Showing posts with label Gully Boy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gully Boy. Show all posts
Nawazuddin Siddiqui told me, ‘Tere Marathi mein kitna accha kaam ho raha hai, mujhe Marathi seekhni chahiye’-Amruta Subhash
4:16 PM
Priyanka Sharma (MID-DAY; September 2, 2025)
Amruta Subhash believes in miracles. Why wouldn’t she, when the journey of her latest Marathi film, Jarann, is proof of one? The psychological horror thriller struggled to get screens when it opened in cinemas three months ago. However, strong word-of-mouth propelled it to box-office success. With its recent ZEE5 première, the acclaim continues to grow. For Subhash, it’s the best kind of validation for her work.
“It’s not less than a miracle! When the film came into theatres, there was no platform attached to it. [Since] it was my producer, Amol Bhagat’s first film, he faced difficulties in making and releasing it. I didn’t take my market price for the film as I thought that such content should reach the screen. When it came on OTT, people were saying, ‘Oh God!, Why didn’t we see it in the theatre?’ I was always proud of the choices I’ve made, but when they get backing from the market, it is a double dhamaka,” she laughs.
Jarann is special for the actor as it marked her return to Marathi cinema after five years. Her last Marathi outing was filmmaker Sumitra Bhave’s Dithee (2019). Subhash cites her packed schedule in the Hindi film industry for the gap. Her recent Hindi filmography boasts several popular films and series, including Gully Boy (2019), Ghost Stories (2020), Saas Bahu Achaar Pvt Ltd (2022), and Lust Stories (2023).
Subhash believes she has been lucky to be in the right place at the right time in both Marathi and Hindi cinema. “When I was working in Marathi, I was doing films like Killa [2015] and Valu [2008]. Times were fortunate for me that wherever I was working, in whichever language, it did well. I remember Nawazuddin [Siddiqui] telling me when I started working with him in Raman Raghav 2.0, ‘Yaar, tere Marathi mein kitna accha kaam ho raha hai, mujhe Marathi seekhni chahiye.’ So when I was working in Marathi films, the industry was going through its best phase. When I started working on OTT, some of the best work was happening there.”
Besides luck, the actor credits her success to her clarity on the kind of work she wants to be associated with. That clarity has led to long waiting periods, but she reminds herself that diversity is the only way to keep the actor in her alive
“After Gully Boy, I said no to a lot of work. [I wanted to] explore something else. But I waited a lot before I got Sacred Games S02. The only tension was that I had bills to pay but [I was] not earning money. So, I’ve kept my expenses in control.”
But she admits it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find fresh, unique work on OTT. Many artistes have complained that shows are becoming formulaic and offbeat content isn’t being encouraged.
“When I started working, most of the roles that I did were first written as men, be it Sacred Games 2 or Dhamaka (2021). So something was beginning to happen, where women were getting parts that they earlier wouldn’t. Women [were not] just playing a mother on screen. But I am curious how content creators are going to place us now. It’s too early to say that there’s saturation in imagining women in unconventional roles. Creating good content is very challenging. I am ready to wait and be hopeful. And my hope has paid me well.”
It took 6 months for Dhadak 2 character to leave me. In those 6 months, I didn’t take up any work-Siddhant Chaturvedi
10:21 AM
Playing a Dalit man in Dhadak 2, Siddhant Chaturvedi draws parallels with his life in the absence of a lived experience and about how he approached the role with empathy
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; July 21, 2025)
Stepping into the world of Dhadak 2, which examines casteism in the country through the story of two lovers, can be an emotionally demanding experience. Siddhant Chaturvedi, who plays a Dalit man in Shazia Iqbal’s directorial venture, says that shedding the character was an all-consuming process as well. “It took at least six months for the character to completely leave me. In those six months, I didn’t take up any work. I was just travelling,” says the actor.
“[Such stories] leave an impact on you. It pushed me to an extent where I always desired to be, as an actor. That’s why I wanted to stay with it. At the same time, when I was dubbing for it recently, it all came back and I tried to finish dubbing as soon as possible because it haunts me.”
Chaturvedi, who stars opposite Triptii Dimri in the love story, was aware of the emotional weight of playing a Dalit character, especially as someone who does not share that lived experience. His approach involved understanding the world and drawing parallels with his life, he says.
“I won’t say there is a process to it, or try to be pseudo about it. I could say that I locked myself in the room for four days, but no, this character wouldn’t come like that. You have to understand the world first. I was not a cricketer in Inside Edge; I was not a rapper [in Gully Boy, 2019]. If it’s not a lived experience, I draw parallels. I try to go as close as possible to that in my own life, take out certain emotions, and try to match them. When I read a script, I don’t want to see the character from a lens of sympathy because then you’re adopting a third-person view. This is not a life I’ve lived, and I’ll never be able to achieve that fully. What I do is I never fall in love with my characters,” he reflects.
Every actor aspires to be bankable at the box office, but Chaturvedi’s metric is different. “People like us, who come from outside the industry, are grateful to be getting work. We’re always searching for stories that move us. Since we have lived a life before Bollywood happened to us, we’re drawn to stories that reflect that life. Both Triptii and I have made it here on our own, and that journey grounds you. There is always a little voice that tells us, ‘This feels right, this does not’. In the end, we follow our morals and instincts.”
Zoya Akhtar working on Gully Boy sequel; to have new cast
8:20 AM
Sources say Gully Boy sequel, revolving around a new rapper, in the works; Zoya Akhtar passes the baton to Kho Gaye Hum Kahan director Arjun Varain Singh
Priyanka Sharma (MID-DAY; July 3, 2025)
With Gully Boy (2019), filmmaker Zoya Akhtar told a moving story of rap, rebellion, and resilience. That is a tough act to follow. But mid-day has learnt that Akhtar is returning with a sequel to the Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt-starrer. It turns out she will serve as the producer on the sequel, passing the directorial baton to Arjun Varain Singh, who helmed the much-loved Kho Gaye Hum Kahan (2023).
A source reveals, “With Gully Boy, Zoya and Reema [Kagti, co-producer and writer] brought on screen not only the struggles and perseverance of Indian rappers, but also the wide class divide. They felt the theme could lend itself to a sequel as there are many such rich stories to be explored. While Gully Boy saw the journey of Ranveer’s Murad reach its culmination, the second part will trace the story of another rapper.”
The gem is also remembered for spotlighting two talents in Vijay Varma and Siddhant Chaturvedi. This time around, the makers will bring a new cast. “The film is in prep. If all goes as planned, it will roll by the year-end. Arjun showed depth in his directorial debut, and Zoya felt he was the right person to take this franchise ahead,” says another insider.
Maidaan actor Chaitanya Sharma says that Amit Sharma is “the Virat Kohli of directors”
8:27 AM
Chaitanya, who plays the late P K Banerjee in Maidaan, recalls how football star visited the set in a wheelchair and gifted a personally inscribed book to Ajay Devgn
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; April 10, 2024)
Chaitanya Sharma aka Slow Cheeta jokes that Amit R Sharma is “the Virat Kohli of directors”. To the rapper-actor, the director is the force that built an on-screen football team for Maidaan. How did he bag the Ajay Devgn-starrer? Out of the blue, says Chaitanya.
“[Until then], I was either a big fish in a small project, or a small fish in a big project. I was shooting for Apna Time Aayega [Gully Boy, 2019] when I was spotted. I used to play for a football league called Roots. That day, we were losing 2-0, and I scored a hat-trick to win us the game. Maidaan’s first assistant director Atul [Shahi] was there to scout for talent. That was the start. Next three months were gruelling because I kept auditioning again and again. I had to learn a monologue in Bengali. When I was sent to train in March 2019, I realized it’s happening for me,” he recalls.
Chaitanya, who steps into the shoes of the late P K Banerjee, says the opportunity left him stunned. “P K Banerjee was the [Indian] footballer of the century, and it sounded unbelievable that I could crack it,” he shares.
Through Devgn’s character of coach-manager Syed Abdul Rahim, the sports drama looks at Indian football’s golden era between 1952 and 1962. Chaitanya’s most memorable day of the shoot was when Banerjee visited the set in Kolkata.
“I was shooting the entry sequence the day he dropped by. I was flying through the field that day. I saw the man in a wheelchair watching someone play him. His biggest asset, his legs, had given way because he was paralyzed. He gave a book to Ajay sir, and opened the first page to sign it for him. His hand wasn’t stable, so I thought he’d write his initials. But he wrote Pradip Kumar Banerjee. It took him five minutes, but he did it. That underscores his spirit. I was sobbing when he left. Yesterday, I found out that his daughter watched the film and thought I did justice to his part. What can be a better compliment than that!”
Even though he featured in Gully Boy, Chaitanya considers Maidaan his debut. For him, it’s the most emotional experience of his life. “When I did Gully Boy, I’d tell people I star in the film. But for Maidaan, I tell everyone, ‘My movie is out this week.’ This film is a tribute to the men whose stories have remained untold, and we were lucky to tell the tale.”
P K Banerjee, who was the first Indian football player to receive the Arjuna Award
I would like to see some actors being papped outside an acting class too someday-Vijay Varma
4:38 PM
Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; February 22, 2024)
No one does dancing-on-the-grave-derange better than Vijay Varma. Dahaad was a testament to his ability to take you to the darkest corner of the human psyche. While he excels at nailing unhinged parts, it was his big-hearted Moeen (Gully Boy) that made him a household name. From being overlooked at the red carpet to being stopped for a photo, he shared his journey with Bombay Times in a heartfelt chat on a quiet afternoon in his quaint seaside apartment in Mumbai. Excerpts..
Gully Boy put you on the map and it was a gamechanger for you. But it takes years of hard work to be an overnight success, isn’t it?
I belong to a Marwari family, born and raised in Hyderabad and we are into business. We don’t believe in education as that’s for people who want to do jobs and we do business (laughs). Before Gully Boy, there was a lot of trial and error, waiting, false starts, misstarts and non-starts. I was cast for something but that didn’t take off, did a film but it didn’t release, far too many defeats than victories. It was a tough 7-8 years of wait. Right before Gully Boy I was at my lowest low because I was waiting for some films to release. They finally released and did nothing for me. They went unnoticed. I felt I don’t stand a chance in the film industry. When Gully Boy casting happened, I went in all jaded thinking even if I do this film, no one is going to notice me anyway. I was so used to not being looked at. I had a small part in it (Moeen) and to my great fortune, it did wonders for me. It changed the course of my career. People didn’t want to know my name or look at my face before that. They didn’t care. It took me a decade just for casting directors to recommend my name to someone and that someone to know it. On the contrary, those who belong to film families, everyone knows them already and that’s a massive advantage.
How does it feel to be acknowledged and recognized today? You have come a long way.
It feels like insaaf hua hai. Justice has been served. This was in the works for long. It’s heartening to see that a lot of brilliant actors are getting the spotlight today. You need to up your game as well. From being a supporting actor to a leading man, it’s been quite a journey for me and it’s not a common graph. Irrfan was a massive inspiration for me because his journey was also tough. He became a pioneer of sorts, a role model for people like me. Also, you don’t always need to look outside. You need to have that insatiable hunger for work, and I have that even now. No appreciation should stop you from wanting to do more work.
The definition of a hero has also evolved over the years, isn’t it?
When we went to the film school, I remember there were people who taught horse riding, action etc because that was the making of a hero. Before that the focus was on voice and speech. Today it’s about ‘actor banna hai toh gym ja beta. Get the body and shed your clothes’. If you are someone who enjoys the gym, please go. If you think that it isn’t one of the main requirements for an acting job, you don’t need to. I would like to see some actors being papped outside an acting class too someday! It should be made fashionable to get papped outside an acting school.
As someone who excels at playing a range of dark characters, does the impact of a film or series on people weigh on your mind or do you view these roles as characters that exist in society, and hence deserve to be portrayed?
I want to act. I don’t want to be a role model because that’s a lot of weight on my shoulders. I am not a leader. I don’t want to change people’s lives. I want to have a great life myself. I am very clear about that. I want to make something of my life, and I have no other means to do that except through the work that I do. A role model is someone who is willing to take charge and be responsible for others’ choices and wellbeing. I don’t want the baggage of being a role model. I don’t have great leadership qualities either.
Isn’t cinema a catalyst for change though?
I was part of a film called ‘Pink’. It sparked a dialogue on ‘consent’ and made it a household conversation. ‘No means no’ became a thing so yes, cinema can be effective, but does it have the power to change the world? I don’t think so. Policies have the power to change the world. If you are a gullible vulnerable person who can be affected by certain content, you should be careful about what you watch. For someone like me who has an appetite for watching all kinds of stuff, I don’t think that can affect my life in a way that it can change me. It can give you an insight. It opens a door to looking at something that maybe I wasn’t looking at before but that’s about it. What I do with it is my choice, whether I act on it or not.
Glorification of negative characters has been an ongoing debate. Do you set any boundaries when you essay these characters?
I’ve played all kinds of men. Men who are terribly broken, evil, suffering, or torturing others. The projects that I have been a part of, never glorified these men. It has to do with how a director perceives the world. It’s their take, their moral and ethical graph. Actor is a medium for that story to be told and thus needs to be a blank slate or a canvas on which anything can be painted. If we start questioning the morality of each character, I don’t think I would be a part of any stories that I did. If I was too scared to play a serial killer or the wife-beating abusive husband, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to play a deranged person, which is a lot of actors’ dream (role), to portray that unhinged side of human psyche. If I was trapped in the idea of masculinity, I wouldn’t have agreed to play a man who gets beaten by his wife and mother-in-law (Darlings). You must break these notions and step out of your comfort zone.
When people like you for taking the risk, it’s a different high. I also want to do roles where people say, “Isn’t he the sweetest” (laughs)! Kaalkoot is one of my favourite works. ‘Jaane Jaan’ was also quite refreshing for me as an actor. I am drawn to characters that surprise me. The reason I stay away from run of the mill roles is due to their predictability. I need to discover something new and discover myself through my roles.
Do you fear being stereotyped?
I did Pink at the time because I didn’t know the repercussions of playing a negative role. But soon after, I realized everyone wanted me to play a negative character. I was inundated with those offers. That was a wakeup call for me. People do start seeing you a certain way if something has worked. That’s when I chose to do different roles and not let that perception get to me. It just takes one good performance to break that stereotype and I knew I had that in me. I wasn’t worried because I knew I had Darlings, Jaane Jaan and Kaalkoot coming my way, too.
Zoya Akhtar just wanted to follow around three boys, no hair/make-up for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara-Reema Kagti
8:36 AM
Bollywood’s top screenwriter plus producer duo, Reema Kagti, Zoya Akhtar, decode the craft behind their art
Mayank Shekhar (MID-DAY; January 20, 2024)
Made In Heaven, that’s wrapped two seasons on Prime Video—surely, you’ve seen it already—is an episodic series. In the sense that ensemble characters and stories change, with each episode, while the leads remain the same.
That is, Tara (Sobhita Dhulipala) and Karan (Arjun Mathur), who are BFFs/soulmates, single, sharing life together—also business and creative partners, at a wedding planning firm. Which involves stressful planning and production, some scripting, and creativity, too. Not very different from filmmaking itself.
It’s only while watching the show’s second season that it occurred to me—hey, these two protagonists could be inspired by the life of the screenwriting plus producer duo, Reema Kagti, Zoya Akhtar, who are behind the show themselves; no?
“No. Well, work-wise, yes. But not [so much] socially,” Zoya argues, when I bring this up. Although Reema concedes, “When we were discussing [the show, with co-writer], Alankrita [Shrivastava], this did come up—if we have set the people on ourselves. Definitely the friendship, where they are also kinda soulmates. Not that Zoya and I are soulmates.”
They are “professional soulmates,” they concur. So, the social lives are largely separate? “We do have the same gang, when we hang out. But let’s just put it this way: Zoya is extremely social. I’m absolutely anti-social,” Reema laughs.
The two have remained friends and colleagues for over two-and-half decades. Starting out as assistant directors (ADs) on Kaizad Gustad’s Bombay Boys (1998). And with a combined filmography of over 10 films/shows as credited writers on the screen, since.
Yet, while we know enough about Zoya’s background, famously daughter of writers Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani—we barely know anything about Reema.
I’ve scoured the Internet, before meeting them. It hasn’t helped much. Most of her video interviews online are with Zoya. Reema’s calmingly chilled, securely quiet. Which sufficiently explains the “anti-social” self-description, doesn’t it?
Reema says she grew up in Assam. Went to a boarding school, Loreto Convent, in Shillong, Meghalaya: “Back then, there were hardly any good schools in Assam, so it was common for parents to send their kids off to boarding schools. Unlike in bigger cities, where only the naughty kids got sent!”
She was admittedly a naughty kid, though: “I used to make my parents’ lives hell. But they were supportive.” Not as much for her filmmaking ambitions, initially.
“I think my father had this very 1980s, ’90s notion of Bollywood. He was very disappointed [with my career choice]. It’s only when I got him to watch Lagaan, that I was an AD on, that he said, okay—if this is the kind of films you want to make.”
Reema’s father was an engineer at an oil company, before leasing out a 350-acre land to farm, “four hours’ drive from China”. The umbilical cord with her home-state remains.
“You can’t really outgrow your roots. My cook is Assamese. I eat Assamese food. My family is back in Assam.” Reema had moved to Bombay for college, at Sophia, and thereafter a course in social communications at the media school, Sophia Polytechnic.
“At some point, I bumped into Zoya. We liked the same kinda films, had a lotta common ground, we began writing small stuff together” she trails off.
To be more precise, this was during the auditions for Bombay Boys (1998), where Reema was already an AD. Zoya had dropped in for the same position.
Zoya had been an AD on Dev Benegal’s Split Wide Open (1999), after returning from a diploma in filmmaking from New York University (NYU). She had assisted in the costume department on Mira Nair’s Kama Sutra (1996), before NYU.
“Only, the director, Kaizad, was keen to test Zoya for Tara Deshpande’s part in Bombay Boys,” Reema recalls. She was staffing the audition. Right after which, Zoya told Reema, “I’m the world’s worst actor!” Reema replied, “Listen, I don’t think you’re getting this job either!” Well, she got the job she wanted.
Which was as a freelance AD, the rotating culture of which only spawned in Bollywood in the late ’90s, early ’00s: “We were moving into a phase of sync-sound on the sets, shoots getting wrapped in a single schedule. To pull that off, you needed a more structured system. Unlike before, when films would take years to finish, and everyone just hung around in offices—there would be 12 ADs, and everybody did everything,” Zoya says.
Reema had earlier worked on Rajat Kapoor’s directorial debut, Private Detective: Two Plus Two Plus One (1997): “That was my film school. I got to dabble in all departments of filmmaking.” But there was one thing both Zoya and her were clear about—they were not going to assist only one person, throughout, which was, at the time, the common practice.
Zoya says, “I don’t know how we had the guts to take that call. Back then, ADs were associated with particular filmmakers, or even production houses, when it came to advertising. There was a ‘chhaap’ [creative trademark] of that director, that remained with you, even once you left them and went your own way.”
Sensing a trap, neither wished to mirror particular mentors. Writing and directing their own movie was the end-goal, anyway. They got to work on multiple sets, when they did; and wrote their own scripts, when they didn’t. It was around this time they decided to script a short film together.
Zoya remembers, “We almost killed each other—let’s do this, let’s not do that, etc. Later, I wrote Luck By Chance (2009). Reema started writing Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd (2007). We gave our scripts to each other for feedback. She finished the portions I got stuck at. Likewise, me with Honeymoon. While we hadn’t credited each other, we were on each other’s films. Because this worked out so well—plugging holes in either script—after that, we just wrote together. Talaash (2012) was the first script we developed [as a team], from scratch.” Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD, 2011), arguably the finest Bollywood entertainer in the ’10s decade, was their second.
It’s not like the creative bickering, if you may, has stopped, or receded. Zoya admits, “People around have just got used to it in our office.”
Reema laughs, “This one time [producer] Ritesh [Sidhwani] told us, you should just not work with each other anymore. During ZNMD, [Zoya’s mom] Honey aunty got a call from the neighbours—something is going on in your house; please, it’s really scary, people are shouting!”
The art of their conflict management is pretty simple, though: “Show up at work. If we are writing, it’s 10 am. No muse is gonna come. If nothing is happening, we just do other things, watch movies, just chat, gossip… Also, you should never be afraid of scrapping what you’ve done, and starting all over again,” Zoya says.
With Reema, it’s even simpler: “If you’re stuck with an idea, and neither is able to resolve it, let it stay—move on to other things. Later, you return to those ideas, and the better argument, once it stays with you, eventually wins. It works well, if you have the story first.” They’re sure of the story’s end, beforehand; working themselves backwards.
In terms of agreeing to disagree, between them, the one who’s directing the film, gets the final say: “Otherwise, we will never stop arguing.”
For instance, in the Netflix original, The Archies (2023), Reema wasn’t convinced about the placement of a song that would break the narrative: “But once I saw the way Zoya had outdone herself with the visualization, I knew she was right. It is my favourite song.”
In terms of success stories among screenwriting pairs, none beat Salim-Javed in Bollywood still. As in, script starring Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, in the opening credits. The latter, of course, being Zoya’s father.
Only lately has Javed begun to decode how the partnership worked, having kept mum, since it broke up at the turn of the ’70s decade.
It’s clear now that Salim was the scenarist and the plot-guy, while Javed was the man of words. For instance, as Javed has mentioned before, the greatest twist in Chandra Barot’s Don (1978)—the fake don reveals, inside the jail, that he’s not the real one.
Wherein, the cops don’t believe him still. But his consiglieres, for inmates, instantly do. The dilemma worsening for the protagonist—he’s stuck between both lots, who’re gonna kill him, regardless. Now, that was Salim’s idea!
But, say, the Don’s line, “Mujhe do tarah ki ladkiyan pasand nahi aati. Ek woh, jo mere pass aane mein bahut der lagayein. Aur ek woh jo bahut jaldi aa jayein. (I don’t like women who take too long or too little time to attract).” Now, that’s decidedly Javed!
It’d be great to hear Zoya-Reema similarly break down their own scripts. Firstly, Zoya exclaims, “This comparison is freaking me out. Nothing of the sort [of Salim-Javed] had happened before, or will happen again. They were 22 blockbusters down. Let’s not put us in the same sentence!”
“[That said], our strengths are very different. We talk, talk, talk. We align on themes, characters, story, and what the film is about. Then, Reema is very strong and succinct with structure and screenplay. She gets to the point. I tend to soak.”
Reema couldn’t agree more, “The editing! You give Zoya a 100-page script, she’ll send you back 120 pages. I’m, like—what have you edited, you’ve added! But she’s better at nuances, layering, characters. And dialogues, of course.”
“Zoya feels all my characters sound like me! But she can be lazy. Zoya will refuse to write the first draft of the screenplay, once the events have been fleshed out. So, on the dialogues, I just make everyone sound like me. Because I know she will fix it!”
Zoya adds, “I get lazy, yes, but once Reema does the barebones, I take it, and juice it. I write the dialogues in English. If you want to shoot the film in English, the screenplay is completely ready.”
“Then, it goes to one of my family members—brother, Farhan (ZNMD, Dil Dhadakne Do, The Archies); father, Javed (Luck By Chance), or Vijay Mourya (Gully Boy)… They know what I want, putting it into the syntax that works best in Hindi.”
The Archies, in that sense, for the way the audiences would have watched it globally, is closest to the original screenplay with English dialogues then? “The person subtitling might approach it differently, but the English draft is the template for it,” Reema says.
While writing, per se, is a solitary job—it’s in the parleys between each other, bringing out personal experiences and influences—that the Zoya-Reema script essentially comes together.
I ask Zoya to quote examples, where there’s fully Reema in a script, that she’s directed. She points to Alia Bhatt’s part in Gully Boy (2019): “Safeena was the character, from Dharavi, in a script, that Reema had written for her movie. That film didn’t happen. But I fell in love with her. I asked her if I can just take Safeena. Yeah, why not! We supplanted and then adapted her to fit into the world of Gully Boy.”
For something more specific, in terms of moments, Zoya cites, “The scene in ZNMD, with Laila (Katrina Kaif) chasing Arjun (Hrithik Roshan) down on the bike, and kissing him! The point of the film was to follow your dreams; live in the now. Reema said Laila needed to do something [to capture that essence]. She can’t just say it. Let’s have her kissing him outside, and let her leave!”
This ready-to-film screenplay cooked between partners is also how Salim-Javed operated, staying within the realm of screenwriting still—a reason some ’70s directors fell off the crevice, once Salim-Javed were unable to send them bound scripts any longer.
For Zoya-Reema, it’s merely the end of a process: “A big hurrah moment,” as Zoya puts it. The actual movie can’t film itself. How’re they different as directors from thereon, I ask Reema, who has, thus far, directed Honeymoon, Talaash, Gold (2018), two seasons of Made In Heaven, the series, Dahaad, and the feature, Supermen Of Malegaon, that’s on its way.
She says, “Zoya visually references a lot. I tend to arrive at the visual world, after recce-ing [locations].” Zoya agrees, “It is, after all, a visual medium. I like to find a visual tone, seeing the film from before, and start recce-ing it, accordingly; to lift it off the page.”
Zoya, evidently, has her clear list of dos and don’ts as well. For instance, she was certain before the filming of Gully Boy, set in the slums, that there will be none of Bombay’s tarpaulin-blue throughout the film: “I just don’t like the colour.”
Likewise, with The Archies, the setting would be dreamy, hence, visually, story-book like: “full framing, wide-lensing, classical shots, like 1950s-60s photography.” With Dil Dhadakne Do: “mainly mid-shots and long shots, because the picture is from the POV of Pluto, the family dog.”
Besides screenwriting and direction, there’s the graduating aspect to their creative careers, which is as producing partners. Gully Boy was the first film with Zoya-Reema’s film company, Tiger Baby.
The name, by the way comes from “the nickname that Anurag [Kashyap] and all” gave Zoya: “It’s my spirit animal!” Left to Reema, the company would’ve been called Balls of a Brass Monkey: “Zoya is like, don’t be ridiculous! Also, Tiger Baby is fierce and feminine. It has a nice ring to it.”
Even as producers, the two couldn’t be as complimentarily separate from each other. As Zoya deciphers, “I’m the one meeting with the actors, Reema doesn’t wanna go anywhere. She’s better with budgets, and numbers. But both of us are into mentoring scripts. She’s better at creative packaging and producing. I handle the Tiger Baby social media.” Reema sighs, “I can barely do mine.”
An upcoming production of Tiger Baby is a documentary on Salim-Javed.
If you were to strain yourself to find connecting dots, if not a larger link, between each of Zoya-Reema scripts, it might be the fact of alternating worlds, perhaps.
Say, in the OTT space, their two releases in 2023 were Made In Heaven S02, and Dahaad (both on Prime Video). One is set around the blingy world of posh, New Delhi weddings.
The other is a police-procedural in the rugged terrains of Rajasthan, following missing women, and a serial killer on the loose.
Likewise, with films, The Archies, on Netflix—with “idealism for its point”, in the near-perfect, imaginary world, mimicking the American comic book, in 1960s India—comes after Gully Boy, that went deep into Mumbai’s underclasses. Which, in turn, came after Dil Dhadakne Do, dealing with importantly familial, but First World issues.
Zoya-Reema obviously don’t see it this way: “We just follow the world our characters live in. It’s about being authentic to the world you’re trying to create,” Reema says.
Zoya adds, “We are avid readers and movie watchers, fans of various kinds of filmmakers, not fixated on a genre. For instance, I’m actively looking for something in the big crime/underworld space. It’s exciting to be scared [trying new things]. I’ll be bored waking up for work, otherwise.”
The ideas, of course, can come from anywhere, Reema argues: “Supermen Of Malegaon was a documentary. Gully Boy came from a music video. With ZNMD, it was road trips taken [by us]. We’d also gone on a Europe tour, with Zoya and a bunch of friends. Zoya just wanted to follow around three boys, no hair/make-up, for ZNMD. Of course, it didn’t end up that way.”
One of those inspiring trips was when Reema, a “broke AD”, was in Goa, having spent all her money, with none left for a bus-ticket back to Bombay. She hitched “a car-ride with the sister of a friend. Throughout, [the host was] cautious of a plastic bag in the backseat, because it had an expensive vase, or something. We named that bag, Priscilla.”
This is how Bagwati in ZNMD came into the scene. Only, Reema hadn’t even heard of a Birkin: “What’s that Berk, Berk, whatever. When Zoya told me about it—I’m like, why would someone pay lakhs for a bag? I wanted [the motif] to be something breakable in the film. Zoya’s the director. I had to go with her!”
With ZNMD, Zoya says she was looking at a low-budget, easy-peasy production, given she had just got off a huge ensemble cast debut, Luck by Chance.
Which was about an actor getting a shoe-in to showbiz. The Archies, in that sense, is her coming full circle, since the film launched seven debutants. If she was to make Luck by Chance, how different would it be, a decade-and-half later, give how much entertainment as an industry itself has changed since?
“If I have to revisit, rewrite, I don’t know what [Luck By Chance] will be. But, thematically, it’ll still be about success, and failure. That’s what the film is about—how do you define success, and failure? Is your self-worth determining both? The rest is backdrop.”
A widely shared clip online, from Luck By Chance, is superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s (SRK) cameo in it, where he gives life’s lessons to the lead character (Farhan Akhtar). Given The Archies marked the acting debut of SRK’s daughter, Suhana, I wonder if Zoya ever got SRK over to the set, for a Chak De India type pep-talk, to a full team of debutants? “No. That is supposed to be my job!”
That pep-talk in Luck By Chance was essentially about never leaving behind those who’ve known you from before success/stardom—when it appears that you’ve probably moved ahead. Zoya says, “Shah Rukh, as a person, typifies that.” In terms of rallying the OG troops around her, so does she.
Zoya sorta admits, “I do like working with the same crew. Because they’re great at their job. There is trust, and a sync of aesthetics. Which is not to say I won’t work with someone new.
“Suzanne [Caplan Merwanji] was the set-decorator, when I was a production assistant, on Kama Sutra. [Editor] Anand Subaya and I went to school together; [costume designer] Arjun Bhasin, [hair stylist] Avan Contractor… So many around me have been friends since teens and tweens.”
“There’s Ritesh [Sidhwani], Farhan… Also, then, I enjoy going to work. I work a lot. I don’t want life passing me by, while I’m isolated, working 13-14 hours, a day. The friends are there.”
Friendships also being a recurring theme in Zoya-Reema scripts, if you casually glean through them. They could claim a friend-verse of their own. Starting out, Zoya-Reema worked as ADs on Farhan’s Dil Chahta Hai (DCH, 2001). Both believe Farhan, their former boss, to be the more methodical director, sharp with his final edits, even while on set.
Together, with DCH, and ZNMD, Netflix placed three hoardings in Mumbai, before the film Kho Gaye Hum Kahan (KGHK) dropped on the platform—terming them movies that defined friendship for their respective decades. I kinda agree.
Tiger Baby’s KGHK, directed by debutant Arjun Varain Singh, is probably the only Zoya-Reema script that neither has filmed. It peeks into the life of GenZ, through three buddies (Ananya Panday, Adarsh Gourav, Siddhant Chaturvedi), who also somewhat embark on a professional partnership together.
This is not a love triangle. It’s about friends, who are also family. They are not seeking healthy romance, but fulfilling companionship.
You sense that mental intimacy with the male-female leads over two seasons of Made In Heaven as well. I reckon, that’s the future of relationships. Zoya-Reema get that. Better than others.
How Bollywood revenue adds to the coffers of Mumbai's local train network
8:29 AM
Anagha Sawant (BOMBAY TIMES; January 13, 2024)
What is common to Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan and Haseen Dilruba (2021)? It’s a small station named Apta, located two hours from the city, with hills and greenery all around. These four are among a host of Bollywood films that have used the picturesque location of Apta to shoot scenes from the film.
And it’s not just Apta. A host of railway stations in and around Mumbai – Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) being the chief among them – has provided a colourful, evocative backdrop for Hindi cinema over the years.
“Most production houses, celebrities, support staff and equipment are in Mumbai. If it is a regular railway track or train scene, shooting around Mumbai is budget-friendly and time-saving,” says Isha Inamdar, who works for an agency that handles such permissions that production houses require.
A Western Railway (WR) official tells us that the trains used in the movies are spare, but working trains, which are usually used as a replacement for routine trains, in case of emergency or maintenance work.
HOW BOLLYWOOD REVENUE ADDS TO THE COFFERS OF MUMBAI’S TRAIN NETWORK
The railways charge Rs. 2 lakh for a one-day shoot. Since 2016, Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) earned over Rs. 7 crore and Rs. 4 crore respectively from film shoots. During its release, Gully Boy was among the highest spenders with Western Railway, paying over Rs. 15 lakh for the shoot. For Central Railway, the Rajinikanth film Darbaar was a huge revenue generator, running up bills to the tune of Rs. 22 lakh plus. Even in the pandemic, WR earned Rs. 67 lakh from shoots in 2021-22. This number went up to Rs. 1.64 crore in the FY 2022-23.
RAILWAY YARDS AND OFFICES ARE SHOOT LOCATIONS TOO
Apart from stations, film crews want to incorporate other locations within railway premises in their shoots. For example, movies such as The Lunchbox, Airlift, Phantom and Gabbar Is Back were filmed inside the Churchgate administrative office of WR to show a typical government office with files and papers stacked on desks. “Offices are usually closed on Sundays and public holidays, so permission to shoot inside the office is only given on holidays,” says a WR official, adding that the rise in OTT content has meant that they are getting more applications for shooting shows and docus on railway premises.
Railway car sheds and yards are the chosen locations for shooting fight scenes, with scenes from movies like Force, Judwaa 2, Commando 3 and others being shot in the yards. “These locations are popular as they have the feel of old godowns and British-era structures,” adds a Central Railway official.
"We scrutinize the script to ensure there are no scenes that show smoking, anti-railway or anti-government scenes, consumption of alcohol or drugs. Depending on the requirements of the shoot, permission for a location is granted within two days," says Sumit Thakur, CPRO, Western Railway.
Everybody had high expectations saying I am the ‘next big thing’... I felt I let people down-Siddhant Chaturvedi
8:12 PM
Rishabh Suri (HINDUSTAN TIMES; January 10, 2024)
It’s been some time since Siddhant Chaturvedi won appreciation for his performance until his 2023 film Kho Gaye Hum Kahan (KGHK). After the Gully Boy (2019) fame, the actor saw a bit of a lull in his career. Then, he went MIA for a year with no media interactions and rare public appearances. In a free-wheeling chat over a video call from his holiday, the actor bares his heart, but refrains from sharing one thing — his holiday destination. Excerpts:
Is ‘relieved’ the word for KGHK working and getting good reviews?
It was long due after Gully Boy. I needed some motivation again... it’s been a while since it released, followed by Bunty Aur Babli 2 (2021), Gehraiyaan and Phone Bhoot (both 2022). The pandemic happened, I thought we were kind of losing touch with what was working. I had been working for three-four years, things were not happening. And especially after Gully Boy, everybody had high expectations saying I am the ‘next big thing’... I felt I let people down. I would also not blame my choices. Consumer behaviour changed. Big-scale films became front-runners, no one was ready to invest so much money on a newcomer. What I had shot for was just right before the pandemic, the films released after that. I was disappointed with myself, (and thought) where was it going? I finally needed a push like KGHK.
You decided to stay away from everything for over a year. What prompted you to do this?
I thought mere paas kuch hai nahi baat karne ke liye, aur mera kaam bolta hai. Jab kaam nahi bol raha with the audience, who has moved on to some new kind of cinema... and then there are YouTube influencers, creators. As a newcomer, you are put between 360 degrees of entertainment, where you have to compete with so much. I felt that putting stuff out on social media and being spotted is not who I am. I felt I need to work harder to choose the right things.
Weren’t you bothered about being out of sight, out of mind?
I feel overwhelmed with the love right now, but if people are scattered away, I am not going to stand and shout ‘I am spotted, I am going to the gym, I bought a new car’ — that’s not the kind of actor I am. There are so many of them already; everybody has a great life on Instagram. If everyone is an influencer, then who is influenced? I understood my vision is to be there on the screen — be it digital or theatrical. Obviously, the dream is to be at the box office, but whatever it is, cinema is my way of communicating with people. What would I have talked about? I can’t put pictures of my vacations or go to award shows who are just giving me one. Initially after Gully Boy, I loved the attention (on social media) as there was chatter, I was excited. Later, I realized I needed something substantial.
But social media is also looked at as a means of being in touch with fans and solidifying a fan base...
I have nothing against people who do that. Out of sight was on purpose. If I was out of mind and then came with an unexpected performance, it would blow your mind. I have faith in myself. I was nowhere before Gully Boy... suddenly people saw me on the map, I wanted that same effect.
Social media has two sides to it — a powerful tool and a breeding ground for trolls. You must have faced negative comments too. How do you look at it?
I saw them on Reddit. I go and read the gossip and blind articles. It is really disturbing.
They call it ‘spilling the tea’...
Yes. Pehle achha lagta tha padh ke, before I had made it, maza aata tha. Par jab khud ke baare mein hota hai toh aankhein khulti hain. They call me arrogant, cocky, overrated. I was underrated before Gehraiyaan (2022), overrated after it, and then they said ‘he has disappeared, bada aaya tha’. That really hurt. I take it in a good way, but after reading (such comments), I am not able to sleep at night. I sit at the same window where I sat and dreamt, and decide, I will show the world. Earlier, I almost wrote a reply defending myself from fake profiles, but just before sending it, I would be like ‘no yaar, let the perception be, it’s good to break it with work’. I don’t expect people to be soft on me because I have got the hard way in life. It is not easy to make it and even harder to sustain it.
People told me after Gully Boy I only would get mother roles, but that did not happen-Amruta Subhash
8:34 AM
Vinay MR Mishra (BOMBAY TIMES; December 7, 2023)
Actress Amruta Subhash is extremely “excited” with the kind of love she is getting for her stint in the anthology Lust Stories. The actress is winning awards for her character Seema, however, for her what is more rewarding is the love she is getting from people. “Renuka (Shahane, actor) Ji gifted me a saree after watching the movie and I was just honoured with the love she showered at me,” Amruta divulges.
The actress became an overnight find after playing actor Ranveer Singh’s mother in Zoya Akhtar’s directorial Gully Boy. Amruta, however, started doing back to back work in the Hindi films which were highly acclaimed.
“I am very lucky, makers are not slotting me in any particular character. I am not stereotyped and that is a blessing. People told me after Gully Boy I only would get mother roles, but that did not happen. I did such different characters after Gully Boy. I played a bar dancer and an urban boss lady in my next. Now, I am doing a psychological thriller which is again in an urban space,” Amruta reveals.
The Dhamaka actress will soon be seein in director Rushikesh Gupte’s next. With the yet to be titled Amruta is returning to Marathi space after almost 3 years. “I am working in Marathi movies after many years. I am very excited to have a good script. I get triggered only by scripts,” she adds.
Furthermore, she also reveals being in conversation with an international project. “I am in conversation with a project that is from out of India. It is an international project, which would be my first. So, fingers crossed,” she ends.
OTT has also fallen into a pattern now-Shabana Azmi
9:42 AM
Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; October 29, 2023)
One cannot deny that the advent of streaming platforms has revolutionized the entertainment business. How films are viewed and made today, the process has undergone a massive change. While there have been some positives, including democratization in casting in the initial phase, star system and stereotyping is slowly seeping in on the web platforms too.
Actress Shabana Azmi holds a similar opinion and fears the OTT has fallen into a pattern too.
During an interview with Bombay Times, she voiced her concern. She observed, “As far as changing sensibility is concerned, in films, if something works, the producers just want to repeat it. Koi cheez successful hui hai toh usko chodhdo. I was hopeful that OTT will bring in a change, but it has fallen into a pattern, too.”
She elaborated, “Most OTT content allows explicit scenes, gaaliyan, overdose of violence. I feel the director can make a choice. Look at Zoya’s (Akhtar) film. Given its setting, Gully Boy could have resorted to gaalis too, but as a director-writer she decided to create a world where things are conveyed without spelling them out. It can be effective and not graphic. Violence for me is much more threatening if it gives you the impression that it’s from the corner. If you are not actually seeing it, it can be more tense and thrilling. Martin Scorsese does this so well. Why do we overdo it?”
Teacher's Day special: Siddhant Chaturvedi goes back to Mithibai College; meets drama teacher Pravin Murlidhar Jadhav
9:22 AM
Onkar Kulkarni (BOMBAY TIMES; September 5, 2023)
On the occasion of Teacher's Day, Siddhant Chaturvedi visited Mithibai College in Mumbai, from where he graduated in 2013. Ten years ago, he wouldn’t have imagined where he is today – a Bollywood actor enjoying fame and the love of the audience. As he walked through the corridors of his alma mater to meet his favourite teacher, he kept stopping along the way to pose for selfies with the students, with many shouting in the background, “MC Sher is here…Gully Boy, Gully Boy!”
Finally, Siddhant stopped at the auditorium and introduced us to his drama teacher, Pravin Murlidhar Jadhav, who he credits for nurturing the artiste in him. “Every time I am spoken about as an actor, it makes me feel nostalgic about my college and remember the guidance and encouragement that Pravin sir gave me. My college stage gave me my first experience as an actor. I am still in touch with the members of the drama group of my batch,” shares Siddhant, who studied BCom in that college and also did the drama course there.
While the actor has been seen in films like Bunty Aur Babli 2, Gehraiyaan and Phone Bhoot, his teacher confesses that he loved Siddhant’s performance the most in his debut film, Gully Boy, in which he played MC Sher.
Professor Jadhav says, “Nothing can beat his performance in the film. I could have never imagined him rapping on screen. He was so good that we invited him as a judge for the rapping event at our college festival, Kshitij. Even though he’s extremely busy now, whenever we reach out to him, he is there for us.”
As Siddhant leaves the college premises, he gets emotional and says, “I have always stayed in touch with my teachers. In life, wherever you are and whatever you do, your guru will always be your guru, and you will always look back on the lessons taught by them.”
‘Siddhant was a very quiet boy in college’
Talking about the kind of student Siddhant was, his teacher says, “His entire gang came across as this wild bunch, but Siddhant was a very quiet boy. However, when this group came on stage and performed, they would give their best and win. They are the best team we have had till date, as they have won laurels for our college and made us proud.”
And the actor shares, "I was a shy guy in school. I was always the second bencher. I was studious. Teachers liked me as I was well-behaved. I would do my share of masti, but I was that guy who never got caught, somehow. Often, my classmates used to get caught because of me, while I easily escaped."
------------------------------------------------------------
When I am spoken about as an actor, it makes me nostalgic about my college and remember the guidance and encouragement that Pravin sir gave me. My college stage gave me my first experience as an actor. I am still in touch with the members of the drama group of my batch
— Siddhant
— Siddhant
------------------------------------------------------------
This meeting is an emotional moment because as teachers what matters to us is the love and respect we get from our students. Our students remembering us even after so many years is our ultimate reward
— Pravin Murlidhar Jadhav, Siddhant’s teacher
This meeting is an emotional moment because as teachers what matters to us is the love and respect we get from our students. Our students remembering us even after so many years is our ultimate reward
— Pravin Murlidhar Jadhav, Siddhant’s teacher
Aur ab mein isse zyada kharab nahi ban sakta on screen-Vijay Varma
8:21 AM
Onkar Kulkarni (BOMBAY TIMES; June 17, 2023)
He featured in several projects prior to Gully Boy, but that’s the film which brought Vijay Varma into the limelight. He grabbed the audience’s attention with one villainous act after another in Pink, Gully Boy, Darlings and the recent Dahaad, becoming quite the toast of showbiz. Vijay tells us that he loves the madness of his evil characters, but now it’s time to move on to a different space. In his personal life, too, the actor is in a new ‘happy space’ with his lady love.
‘MANY PEOPLE TOLD ME AB TOH KUCH ACHHA, ROMANTIC KARO’
Vijay is thrilled with all the recognition he’s got for his performances so far, but ask him if he wonders why storytellers don’t look at him beyond the negative characters, and Vijay says, “I picked up these projects because I was impressed by the writing. These are roles that stand out in the script. I like to stand out. I have got enough feedback, where people have said, ‘Ab toh kuch achha (positive) karo, ab toh kuch romantic karo’. The idea was that I had to top the madness quotient while playing these evil characters – just top it and then stop it. So, now I think I have topped it, aur ab mein isse zyada kharab nahi ban sakta on screen.”
‘I AM NOT THRIVING MUCH ON BEING POPULAR’
The actor, who seized the audience and the industry’s attention with Gully Boy, explains how the film opened doors for him. “Even in Gully Boy, I didn’t have a meaty part, but somehow, the film connected and drew a huge audience, and I got exposed to a larger number of people. After that, I had enough work to keep me on my toes for the next two years, until the lockdown happened. During that phase, I probably worked the hardest. I was literally shooting every single day. I had seven releases in 2020.”
‘ON SOME DAYS YOU DON'T WANT TO BE A NASTY PERSON ON CAMERA’
Talking about the inner struggle in playing these characters and much recently, his menacing act in Dahaad he says, “It took some time to understand who the person was. I still don’t know who this guy is. He’s such a sick mind that a sane man can only understand this much about him. See, usually you do try to understand the nitty-gritty of a character. You figure out how the person acts and reacts and incorporate that. But as far as Dahaad is concerned, it was difficult to play it because sometimes you have to go through some kind of inner struggle. Like you don’t like this character, and you don’t want to play this character because on some days you just don’t want to be this nasty person (even on camera).”
‘TAMANNAAH AND I HAVE HAD AN INTERESTING JOURNEY’
Recently, while talking about her relationship with Vijay, Tamannaah Bhatia admitted to being in a relationship with him and called him her happy place. Ask him about matters of the heart, and he says, “I am just in a happy space right now where there’s a lot of love in my life. Both Tamannaah and I have had an interesting journey. I am from Hyderabad and came to Mumbai to work, while she is from Mumbai and went to Hyderabad to work. So that is our trajectory… we both left our cities and moved to other cities for work.”
Seeing films like Kantara and Pushpa, I want to start looking for stories which are are more rooted-Siddhant Chaturvedi
8:12 AM
Onkar Kulkarni (BOMBAY TIMES; February 3, 2023)
Gehraiyaan, which portrayed Siddhant Chaturvedi as the uber-cool, suave dude, became a talking point last year. Of course, his pairing with Deepika Padukone created quite a splash too. The actor, who has come a long way since his MC Sher days (Gully Boy), revelled in the domestic noir drama and followed that with the horror comedy Phone Bhoot, which also starred Katrina Kaif and Ishaan Khatter. It seems like playing contemporary roles comes naturally to him, but now, Siddhant is keen to take on roles that have more desiness in it, and Bollywood style masala.
He said, “Seeing films like Kantara and Pushpa, I feel that now I need to start looking for stories which are truer to our country and are more rooted. Bahut hogaye urban roles, ab mujhe thodasa desi tadka chahiye.”
He added, “I am a boy from Ballia, a small town (in Uttar Pradesh). I am very desi, but it’s just that I did films like Gully Boy and Gehraiyaan, toh woh image thodi waise (urban) ban gayi hai meri. Main toh UP ka Ganga kinare wala ladka hoon.”
Even though he’s been a part of the film industry for five years now, the actor admits that it is tough to get the kind of films he wants to do. “I think I have chosen the best of all that was thrown at me. This was the best I could do. I hope one day I receive scripts that are written keeping me in mind, and I hope that day comes soon. In the last few years, with the projects that I picked, I was just fulfilling my dreams, but now it’s time to conquer. I am done living my dreams, maine apna khoon de diya hai, ab meri baari hai,” he said.
A few days before the music launch of Gully Boy, I faced an injury while playing football-Siddhant Chaturvedi
8:06 AM
Onkar Kulkarni (BOMBAY TIMES; December 13, 2022)
Siddhant Chaturvedi is all set to represent India in a new FIFA World Cup anthem, which he shot recently in Qatar. The actor will be seen with American rapper Lil Baby in the video, which will be released closer to the finals.
Talking exclusively to Bombay Times, he says, “I feel this one’s going to be the most catchy anthem of the season. It is about the journey; it’s about taking control and winning. It’s also about hustling and coming from nowhere and making it big! The anthem seems to be totally aligned with my journey (in Bollywood). It features young artistes from all around the world. In the video, you will see me rapping and vibing with Lil Baby.”
Siddhant, who’s a die-hard football fan, got to shoot at places he never imagined he would be at. The Gully Boy actor shares, “We filmed the video at a stadium in Qatar, on the field, where footballers play matches. It was quite surreal as I walked through the tunnel, just like they do. I also shot inside the dressing room.”
Siddhant says, “I can’t get over the fact that I shot on the same pitch where Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi played and the same dressing room where they chilled during the matches. I am just going bonkers!”
He is also thrilled about the fact that the video is shot by Director X, who has worked with international artistes like Justin Bieber, Kanye West and Drake, among others. As he parked himself in Qatar for a few days for the shoot, the actor also took the opportunity to watch two matches live.
“It was like a dream come true as this was the first time I saw a football World Cup match live in a stadium. I was there for four days and could watch two matches — Brazil vs Cameroon and Denmark vs Belgium. During the Brazil match, I saw Neymar. Though he wasn’t playing, I am happy that I got to see him. During the Belgium match, I saw Romelu Lukaku. Since I was there to shoot the video, I got a great seat. As I walked towards my seat, it felt like the ground was getting bigger and bigger as the seat was so close to it. I could see the players closely. It was such a thrilling experience,” says the actor.
This year, he feels quite aligned with the match results. He shares, “This time, the FIFA World Cup has been all about the underdogs. Japan played extremely well and Saudi Arabia shocked the world by beating Argentina in one of the matches. I am an underdog myself, so I kind of relate to these victories.”
The Gehraiyaan actor, who played football while growing up, is also a part of a celebrity football team in Mumbai. Having had injuries multiple times while playing the sport earlier in his life, Siddhant was skeptical about taking up football after becoming an actor. He says, “I joined the club recently. I didn’t want to take a risk. I have had four ligament tears during my football matches earlier. So, it was tricky for me to go back on the field even though I was missing it a lot. In fact, I remember a month before the national finale of the Bombay Times Fresh Face in 2013, I had a football match where I tore a ligament. I won that competition despite the leg injury as I performed with bandages around my leg. Even a few days before the music launch of Gully Boy, I faced an injury while playing football.”
Ask him to name his favourite players from the celebrity football club and he shares, “I like Tiger Shroff and RK (Ranbir Kapoor); he has a great game sense. He is as crazy about football as one can be. Tiger toh ek chalti phirti machine hai. His game is really good. I gel well with Ahan Shetty. He has recently joined and he’s this silent beast.”
My personal favourite Filmfare Award hosts have been Shah Rukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan-Ranveer Singh
8:41 AM
The 67th Wolf 777news Filmfare Awards 2022 were announced at an event in Mumbai where the actor was the guest of honour
Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; July 30, 2022)
The 67th Wolf 777news Filmfare Awards 2022 will be held in full glory with a live onground show in Mumbai. Taking forward the six-decade-long legacy, the coveted Black Lady will recognize the best in Hindi cinema for the year 2021 at a star-studded event that will celebrate the artistic and technical brilliance of Hindi cinema. The event will be hosted by Bollywood buddies, Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor, at the Jio World Convention Centre, BKC in Mumbai, on August 30. The awards night will see performances by Kartik Aaryan, Vicky Kaushal, Kiara Advani, and Disha Patani to name a few. Bollywood fans can enjoy the show live amidst the stars by buying tickets on BookMyShow.
Bollywood’s powerhouse performer Ranveer Singh was the guest of honour at the press conference in Mumbai on Thursday to make the announcement. The actor is a recipient of four Filmfare Awards so far.
Ranveer said, “It’s an honour to represent and host Filmfare Awards. The legacy of the Black Lady is an integral part of the entertainment industry for the last six decades. This year I am extremely excited to host the show in front of a live audience. The energy in the house will be unprecedented. The team behind the show are some of the best names in the business, and together it is our endeavour to create a magical and memorable evening for our beloved audience and fraternity.”
Calling himself a ‘filmy bachcha, ’90s baby’, the actor shared some lovely anecdotes in his usual no holds barred style. Ranveer, who won his first Filmfare Award for Band Baaja Baaraat (2010), said, “I’ve won the Filmfare Award a few times and some of my most cherished moments in life have been on those awards nights. When I won the Best Actor for Bajirao Mastani (2015), my idol, the one who inspired me to be an actor, Mr Amitabh Bachchan was sitting in the front row. Madhuri Dixit Nene presented the award to me for Gully Boy (2019) and that was a moment of a lifetime for me. When Deepika won the Best Actress Award for Piku (2015), to be there with our families was very special for us. There is some magic around Filmfare, so I am thrilled to be hosting it this year. My personal favourite Filmfare Award hosts have been Shah Rukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan. I have my dearest baba Arjun Kapoor to co-host with me this time. I am looking forward to celebrating excellence in Hindi films.”
Deepika Padukone makes you feel like a friend; Ranveer Singh empowers you-Siddhant Chaturvedi
8:29 AM
The actor who has worked with Deepika and Ranveer in different movies shares what’s unique about them as artistes
Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; July 3, 2022)
Though Siddhant Chaturvedi is relatively new to the industry, he has had the opportunity to share screen space with some of Bollywood’s top stars. In his debut film Gully Boy (2019), he teamed up with Ranveer Singh, and he romanced Deepika Padukone in Gehraiyaan, which released earlier this year.
Ask him if he was star-struck by any of the actors he worked with, and he says, “I was starstruck around Ranveer. The day after I saw Padmaavat, I had my first reading for Gully Boy with him. I was blown away by his portrayal of Alauddin Khilji. To play MC Sher with the actor who played Khilji was unnerving, but when I met him for the reading, he was completely Murad (Ranveer’s character in Gully Boy). There was nothing Khilji-like about him. I was astonished by how easily and flawlessly he submits himself to his screen characters.”
When asked how similar or different it is working with Ranveer and Deepika, Siddhant reveals, “Ranveer has a different way of making you feel comfortable. He has a way of empowering you. He charges you up. On the other hand, Deepika will stand quietly by your side and make you feel like an equal. She is simple and makes you feel like her friend. That’s also comforting. You are not charged up, but you feel at ease. As MC Sher, I had to be charged up and motivated enough to motivate Murad. In Gehraiyaan, I had to be comfortable enough to romance Deepika. They have their own unique personality and traits. The common factor is that they both are incredibly helpful co-stars.”
Our initial approach was a bit younger, but the characters in Gehraiyaan were more complex-Ankur Tewari
9:16 AM
Kicking off the new year with what promises to be a great musical score, Gehraiyaan sound designer Ankur Tewari on the Deepika starrer
Sonia Lulla (MID-DAY; January 3, 2022)
Raise your hands if you, like us, had a second look at the trailer of Shakun Batra’s Gehraiyaan only to listen to its balletic music, again. Sound designer Ankur Tewari — responsible for monitoring the score and soundtrack artistes for the making of a cohesive theme — discusses breathing life into the Deepika Padukone, Ananya Panday, and Siddhant Chaturvedi starrer.
Edited excerpts from the interview:
What was your initial discussion with Shakun about the film’s music?
We were sure that the music should not be mainstream. A lot of films on infidelity have been made, and they have had a certain kind of sound attached to them. We wanted to approach this with a new sound. Having said that, we first paid heed to what the script was saying. The film is about a group of young people who are going through a transactional relationship, when it come to love. We thought about the kind of music that these guys would listen to. All the songs in the film are in terms of a score. None has been [lip-synced] to. We thought about the music that would be in their playlist, and then dug deeper into each character.
Did you ask the actors what they listened to?
No. But I got sneaky. I started noticing their Instagram pages — songs they were posting about, or sharing on stories. Since I have worked with Siddhant in Gully Boy, I know the kind of music he listens to. I was also thinking about the characters. This film is very strong, even on paper. So when you have access to a script where the character is so well defined, it’s easy to work accordingly. Kabir and Savera are two musicians who have worked on the score to give it a distinct sound. Their music is precisely the kind that these characters would consume.
When you have such a fine understanding of creating music best suited for a script, how do you navigate filmmakers’ demands to create a commercial score even if the story doesn’t require it?
Unlike in the indie space, where you write as you desire, in films, every one is catering to the script. You are committed to that. Different scripts have different needs, and some of them need a commercial treatment. If that is not done, then what is the difference between your approach towards an independent song and film music. Each sound-scape has a different colour, and that can be niche, mainstream or an entirely new genre. In this film, for instance, a lot of the [music] is inspired by French [music]. The song needs to pull you further into the film; not pull you out of it with a sound that doesn’t fit.
How often do you end up changing your work after seeing the first cut?
When I saw the rough cut, I noticed that there were places where we were going off, especially, as far as Deepika’s performance is concerned. She is such a powerful performer. Also, actors put a lot of work into understanding the characters. So when you learn of a character on paper, and then see how the actor has pulled it off, you start understanding their perspective. I had to move away from the music and lyrics that I [had etched in my mind]. The brief that I gave Kausar [Munir, lyricist], before I saw the rough draft was different from the one I gave her after it. Our initial approach was a bit younger, but the characters were more complex. We had to tweak it to suit that.
I hope Darlings gets a theatrical release-Vijay Varma
7:57 AM
The actor feels that OTT platforms gave a fresh lease of life to content that was stuck laborum
Juhi Chakraborty (HINDUSTAN TIMES; December 4, 2021)
With work coming to a sudden halt during the pandemic, many actors had a tough time maintaining their careers. But actor Vijay Varma is grateful that he had a different experience altogether. And the 35-year-old credits OTTs for helping him keep the momentum going.
With projects such as Bamfaad (2020), A Suitable Boy, Mirzapur Season 2, She and OK Computer releasing digitally, Varma tells us, “OTT kept me going. I was a bit scattered in the beginning because She released just at the time of the first lockdown. But after that, I had back-to-back projects coming out.”
Calling the last couple of years a “blessing in disguise”, Varma, who broke into the scene after his performance in Gully Boy (2019), says, “I am happy that I was able to reach out to the audience through my work and I was in their minds, I didn’t go out of sight.”
The actor also feels that OTT platforms have given a fresh lease of life to content that was stuck. “I’m glad we have these streaming services. I know of so many actors whose work relied on theatres, especially big stars who had to wait for theatres to open for [their] work to be seen,” he adds.
Varma, who has an exciting line up for 2022 with Darlings, Fallen, Hurdang and an untitled project, feels this year has been good for him. “I hope Darlings gets a theatrical release. I am looking forward to experience how 200-400 people react to watching me on the big screen again,” he ends.
Aditya Chopra called after Gully Boy and said, ‘Tu toh hero hai!’ I told him, ‘Toh phir bana dijiye’-Siddhant Chaturvedi
7:46 AM
Revealing that plan B was to become a sincere actor over star, Siddhant says his craft has earned him a footing in Bollywood as he fronts Bunty Aur Babli 2
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; November 19, 2021)
He captivated the audience with his honest performance in Gully Boy (2019). But to Siddhant Chaturvedi, Bunty Aur Babli 2 is where the real journey begins. “It’s my debut in a way,” he starts off, sitting at Yash Raj Studios. “Gully Boy wasn’t my film. The pressure wasn’t on me. The audience found a hero in me.”
He remembers Aditya Chopra calling him after the musical drama released. “Adi sir said, ‘Tu toh hero hai!’ I told him, ‘Toh phir bana dijiye.’ He assumed I’d want to do something intense after Gully Boy. I was only being offered alpha-male roles. It was important to break that perception. I wanted to show my comic timing, boyish charm, dance, and action.”
The con caper allows Chaturvedi to do all that and more, alongside Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukerji and Sharvari. As he joins Khan to become the new-age Bunty after Abhishek Bachchan’s act in the 2005 instalment, he says comparisons are out of the question. “The original is too iconic to be touched. What works for us is that it has been 16 years since the original. Love stories have changed, as has the game.”
Aspiring to be a Bollywood star since his teenage years, the actor, 28, says his plan B is bearing fruit. “My plan A was to have a big-label launch at 19. The film would have had me, the heroine and no ensemble. [I had pictured it] as an action film with bike chases. But such launches don’t happen in real life. I was sitting at home jobless for four years.”
Which then made him devise plan B — to work on his craft. “The lure of becoming a Hindi film hero was replaced with being a good actor. I did okay in my plan B. I am a Yash Raj Films hero today alongside Saif and Rani. My next with Dharma Productions has me opposite Deepika Padukone, and there’s another film with Katrina Kaif. I also have a web series with Zoya Akhtar. Now, I like plan B better because plan A wouldn’t have earned me respect. I have proved myself.”
I would like to see my face on the poster of a film someday-Kubbra Sait
8:05 AM
Onkar Kulkarni (BOMBAY TIMES; July 30, 2021)
Over the years, Kubbra Sait has learnt to strike a balance between films and web shows. The actress is happy that content makers are now offering her roles in both formats that put her acting skills to the test.
She says, “I think I have been able to make this transition from being a host to becoming an actor, beautifully. I am thankful for films like Jawaani Jaaneman and Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare as they gave me space to breathe and I got to be myself as an actor,” says Kubbra, who seemed to have got typecast in movies like Sultan and Gully Boy, where she played a host on screen. “I am looking to go beyond these roles, but if you ask me to go back and do a film with Zoya Akhtar again that has me playing a host once again, then, yes, I will do it! It is Zoya Akhtar after all! Hamari bhi toh laalach hoti hai. And yes, I am greedy to work with someone like her. Else, I would rather give a role like that a pass. I love the thought of playing someone else and I want to explore that,” says Kubbra.
The actress hopes to play a lead heroine soon. “I would like to see my face on the poster of a film someday and I will be very responsible about it (the position) too,” she says.
Considering the ever-increasing competition in the industry, does she have to work on polishing her skill set? “If I am a leading lady in a Bollywood film, it isn’t necessary that I need to just dance or do action, right? I think the one thing I need to know is how to act, which I am learning every day,” Kubbra says.
Kubbra says, “Through my past experiences, I have realised that if the makers, the script and you come together, then everything else falls into place. From learning the accent of the character, dance to action moves... sab aayega. You will take your time, be that person and deliver your best performance. What’s important is that you are open enough to learn and absorb when the time comes,” she shares.
While she’s hoping for a brighter future in showbiz, she faced a tough time at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. Though she has now managed to wrap up the shoot of her international series in Ireland, she recalls that she had to leave the shoot abruptly and come back to India due to the lockdown. “In early 2020, I went there for the shoot. But one fine day, I got a call from the team saying the shoot was suspended. They asked me if I wanted to stay back or leave for India; I chose the latter. At that point, I started taking stock of how much money I have to live in Mumbai. I wondered if it was better to instead go to Bengaluru to stay with my folks. Eventually, I calmed myself down. Woh kehte hai na, kuch na kuch zariya nikal hi aata hai. So, when I was in Mumbai, I shot for an entire web show sitting in the confines of my house. Today, as we continue to battle the situation, I must say that I love living in this random streak of hope. It is the one thing that keeps me going. I am living in the present, being hopeful about a better tomorrow,” she signs off.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)