Anurag Basu on future project, Jagga Jasoos, Metro sequel and next film, which was hit by the pandemic
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 12, 2020)

While many have been feeling angry, restless and caged-in during the Coronavirus lockdown, Anurag Basu’s friends have been messaging him, saying, “You must be happy because you’re always in a state of perpetual lockdown.” The director admits with a laugh that periodically, he does go underground for five-six weeks, when he cooks for the kids and goes into his corner. “When the lockdown started, I imagined it wouldn’t last longer than two-three weeks and compiled a long to-do list, comprising writing and other stuff. I haven’t even got started on it,” he sighs.

Well, for many, who were hurtling along at a crazy pace with little time for family, the last few months have been an eye-opener and life-changing. What about him? “Hamare liye yeh naya nahin hai; my life changed back in 2004 (when he was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia, a type of blood cancer, and the doctors gave him around two months to live). Since my wife Tani was seven months pregnant at the time with our elder daughter, Ishana, I set myself small targets, starting with three months, so I could see my child. Then, a couple of weeks more… a month, two months, six months, a year... Taking baby steps. I went back to the set while my chemotherapy was still on, wearing a mask,” he flashbacks.

He cheated the Big C and, in the process, his priorities and lifestyle changed. “Now, Ishana and Ahana (younger daughter) are imbibing it without me telling them to. Those who knew me earlier will tell you this one is very different, new and improved Anurag,” he chuckles, adding that it started with small changes and the process continues. “Poora insaan toh nahin badal sakta, but my concept of right and wrong changed.”

While on the topic, one wonders if Ranbir Kapoor confided in him when he learnt that his father, Rishi, had cancer. “He did. I was among the first few to know,” admits the filmmaker. “We discussed what line of treatment he should take. I shared the number of my doctor with him and they spoke to him and told me what they had decided.”

There were no conversations during the treatment, but after the senior Kapoor returned from New York, just before Ranbir’s birthday on September 28, they had dinner together. “Neetu ji spoke about the treatment, Chintu ji, like always, was in his element, trying to dig into cake. Since he was not allowed to have sweets, Neetu ji tried to keep him away and this led to a fight between them. It was very cute,” he laughs. They met last on Ranbir’s birthday.

On April 30, we lost Rishi Kapoor. The day before, his good friend, Irrfan Khan, who was also battling cancer, breathed his last. Anurag was distraught. He admitted that, on Irrfan’s urging, he had scripted a sequel to his 2007 musical drama, Life In A… Metro. Irrfan, who was hilarious as the socially inept bachelor boy Monty in Part 1, was the first actor to be signed on. “I know I’ll make Metro again, I just wish I could have made it with Irrfan, too,” Anurag sighs.

For now, there’s Ludo, which is completely ready and was to open on April 24. The on-going Coronavirus pandemic has delayed the release. “I completed it in a year,” he exults. That’s quick, given Jagga Jasoos took so long. “Jagga went completely out of control. But I had made Gangster in six months. Ranbir was very busy at the time, with Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Bombay Velvet and Tamasha, and I was just sitting at home. It was frustrating at that time, but I am not blaming anyone. Film hi aisi thi. I had entered a zone that took a lot of time,” he reasons, pointing out that it is easier to make films when you repeat yourself, but when you ask yourself what new to do, the answer takes a long time to present itself, particularly later in your career. What’s heartening is that, over time, more so during the lockdown, there have been lots of tweets, messages and positive reviews from those who caught up with it, finally. “It was not a flawless film. On the contrary, it had lots of flaws. But we are all proud of Jagga Jasoos.”

So, what next? Anurag shares that he has four subjects ready, but he’s not sure which one to go with. “That was one of the the things on my to-do list. I haven’t decided yet,” he admits. Is one of them the Kishore Kumar biopic? Anurag confirms the same, saying he has worked on the subject too long and too hard, to let it go and move on. “Too much energy and passion has been invested in it, which is why it keeps popping up,” he acknowledges, pointing out that the problem isn’t only about rights. “The family is keen to make the film, but there are lots of issues. I need support from someone to push it through. But whenever I make it, it will be with Ranbir.”

Meanwhile, is he happy with Ludo? “People who have watched it liked it. I remember Barfi! for all the fun we had while making it. Jab shooting mein mazaa aata hai, toh film theek hi ban jaati hai. We had a blast during Ludo, too, there was the same synergy and energy in the team,” he signs off on an ebullient note.

Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 9, 2020)

“Do you know Irrfan’s (Khan) character in Life In A…Metro was originally a Bengali by the name of Debu? In the film’s first photo shoot, he was wearing a dhoti and a topor. But while we were shooting his first scene, I could visualise Irrfan in the climax, entering the station on a horse. Since Bengali grooms don’t come to their wedding on a ghoda, I told him we’d have to take the shot again and this time he should introduce himself to Konkana’s (Sen Sharma) Shruti as Monty. Irrfan being Irrfan, just laughed and went along,” narrates the film’s writer-director Anurag Basu, whose musical drama, revolving around the lives of nine Mumbaikars, opened 13 years ago, on May 11.

That wasn’t the only impromptu decision Anurag took. While driving from his home in Goregaon to Koperkhairane station in Navi Mumbai where the last scenes were shot, he was mulling over Shilpa Shetty and Shiney Ahuja’s track. In the original script, she was to leave the city with him. But plagued by second thoughts, he texted all his female colleagues, and even his wife Tani, asking for their opinion. “They all insisted that she should give her marriage with Kay Kay Menon a second chance for the sake of their daughter. When men write female characters, they tend to make them more feminist than they really are,” Anurag offers by way of explanation. The last-minute change, he admits, left Shilpa bemused, and she still hasn’t forgotten this twist in the tale.

In the film, Shilpa and Kay Kay’s marriage had turned into a union of two indifferent strangers, with the latter involved in a clandestine affair with his sister-in-law’s roommate and his office colleague, Neha, played by Kangana Ranaut, whom Anurag describes as “ghar ki ladki”. He informs that his Gangster leads, Kangana and Shiney, were the first to come on board. Irrfan was a little miffed that despite their long TV association, Anurag had not cast him in Gangster. “I made up with a role in Metro which showcased his lighter side, which I was acquainted with from our TV shows. As Monty, Irrfan was a riot,” asserts the director, admitting that the idea of a Metro sequel came from the actor who passed away last week. “I had approached him to play Ranbir’s (Kapoor) accident-prone, adoptive father in Jagga Jasoos. He was busy with other films then, and since Jagga Jasoos’s dates were all over the place, we couldn’t collaborate on that project. But he told me, ‘Chal, Metro sequel banate hain.’”

When Irrfan repeated this to him, during the Qareeb Qareeb Singlle promotions, Anurag sat down to take the story further. “Metro 2 mujhe Irrfan ke saath hi karni thi,” he sighs, heartbroken over the loss. Will it happen now, you wonder, and he says, “I don’t know… I really don’t know.”

He repeats the “I don’t know” phrase when you wonder how this anthology of stories connected through characters whose lives were entwined, came together. After a reflective pause, he points out that Murder and Gangster, which came in quick succession, were in the same space, with the Bhatt stamp, so, he wanted to try something very different. “Films like Metro were common in the West, but we had not experimented with the narrative here,” he points out.

He used a unique narrative device, with a rock band popping up at crucial plot points to take the story forward through songs which otherwise did not fit into the screenplay. The Metro band was headed by the film’s composer and Anurag’s dear friend, Pritam, and included Suhail Kaul, Soham Chakraborty and Bangladeshi singer James. Was it easy getting them to face a movie camera? “Pritam wanted to lose some weight. I told him to grow a beard instead, to look like a rock star. He used to be clean shaven before Metro, but hasn’t lost his beard since. I wouldn’t even let him shave off his beard or cut his hair to get married because we were still shooting the film,” laughs Anurag.

He goes on to confide that Shiney’s character, Akash, a struggling theatre artiste, whom Shilpa’s Shikha is drawn to, grew out of his own experiences on stage. “The play he performs was one of mine, I called it Collage when we brought it to Mumbai. Akash was very close to me,” Anurag acknowledges emotionally.

His biggest fanboy moment was directing his idol Dharmendra. “I remember when we were shooting at Sion station, it was as if all of Dharavi had descended there that day. I was amazed by Dharam ji’s fan following,” he says, the awe still evident in his voice. And how did he persuade the senior actor to kiss Nafisa Ali? “I told Dharam ji that it was Nafisa ji’s suggestion and vice versa. They both agreed and I got away,” he signs off with a laugh.

Farzana Patowari (BOMBAY TIMES; December 23, 2019)

Director Anurag Basu is shooting his new, untitled film with Rajkummar Rao and Fatima Sana Shaikh in Bhopal. He insists that he has no favourites in the film industry, however he prefers exploring new talent. “Everybody is different,” he says, adding, “Till the time I had not worked with Sana and Rajkummar, I thought that Ranbir (Kapoor) achha hai. I did two films with him and at that time, I thought there is no better actor than him. Then I realised that Sana and Rajkummar’s approach is also amazing. In fact, this generation is different, everyone is so confident about their craft. They don’t think much about hits or flops, they only care about their work. I want to work with Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, and Ayushmann Khurrana next.”

Anurag, who has worked as an assistant director for a TV show, keeps returning to the medium as a reality judge, even after doing films like Life In A… Metro, Barfi! and Jagga Jasoos. “I am from television and one leg of mine is always in it, because TV is my second love,” he says. However, while talking about the proliferation of naag-naagin and other supernatural shows, he says that the mainstream TV lacks risk-takers today. “There are two ways to look at it. First is that we ourselves believe that the audience wants this, and that’s why the TRP is rising. And so it becomes a formula every channel adopts, as they know it will work,” he says. “But I like to look at it the other way — that until we don’t give the audience something new, how will we know things could be different? This is the risk people are not taking. They are like, ‘chal raha hai… chalne do’. Back in my time, we had creative people behind the channels. Now, it is also based on surveys, numbers and statistics,” the filmmaker signs off.

Anurag Basu on his next film, which features Abhishek Bachchan, Aditya Roy Kapur, Rajkummar Rao and Pankaj Tripathi, and other aces he has up his sleeve
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 20, 2018)

After the release of Jagga Jasoos in July 2017, Anurag Basu quietly started shooting a film on the streets of Kolkata. A leaked picture from the sets suggested the director has teamed up with Abhishek Bachchan for the first time in his career. While speculation is rife that it is a sequel to his 2007 film, Life In A… Metro, Anurag categorically refutes the rumours, saying, “It has multiple plots, but it is not a sequel to Life In A… Metro. The genre and story are totally different and fresh. We have yet to decide the title and will figure the release date only after we wrap up the film.” The film has a promising ensemble cast. “It features Abhishek Bachchan, Aditya Roy Kapur, Rajkummar Rao and Pankaj Tripathi in the lead,” adds the filmmaker but refuses to divulge any more details.

After his current assignment, Anurag will team up with Kangana Ranaut for the third time, after Gangster and Life In A… Metro for a film titled Imali. “I’m not sure when the film will go on the floors because currently, both of us are tied up with multiple projects. But we will sit down soon and decide on the timeline, the film is happening for sure,” he asserts.

It has been Anurag’s dream to direct a Kishore Kumar biopic with Ranbir Kapoor playing the singeractor-filmmaker. He already has a script and screenplay ready but bring up the subject and he sighs, “Dukhti rag pe haath rakh diya, this one film I’ve really worked hard on. It took quite some time to research Kishore, but now with the script and screenplay locked, I could take it on the floors tomorrow if everything goes as planned.”

He admits that it would also be difficult to get a producer on board for Jagga Jasoos 2 but says he’d love to helm the sequel and insists there’s an audience for it too. “I wish I could convince someone to produce it for me or maybe God should give me enough money to do it myself,” smiles Anurag who currently is all set to returns as judge for the third season of Sony’s talent hunt show, Super Dancer.

He reveals that interacting with the families of participants coming from small towns helps him discover a different world. “There is a lot of positive energy on this set and I like being around with the team. Jagga Jasoos had such well-choreographed songs because this show changed my vision and boosted my creativity. Many people enquire about my dance class and a few believe I’m a choreographer. I take so much efforts to direct a film, but people recognise me today as the judge of a dance show,” he laughs, adding that TV is a great medium to reach the masses. 

Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; July 6, 2017)

The trailer of Anurag Basu’s upcoming fantasy-drama, Jagga Jasoos, caught the attention of cinephiles for multiple reasons. To begin with, it’s unique and refreshingly colourful, and shows the lead pair in avatars that they’ve never sported before. But, the trailer attracted the interest of an Indian blogger for the incontestable similarities with The Adventures Of Tintin.

“When I was a child, I had stacks of Tintin’s comics in my room,” Basu tells mid-day, when we ask him if he did turn to the comic character for inspiration. He says he intends to pay homage to every piece of art that has influenced his work, with the Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif- starrer. “I used to love adventure stories when I was a kid. The setting and details of such stories often stay at the back of your mind, and resurface when you are creating something of your own. Jagga Jasoos is my childhood playing on screen.”

The blogger cites that Kapoor’s character, his hairdo in particular, is certainly inspired by the cartoon. “I am aware that the hairdo is the most obvious point of discussion,” Basu says, adding, “I wanted to give Ranbir a unique hairdo. This look wasn’t my first choice. When we started trying out different looks, there was one we liked, but it did not make him look very child-like, which was an essential. No other look, apart from this one, matched our narrative. It’s a coincidence that it is the same as that of Tintin,” he says, quick to add that his film is more likely to remind one of The Lion King than Tintin.

Even as the industry applauded the director’s previous release, Barfi! (2012), his daughter wasn’t in awe of the Kapoor-starrer. With Jagga Jasoos, he wanted to be certain that he was creating a film that would appeal to children. “During my children’s vacation, I am compelled to show them Hollywood films that cater to children, because Bollywood doesn’t produce sufficient films for them. So, I wanted to make a film that children can enjoy, one that the entire family can watch and enjoy together."

Anurag Basu on Jagga Jasoos delays and his lead pair’s improved professionalism since their split
Chaya Unnikrishnan (DNA; September 12, 2016)


Did the much-delayed release of Jagga Jasoos (it’s out next year) affect you?
It was my decision to delay the film. If I would have been helpless and the film got delayed without any reason, I would have been upset. But I didn’t shoot for all of 2015. I had shot only 10 days of Jagga.

Why is that?
I have been working in the industry since 1996 — first I was directing daily soaps and later, films. I wanted to take a break. Barfi! had done really well, and for the first time, I earned a lot of money. I wanted to enjoy that and spend time with my family. That’s probably a typical middle-class mentality. In any case, I realised that my film would release only after Karan Johar’s film (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil), so I thought, ‘Why rush? Let’s take a break’. Both my actors (Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif) were very sweet, they gave me dates in May, I said no. Then they gave me another chunk of dates in August. Again, I said no.

When you started the film, Ranbir and Katrina were in a relationship, but by the time it ended, the two had broken up. Were you worried about the shoot, post that?
Like everybody else, even I didn’t know (how it would be). But when we resumed the shoot, and the first shot happened, everything was okay. Both actors became more conscious and more professional. I think they gave more to the film, post their break-up than before!

How will you go about the promotions considering the changed equation between the lead actors?
I am not thinking about it at all. There is no strategy. It’s releasing next April — there is a lot of time. But I wish people would only talk about our movie and nothing else while promoting.

Is Jagga Jasoos inspired by The Singing Detective?
Just because Jagga is a musical, people are comparing it to The Singing Detective. I would tell such people to first watch the film. I have seen people often comparing films, out of the blue, without watching them. I haven’t seen the Hollywood film, but I saw the trailer and can tell you it’s different.

You start your next, the sequel to Life In A...Metro soon. Will you repeat the cast?
It is too early for that. But the format of the film will be on similar lines — urban stories of different people interlinked to one another. But the situations and crises in this will be different. Changes have taken place and urban cities have moved on since LIAM.

Chaya Unnikrishnan (DNA; September 5, 2016)


When you were approached to judge Super Dancer, what were your thoughts considering you have no connection with dance?
These kind of shows have been offered to me earlier, too, but I always turned them down because I didn’t know what I would do on it. But this time it was about kids’ dancing, so I didn’t reject it immediately. I thought about it for a day or two. Dance is not just about the technicalities — doing the right step at the right time. It is also about emotions, the flow and the X factor. And as a filmmaker I can judge on all those apects. With Geeta Kapur, who knows all the technicalities and Shilpa (Shetty), an experienced dancer, it is perfectly balanced. Having said that, I was nervous in the beginning. I didn’t know what I am doing, but slowly got into the groove looking at it as an audience.

How has the experience been so far?
Very humbling. There are kids from places like Chhattisgarh and Assam and most of them are from humble backgrounds. Dance, for them, is an escape from the miseries in their lives. They dance in search of happiness and not to be a part of the reality show. They are just passionate about dancing. There was this 10-year-old kid who was hearing and speech impaired, but dances extremely well. He cannot hear the music, or the beats, for him it is all white noise, yet he danced and performed better than some kids. When I had directed Barfi!, I had interacted with several such kids and I consider them as normal. There is no sympathy angle to it. There was an argument on the panel about whether he should be on the same platform as others, but for me he is normal, so we gave him a nod to go to the next round.

Jagga Jasoos got delayed again, is that the reason you have decided to judge this show?
Actually, it all came around nicely. Most of the shooting of Jagga Jasoos is complete. Only some portion is remaining, which I will do later. In December I am going to start the sequel to Life... In A Metro. So, this was a perfect time for me to judge a TV show. I love interacting with people, which is great in a show like this, else I would have sat at home.

Upala KBR (DNA; November 29, 2015)


Says the director, “I start shooting for Jagga Jasoos from December 20, go into January next year and hope to wrap the film by March 5. Ranbir and Katrina will shoot with us from January and then Katrina gets into Fitoor promotions in February and joins us back end of Feb. We have shot 50 per cent of the film so how and why should we shelve it? The reason almost 50 per cent of the shooting has been left for the last schedule is because I didn’t want the film to look dated. Or else we will have to reshoot which I don’t want. We plan to release post May.”

About most of the film being reshot, he says, “I have reshot just five days because there was a gap of seven months between the first and second schedule and those five days were looking stale to me. I have not changed the story film. In today’s times, we are getting technically so advanced every day that I don’t want to lag behind. And reshooting is nothing new. I keep doing this. I did it even in Barfi!. I reshot a bit of the first schedule as it was looking stale. I want to sit on editing objectively.”

Another reason Anurag wants to shoot in January is that he wants Ranbir to be in shape. “He is not completely free in December and I want him go back in shape by January and he has told me he will be ready by the first week of January. We will shoot scenes and three romantic songs on Ranbir and Katrina. The film is a musical.”

Why these constant rumours of the film getting shelved? “When I started I knew this was going to happen as Ranbir was committed to Bombay Velvet and Tamasha before Jagga. He’s very clear and committed to his films and when they should start and be completed. I am on schedule and no regrets whatsoever.”

How is the actor as a a producer? “I don’t see any paradigm shift in him as a producer. Ranbir is a very caring guy. Sometimes, he remembers that he is a producer and takes care of everybody on his team. His hospitality is tremendous. He likes to make everybody feel comfortable. It happened in Barfi! too. Ranbir feels he’s part of the unit and doesn’t come across an actor on the sets. He’s involved and looks into everything. That is why we decided to produce Jagga Jasoos together.”

Neha Maheshwri Bhagat (BOMBAY TIMES; July 13, 2015)

Anurag Basu opens up about Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Jagga Jasoos and the Kishore Kumar biopic
Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 26, 2014)

Your last film, Barfi!, released two years ago...
(Interrupts) And Jagga Jasoos will hit theatres in April/May 2015. So what?

Why such long intervals between releases?
RK (Ranbir Kapoor) was committed to Bombay Velvet and Tamasha and I had agreed to shoot in the gaps between these shoots. But post September we will go ahead full throttle and the film will be done by the year-end.

Did RK recommend Kat (Katrina Kaif) for the female lead?
No, if that were the case, she would have starred in every RK film. I've wanted to work with Kat for a while now. She was supposed to do Barfi!, but Ileana D'Cruz went on to do the role.

RK and Kat broke-up while shooting for Jagga Jasoos. Now, they are back together. Did their personal equation affect your shoot?
Break-ups and love stories don't affect my shoots. When actors are with me, they just shoot my film.

Priyanka surprised us in Barfi! with her performance. Is Kat too going to pull a rabbit out of her hat in Jagga Jasoos?
Kat will rediscover herself with this film. She had to do the action herself since she has scenes with RK who is doing the stunts himself. And she's doing a fab job.

Govinda, who plays RK's dad, has a history of reporting late for shoots. Did that bother you?
No. It was RK's idea to cast him. We've both grown up on his films. My question to RK was: Will he agree to play your father?

Bobby Jasoos took away half your title. That must have upset you...
Before we locked this title I knew Vidya had a film coming up called Bobby Jasoos. Many detective films have been made before and they've had jasoos in the title. No stress!

So how different is your jasoos film?
It's not entirely in the detective space. It's a mish-mash of many genres and RK as Jagga will bring a smile on everyone's face.

And you and he have started a production house together...
RK and I became close friends during Barfi! and wanted to take the bond further.

Will you do films under this banner with only RK?
Yes, but I am free to collaborate with other stars and production houses.

Next, you go into the Kishore Kumar biopic?
I don't know. RK and I are committed to do that film but he needs to put on weight before getting into Kishoreda's shoes. Getting his look right is going to take time. We'll need to go into it with an undivided block of time, of atleast six months.

Have Kishore's wife, Leena Chandarvarkar, and his sons, Amit Kumar and Sumeet Kumar, given their nod to the project?
The permission has been taken.

Disappointed because you missed the Oscar bus in Barfi!?
Oscar is not the end of the world. Barfi! got enough acclaim in many festivals which define international cinema.