When Kung Fu Panda and The Little Prince director Mark Osborne conducted a masterclass at IFFI, his audience comprised not just film students, but filmmakers, producers and directors, many of whom admitted to being die-hard fans of his films. From the influence of Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki in his work, to the role of imitation and inspiration in art, and what makes a movie truly great – Osborne did a deep dive into several aspects of animation and filmmaking.

‘DIDN’T DO KUNG FU PANDA SEQUEL BECAUSE I DIDN’T THINK THAT THERE WAS ANY OTHER STORY OUTSIDE OF THE ORIGINAL’
Many in the audience were eager to share their memories of the first time they watched Kung Fu Panda and the impact the film had on them. Osborne revealed that the film’s journey started from a crew of seven, which expanded to 400.

Showing a picture of a panda on the screen, the filmmaker said, “It all started with this panda. I was inspired by films like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Hero was another film that I saw that blew my mind. And all these martial art films – Kung Fu Hustle to Kill Bill – helped to tell this story of Kung Fu Panda. It was like a tribute to all this beautiful cinema and trying to be authentic to the environment, art and true to the culture of China. We were never really clear whether it was an action film or a comedy film. It was like – what if Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon had a guy like Jerry Lewis? We made something that was really unique. What I am proud of is that we were able to tell an authentic story.”

Osborne said that when the opportunity to do a sequel to Kung Fu Panda came up, he felt he’d rather do other things. He said, “Wanting to see a film again should be the benchmark of the greatness of the film, not the film’s opening weekend collection. My heart was in stop-motion animation. I was still exploring the world of CG. Besides, I was in the bubble of the story. I didn’t think that there was any other story outside of that story.”

Talking about his 2015 film The Little Prince, and how it was influenced by Miyazaki’s works, Osborne said, “Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro was a huge inspiration – I thought, tonally, this is what we’re going for (in The Little Prince). I love Miyazaki’s films. He always uses female characters to narrate the story, which is very inspiring. I was also thinking about him because I knew he loves this book (The Little Prince), and it would be terrible if I made a bad movie which made him angry with me. So I was always thinking about making something he would appreciate.”

Osborne said that Miyazaki had also been approached by producers to make this film, though he turned them down, saying, “it is too important and I am too old”.

Osborne added, “I thought, well, I am not too old, and he is a huge fan of The Little Prince.”

Osborne did try to reach out to Miyazaki to show him his film, “but Miyazaki famously never sees other people’s work. As much as I have done my best job with the movie and as much as I love it, I am also happy that he has not seen the film.”

‘I HAVE NEVER REALISED WHAT MY MOVIE IS ABOUT TILL IT’S DONE’
Osborne’s advice to aspiring artistes was – “Figure out what’s important to you and try to tap into it. Because if it is meaningful to you, and it’s honest, then it is going to be meaningful to an audience. You are going to find your audience...and you’re going to discover something about yourself along the way. Every single project I have worked on has been a discovery for me. I have never realized what the movie is about until it’s finished. I want to break new ground. If you get comfortable, check yourself.”

Responding to a question on the line between being inspired by and copying other artistes, he said, “If you are going to be honest, and not just tell a story that is copying another or trying to do something like someone else, then it is that honesty that creates fresh takes on things and fresh approaches.”

Martial arts films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon & Kung Fu Hustle inspired Kung Fu Panda, said Osborne

Sources say producer Nikhil Dwivedi in talks with Shah Rukh Khan to play antagonist Bill in the remake of Uma Thurman's 2003 classic Kill Bill
MID-DAY (September 28, 2019)

Quentin Tarantino may be mulling over the third instalment of Kill Bill, but closer home, Bollywood might get its own film inspired by the cult franchise. Earlier this year, reports suggested that producer Nikhil Dwivedi was planning a project with Anurag Kashyap that would be an "homage" to the Uma Thurman starrer. Now, it has been heard that Dwivedi has turned to superstar friend Shah Rukh Khan to play a pivotal role in the actioner.

Quentin Tarantino may be mulling over the third instalment of Kill Bill, but closer home, Bollywood might get its own film inspired by the cult franchise. Earlier this year, reports suggested that producer Nikhil Dwivedi was planning a project with Anurag Kashyap that would be an "homage" to the Uma Thurman starrer. Now, it has been heard that Dwivedi has turned to superstar friend Shah Rukh Khan to play a pivotal role in the actioner.

Nikhil Dwivedi’s woman-centric film with an A-lister will roll in a few months
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 17, 2019)

After Manmarziyaan last year, Anurag Kashyap has been off the radar. Now, Mirror has learnt that the filmmaker is writing a woman-centric vengeance drama which will be a homage to Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill series which featured Uma Thurman as the Bride who swears revenge on a team of assassins and their leader, Bill, after they try to kill her and her unborn child. Produced by actor-turned-filmmaker Nikhil Dwivedi, the film will roll towards the middle of the year.

“Anurag has not taken on an independent writing project in a decade. He only scripted films he produced or directed. He is really kicked about this collaboration,” informs a source close to the development, adding that the makers have already approached an A-list actress and will be finalising all the formalities in a few days.

Nikhil who had produced the girl-bonding film, Veere Di Wedding, last year, featuring Kareena Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhasker and Shikha Talsania in lead roles, plans to produce one woman-centric film every year. He has known Anurag for years now and was even supposed to act in one of his films a while ago, but the project didn’t materialise. “They are happy to finally collaborate on a subject close to their hearts,” adds the source.

The last Hindi film Anurag co-scripted was Bhavesh Joshi Superhero with Harshvardhan Kapoor in the lead. Nikhil plans to shoot the film in Bhutan, Sikkim, Japan and Mumbai. 

Foraying into the digital space with a Marathi show, Sai Tamhankar on the joys of experimenting with various platforms
Letty Mariam Abraham (MID-DAY; November 20, 2018)

Her repertoire (Hunterrr, Sathi Re and Kasturi) is proof that she can juggle television and the big screen with equal ease. Now, Sai Tamhankar is ready to take the plunge into the digital world. The actor talks about making her debut with Date With Sai on ZEE 5.

What made you choose the show for your digital debut?
The show caught my attention because I am playing myself on screen. I’ve worked with the director [Dnyanesh Zoting] before in Rakshas. We’ve become great friends. He knows my creative desires as an artiste and has beautifully accommodated them in the show. It is a thriller drama. This is the first time that someone has conceptualised a Marathi show that is a mix of fiction and non-fiction.

This show marks your first brush with the action genre.
I have jumped from heights and fired guns; in fact, for a particular sequence, I had to jump from the 10th floor balcony into another one. That scared me, but it was also exciting. Some day, I want to do a hardcore action movie, along the lines of Kill Bill.

Popular perception is that reality shows are no longer real.
People tend to assume that all reality shows are fake. However, that’s not true. There are shows where the proceedings are spontaneous and unplanned. I am currently judging a Marathi comedy show, it is a different experience altogether. The show helped me realise that I have amazing comic timing.

How different is it to work in the digital space vis-à-vis films?
Every medium has its own charm. I enjoy television as much as films. The advantage of web is that there is no censorship; a director, producer and actor get a free hand to test their limit. What excites me is the characters I get to play and the journey they take me on, as an actor. I am not biased towards any medium.

Post Sacred Games, there has been a school of thought that believes that the digital space needs to be censored.
Times are changing. We should adapt. It is amazing how we get comfortable with things that should not happen. There should at least be one medium that’s devoid of censorship.

Post Love Sonia, does Bollywood feature on your wish list?
It will always be on my list. It is nice to widen your horizons. Marathi is my mother tongue, but I want to explore other languages.

Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 16, 2018)

Fourteen years after Quentin Tarantino made the Uma Thurman-starrer Kill Bill, his most profi table film of the time which revolved around a deadly assassin known as ‘The Bride’, the franchise is up for a desi makeover. Mirror has learnt that Nikhil Dwivedi’s production house has bagged the remake rights for the two-part series.

A spokesperson for Nikhil, who recently produced Veere Di Wedding alongside Anil and Rhea Kapoor, and Ekta and Shobha Kapoor, confirmed the news.

Kill Bill: Volume 1, which released in 2003, introduces Uma as the deadliest woman in the world who swears revenge on a team of assassins and their leader, Bill (played by David Carradine), after they try to kill her and her unborn child. Her journey takes her to Japan, where she battles the Tokyo Yakuza (members of a transnational organised crime syndicates). Made on a budget of $30 million, it raked in over $180 million.

The sequel, originally set for a single release but eventually divided into two given its run time of four hours, opened in 2004, replicating the commercial and critical acclaim of its predecessor.

Upala KBR (DNA; November 3, 2016)

One look at Alia Bhatt's filmography and it's a telling one -- she has acted in a number of films since debuting in 2012 with Karan Johar's Student Of The Year. And they've mostly been romances of the breezy kind (save for the intense roles she played in Udta Punjab and Highway). One genre, the young, petite actess hasn't touched on in the last three years is the action genre. Now, she features in an action film -- a superhero film, no less -- opposite Ranbir Kapoor. We ask her the choices she'd make if given a action-heavy role. Read on...

In Dragon, your co-star Ranbir gets to do a lot of action scenes? When do we get to see you do some action?
Maybe I am also doing some action scenes in Ayan Mukerji's film. If he is doing them, I will be too, no? It won’t be the hard-core stuff that he’s doing, but I will definitely be a part of the action atmosphere. I don’t have the right information to talk in detail about my role in Dragon as I have not figured out my character yet. We need to get to the making the film and then I can talk to you about it. But a proper action film? I don’t know… Somebody has to write one for me. There are not many action films for women in Bollywood.

Have you ever thought of doing a high-octane action film?
Of course I have! My fav Hollywood action film is Kill Bill which has a great story also. I would love to do a spy action thriller. It would be fun! My biggest dream in life is to an action film because if there’s one thing that I am really bad at is that I have no grace or poise in my body language and for an action film you need to have all of that. There are two reasons why I want to do an action film: because it’s my dream and I think it will be so amazing to see me kick and fight somebody!

Kareena Kapoor Khan wants to do action films, but doesn’t think she can pull it off
Nayandeep Rakshit (DNA; July 23, 2015)


Coax her a bit more and she explains, “I would love to do a Kill Bill, but I hate action. I wish I didn’t hate action and could do that kind of a film because Kill Bill is one of the best films ever made.” But she has reasons for feeling the same, she exerts. “I love Uma Thurman in it. But I don’t have the fluidity of her body. I can dance, but I can’t pull off those action moves. I wish I could,” Bebo rues.

What if her bestie Rohit Shetty offers her an action film? “He’s made me do some crazy things... so who knows! He might just ask me to do something. And I can’t say no to him,” she says. Rohit, you listening?

Upala KBR (DNA; February 26, 2014)

Anushka Sharma’s debut production NH10, a revenge-action-thriller, is said to be inspired by Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill.

At 25, Anushka is the youngest actor-producer in the industry, and the first film she chose to make is a risky subject. Not many filmmakers would back a film with an actress as the protagonist, so it is indeed a bold choice. But perhaps the driving force behind her decision was that it offers her the chance to play a character which has never been seen before in a Hindi film.

It is a role, any actress would ‘kill’ to do. Says a source who has read the script, “It is inspired from Kill Bill. Though it is not the same story, NH10 is a revenge drama. Anushka and her husband are travelling when he is killed by a group of people. She then goes after the killers, hunts them down and gives them all brutal deaths. The film is set against the rustic backdrop of northern India — Delhi and Uttar Pradesh — to give it an Indian flavour.”

Anushka had a tough time finding a big name to play the character of her husband, because his character gets murdered in the first-half of the film. First, Shiv Pandit backed out and then Rajkummar Rao walked out. Finally, Neil Bhoopalam (worked in Shaitan in 2011 and last seen in Anil Kapoor’s tele drama 24) is playing the role of Anushka’s husband in the film.