films, underwater adventure and hard-hitting flicks… debut directors are having the last laugh for now.
Who’s new?
Ayan Mukherjee with Ranbir Kapoor.
l Anthony D’Souza — Blue
l Prem R. Soni — Main Aur Mrs. Khanna
l Renzil D’Silva — Kurbaan
l Ayan Mukherjee —Wake up Sid
l Zaigham Ali Syed — Fast Forward
l Sudipto Chattopadhyay — Pankh
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