Showing posts with label Brij Sadanah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brij Sadanah. Show all posts
After Emraan Hashmi, Kunal Deshmukh, Mohit Suri, now Shagufta Rafique moves out of Bhatt camp
7:51 AM
Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 26, 2014)
While her friends were weaving dreams about Prince Charmings, Shagufta Rafique was dancing in bars in Dubai to support herself and her foster mother, Anwari Begum.
After a few years, she moved to Mumbai and started assisting Mahesh Bhatt. She then went on to write the dialogue and screenplay for films like Woh Lamhe, Awarapan, Dhokha, Raaz 2 and Raaz 3, Jashn, Murder 2, Jannat 2, Jism 2 and Aashiqui 2 which borrowed from her own life.
"I'm supposed to be the love child of Saeeda, producer Brij Sadanah's wife. That is the strangest rumour I have heard about myself. The man (Brij) mistrusted his wife, turned into an alcoholic and one day, shot Saeeda and their daughter, then turned the gun on himself. Just like this story, my life has had plenty of ups and downs" says Shagufta.
Now, the prolific writer from the Bhatt camp is ready to turn director. The twist in the tale is that she has walked out of Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt's company and collaborated with Pooja Bhatt and Bhushan Kumar.
Her directorial debut, a Richa Chadha-Ali Fazal starrer, is a sensuous love story which will roll in December. "It deals with a gang rape. The scene is a nine-minute sequence with Mukul Dev as the mastermind and a juvenile involved. I wrote the script seven years ago. A top corporate was ready to produce it but wanted a say in the cast. That wasn't acceptable to me, So I took the script back," recalls Shagufta.
Why didn't she go to the Bhatts? Buzz is, there was an issue between the Bhatt brothers over credits of Aashiqui 2. "Yes, I have moved out from that company," she admits. "Mukesh would have never agreed to my directing a film which is why I told Mahesh not to push for me."
Her producer, Pooja, explains, "Shagufta wants to fly, she wants her voice to be heard. Mukesh Bhatt distrusts women."
Shagufta adds, "He has a setup he is secure in, with Mohit (Suri) and Kunal (Deshmukh). But even they have given flops. Scripts fail, women directors don't."
So, will she go back to Bhatts? "If they want me to direct a film for them, sure," she says shortly. "But if they want me to just write for them, then no."
Most men marry women in whom they see an image of their mother-Kamal Sadanah
8:00 AM
Kamal Sadanah opens up about his personal tragedy, explains why he disappeared, and talks about his return as a writer-director
Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 20, 2014)
Fourteen years ago, on October 21, 1990, producer-director Brij Sadanah went on a shooting spree, killing his wife Saeeda Khan and daughter Namrata, before committing suicide. Only his son, Kamal Sadanah, who was celebrating his 20th birthday when tragedy struck, survived to talk about that horrific incident since the bullet aimed at him just grazed his neck.
He has no idea why his dad pulled the trigger that day. He dismisses rumours of financial problems saying the family had invested well in property and money was never an issue. He rationalises the moment of insanity through a Mahesh Bhatt quote he'd read years ago that everyone has a live wire in them, but a few unfortunate ones touch it and get electrocuted.
He became an assistant director at 16 and has fond memories of his dad taking him for shoots, into the editing room and even to the lab. "He used to say that when you forgive, you don't change the past, you change the future," recalls Kamal, who debuted as an actor with Kajol in Bekhudi two years later.
From 21 to 27, he worked everyday, then left it all to go rafting and scuba diving. His buddy, Saif Ali Khan stayed put in B-Town, went on to become an A-list star and the two lost touch. "Saif called me after his father (Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi) passed away and invited me to the pagdi ceremony but didn't invite me for his wedding," laughs Kamal. He has stayed in touch with Saif's sister Soha, who has been sending him rakhis for 20 years, and his ex-wife Amrita and their kids, Sara and Ibrahim. But, he admits, he has no equation with Kareena even though he often drops in for dinner with her father, Randhir Kapoor.
In 2006, Kamal was seen in a TV serial, Kasamh Se, and in 2007 produced the remake of his father's 1972 hit, Victoria No. 203. He also directed a film, Karkash, which made the festival rounds but was never released. He also made a seven-minute short, Moment Of Pause, to put into perspective his personal tragedy. Then, he disappeared again to woo make-up artiste Lisa John for four years, wed her and raise a family with her.
Now, Kamal is gearing up to return as a writer-director with the action adventure film, Roar— The Tigers Of The Sunderbans. Like all his scripts this too started out as bedtime story narrated with drama and action. "If my 10-year-old son Angath and my eight-year-old daughter Leia sit up in bed, wide-eyed, I know the scene is working, else I need to work on it," he laughs.
The idea came to him when he read about tigers attacking people in the Sunderbans and discovered that no one had recorded the drama on screen. He penned a story of a white tiger and her cubs which would take viewers on a journey through a world of the man-eating Royal Bengal Tigers and crocodiles and a village of widows. His co-writer, Abis Rizvi, produced the film.
However, during five recces in the Sundarbans, Kamal did not spot a single tiger though there were fresh pugmarks every day. So, he sent his storyboard to Eric Weld who specialises in Hollywood animal films and has the maximum number of trained Royal Bengal Tigers in captivity.
"He trained his tigers for three months before we flew to Los Angeles for an expensive and technical three day shoot with the tigers," he says. He returned with 50 hours of tiger footage, which was then matched with portions filmed during a five-week shoot in the Sunderbans and a three-day shoot in a zoo in Thailand. Like it was with his father and him, he drew his kids into the process of filmmaking. "They were editing and compositing on their own," he says proudly. So, will they follow him into films? "Right now I'm just happy my son is a national level swimmer and my daughter is bossy," he laughs.
Does seeing Lisa mothering their kids bring back memories of his mom? He quips, "They say most men marry women in whom they see an image of their mother. That's true for me."
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