Niharika Lal (BOMBAY TIMES; November 30, 2019)

Speaking at a session titled ‘Indian Cinema Inspiring Entrepreneurs’ at Film Bazaar, organised by NFDC on the sidelines of International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Vishal Bhardwaj reminisced about the first film he made and shared how the internet gave rise to opportunities that didn’t exist when he had joined the film industry. He also spoke about how the film industry has changed over time with more women occupying important positions. Vani Tripathi Tikoo, CBFC member and co-panellist in this session, advised budding filmmakers to celebrate rather than feel disheartened by rejections. Excerpts:

MY FIRST FILM TAUGHT ME MARKETING, DISTRIBUTION AND PRODUCING A FILM: VISHAL
Sharing the trouble he went through to release his first film, Vishal said, “The Children’s Films Society of India (CFSI) sponsored Makdee, my first film. They had invested around ₹ 50 lakhs. And when I showed the first cut to the committee, they rejected it. I came from a music background and there was no precedent that a music composer could become a director. When I showed the film to my friends they said that it was not a Pather Panchali, but it was not a bad film either.”

Vishal said that this gave him the courage to take the film forward. “I bought the film from CFSI, and got a loan of ₹50 lakhs, which was a huge amount for me at that time. For a whole year, I must have screened Makdee over a 100 times for distributors, and finally, I was able to con someone (laughs)! But in that one year, I had learnt marketing, distribution and every other aspect that comes after filmmaking. Those days, I used to be depressed, but later, I realised that because of that one year, I learnt how to become a producer. After this, I wrote, directed and co-produced Maqbool (2004).”

LEARN TO ACCEPT REJECTIONS WITHOUT BEING HEARTBROKEN: VANI TO BUDDING FILMMAKERS
Talking about rejections, Vani Tripathi Tikoo told budding filmmakers at the session, “You should be able to accept rejections. I tell my students not to feel bad because someone said no. The no is for the work, and not for you. You shouldn’t question your capabilities because of rejections. Instead, you should work on improving your craft. For a film, you have to work with several people, who may have a different mindset than yours. It’s almost like certifying a film.”

UNLIKE EARLIER, IT’S EASIER TO CONTACT A STUDIO NOW: VISHAL
In reply to a question on scriptwriting, Vishal said, “There was a time when it was difficult to reach a studio, but now, if you have good content, you can contact a studio. Most of the studios are now hiring writers. Junglee Pictures had developed their films’ scripts with in-house writers. Delhi Belly came to be because Kiran’s (Rao) amusement while reading the script caught Aamir’s (Khan) attention. Akshat Verma (scriptwriter of Delhi Belly) had simply sent the script to Aamir.”

Adding to it, Vani said, “Recently, I met a young filmmaker (Sanjeev Vig) who never attended any film school. But he felt very strongly about a subject and put it into a script for a short film and then sent it to Naseer bhai (Naseeruddin Shah). Naseer, who is otherwise very picky with projects, called Sanjeev and asked him to meet. The film was called Rogan Josh (2018), and it bagged several awards.”

IT’S THE BEST TIME TO BE IN THE FILM INDUSTRY: VISHAL
Vani emphasised that a young person has more opportunities to write and direct now than before. She said, “You can’t wait for eternity for someone to come and pick your script to make a film. You should make it yourself ! If no one chooses your script, use your phone camera, shoot it and post it.”

Vishal told budding filmmakers that now with the availability of multiple channels and digital platforms, it was the best time to be a filmmaker. He said, “When I came to the industry, there were two TV channels and then there were films, there was nothing in between. Today, there are so many opportunities. I think the digital boom is so good, films are doing well at the box office, so it is the best time to be in the filmmaking business. When we came to the industry, tab aisa tha jaise - film industry mein jana gunaah hai. Film mein aapka beta ja raha hai toh matlab khatam, beti ki toh baat hi chhoriye. Now, we have more female assistant directors, more female studio heads in the industry.”

As part of the 49th edition of IFFI, Bollywood filmmakers Vishal Bhardwaj, Abhishek Chaubey and Ramesh Sippy talk about how times have changed with corporates entering the film industry, the need for creative freedom and how artistes need to be objective about their craft
Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; November 25, 2018)

The ongoing NFDC Film Bazaar in Goa, which is part of the 49th edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI), had an interesting panel of guests yesterday, to discuss the contributions made by individuals in cinema, who have broken away from routine formulas of filmmaking. Filmmakers Vishal Bhardwaj, Abhishek Chaubey and Ramesh Sippy participated in a moderated discussion that covered topics like censorship, taking over the reins of a film as a director and producer, and all the responsibility that comes along with that.

About his initial experiences and what coaxed him to take up production, though he was only a writer and a director, Vishal told the audience, “When I made Makdee (2002) and Maqbool (2003), it was difficult to release them because there were no multiplexes that could play those movies. Post Maqbool, things became easier, but it’s now that the fruit has ripened. Times have changed. Corporates entered and that changed the scenario to a great deal. But there was a time when we had individual producers and that was a tricky space to be in. I remember how Gulzar saab was angry about Hu Tu Tu (1999) being cut by the producers. The version of the film that he had in mind didn’t reach the theatres. I became a producer by default because CFSI (Children’s Film Society India) had rejected Makdee, but I wanted to release it. So I had to step forth. I have never been manipulated by a producer and I have never given them a chance to do that, because I saw Gulzar saab go through it. The final cut of my film is always mine.”

Abhishek Chaubey, who has helmed films like Ishqiya, Dedh Ishqiya and Udta Punjab, and has also written movies, took the plunge as a producer with A Death In The Gunj a year ago. When asked about taking that path, he said, “It’s important for creative people to take control of their work. When you turn producer, you become more responsible for putting the money where the mouth is. You know how much has been spent and where, and you control the resources. Today, I have better access to funds when I direct a film or produce a film. Vishal (Bhardwaj) sir mentored me and now, I just think it is important that I do what he did for me.”

The filmmakers on the panel have all been producers and directors on their individual projects, so the pertinent question asked to them was whether they ever lost objectivity over their films, given that they were close to the subject. Vishal said, “You know, you need more hands that can slap you. You need friends who can show you better and disagree with you, otherwise you can’t be objective about your craft.”

Ramesh Sippy added, “Be as self-critical as possible. When you complete a film, be brave to see where you started and where you have reached, and whether you have been lopsided in your approach. Having friends who can give you advice is helpful, but you have to be your own critic. Raj Kapoor would see his films, show them to others and even if it needed to be reshot, he retained his original thought. Producers must understand this and allow a filmmaker that liberty to do so.”

Creative arenas, particularly films, have been braving censorship all along, more stringently so in the last couple of years. Bring up the subject and Abhishek, whose film Udta Punjab (2016) had to fight to find its way to cinemas, said, “Powers that be don’t take art seriously. They don’t see films or arts as cultural documents of a time.”

Vishal summed up, “What is the point of saying anything? Do they listen? They do what they want. We are the only nation that puts a ‘smoking kills’ disclaimer on a running visual, which is just ridiculous.” 

MID-DAY (September 20, 2017)

South icon Rajinikanth would be the first choice for the role of King Lear if Vishal Bharadwaj decides to make a fourth film on William Shakespeare’s tragedies. Bhardwaj has successfully adapted Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Othello and Hamlet into Maqbool (2004), Omkara (2006) and Haider (2014) respectively.

“Before making Haider, I had worked on the script of King Lear and visualised Rajinikanth in the lead role. He will be my first choice, if and when I decide to make the film,” Bharadwaj said at the recently concluded Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival in Guwahati.

Asked why he chose Shakespeare’s tragedies to make his signature films, the filmmaker said that while Maqbool was an accident, the other two films were his attempt to complete the trilogy. “For my second film, I was looking for a story when I decided to make Omkara and finally there was a pressure to make the third of the trilogy. Haider was a difficult film for me. I had to ensure that the film matches up to the first two films and at the same time, I wanted to make a film in Kashmir against the backdrop of conflict,” he said.

Next on Bhardwaj’s wish list is a trilogy of Shakespeare’s comedies, but there is nothing on the horizon as of now. Asked whether the legacy of filmmakers like Satyajit Ray was now lost, Bhardwaj said that was not true as a generation of filmmakers have emerged watching his films and many different kinds of films are being made.

He further appealed to the maestro’s son Sandip Ray to part with the rights of the filmmaker’s works so that others can make films on his stories. “Ray was a master storyteller and many of his stories can be made into great films,” he added.

The director, who made his debut with the children’s film Makdee (2002) and went on to make The Blue Umbrella (2007) regretted that not many films were being made exclusively for children. “There is hardly any creative effort on the part of adults to make films for children and even films made by the Children’s Film Society of India are not commercially viable,” he said. “This must change and we as members of the society must ensure that more such films are made and children get to see these in cinema halls,” Bharadwaj said.

Twenty-year-old Aasmaan’s third short film is an adaptation of the writer’s short story, The Thief
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 16, 2016)


Eleven years after Vishal Bhardwaj’s Blue Umbrella, based on Ruskin Bond’s 1980 novel of the same name came out, the writer-filmmaker-composer’s son Aasmaan’s third short film, an adaptation of Ruskin Bond’s story, The Thief, is ready to take wings.

The 20-year-old filmmaker started work on the script in early February last year and even though the shooting schedule looked much longer on paper, Aasmaan wrapped up the film with a seven-day shoot that was followed by four-five days of patchwork. “The schedule was spread over a month between July-end and the beginning of August since it was raining a lot,” he recalls, adding that his short, also titled The Thief, is now one of the 38 official selections for the category of “Viewing Room” at the 10th edition of NFDC’s Film Bazaar in Goa this year.

A record 202 films, including 131 fiction features and 33 documentaries, were submitted to the Viewing Room which serves as a mentoring platform for films-in-progress to find sales agents, film festivals, buyers, distributors and financing.

Aasmaan, currently a screenwriting student at the School of Visual Arts in New York, has already completed two short films – The Identities, featuring Kalki Koechlin, Vivaan Shah and Harish Khanna which released in 2013, and Murder On The Deccan Express, featuring Vivaan Shah and Aneesha Joshi, which released in 2015.

The Thief features Chandan Roy Sanyal, Rahul Kumar and Aditi Sharma in a special appearance and is the story of a boy who goes through a change of heart. Prod Aasmaan on how similar he is to his protagonist and he guffaws, “Like him, I have learnt many things by making mistakes but I wouldn’t say that I have gone so far as to steal from another person.”

Aasmaan believes that his prolific father who has co-produced the film along with singer-wife Rekha and co-written it with him and Aditya Nimbalkar has been a crucial part of his cinematic journey. “It is because of him that I am so passionate about filmmaking. I want to be more like him. I wanted to join the army before but my father’s decision to make Makdee exposed me to this world,” the youngster signs off.

Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 21, 2014)

Shweta Basu Prasad, the name may not immediately ring a bell. We are talking about the 11-year-old whose double role in Makdee won her the National Award for Best Child Artiste.

Subsequetly, she was seen in Ekta Kapoor's soap, Kahani Ghar Ghar Kii, as Shreyas Talpade's sister in Iqbal and in RGV's Darna Zaroori Hai. She then moved down South and disappeared from the Bollywood skyscape.

Turns out that in the interim she has co-produced a short film featuring Naseeruddin Shah with a friend whose name she's unwilling to reveal and directed a documentary on classical music titled Roots.

It features the who's who of the music world, from sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan and his sons Aman and Ayan, violinist L Subramanium, Kathak guru Birju Maharaj, vocalists Pandit Jasraj and Shubha Mudgal, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and Hari Prasad Chaurasia, to B'town biggies like Imtiaz Ali and Muzaffar Ali, composers Shantanu Moitra, Amit Trivedi, writer-lyricist-composer Gulzar, Oscar winner AR Rahman and her mentor-director Vishal Bhardwaj.

"I started work on Roots when I was 20 and it's been the focus of my life for the past three years," says Shweta who studied Hindustani classical music which her friends dismissed as boring. "So I started researching, attending seminars and concerts, and came up with the idea of a 90-minute docu-feature which explores the visibility of Hindustani and Carnatic music."

Her trips to less known corners of the country opened her eyes to the unfair taxes levied on the makers of musical instruments while Bhardwaj rued that many Bollywood composers opted for electronic music over live musicians, rendering the latter jobless. The classical touch that Shiv-Hari brought into music they composed for Yash Chopra is missing too, with commercial chartbusters ruling.

These and other issues will be discussed in Roots that will unveil towards the month end. "I'd like to screen it at schools, colleges and film institutes, take it to film fests and then try for a satellite and theatrical release," says Shweta who now wants to return to her acting career. "I haven't received any offers yet but I'm open to them."

As for music, well, she'll continue to play the sitar but as a hobby.