Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 4, 2020)

Vidya Balan, a New Year baby, is never short of smiles. She is an intrinsically happy and content person who brings sunshine to every set, which is perhaps why Milan Luthria was worried. His film, The Dirty Picture, was not a frothy entertainer and Reshma aka Silk, a chorus singer who becomes a glamorous star and then, a has-been desperately wanting to get back in the race, was unlike any character Vidya had played before. The director had expected her to go into a “zone”, as he had seen many other actors do once they got into action. But his leading lady was always laughing and joking, never tense or moody, rarely entertaining visitors or chatting and texting in-between shots. He also quickly discovered that Vidya had great emotional depth and an innate understanding that brought the character alive on screen, without letting Silk enter her personal space. “Early in her career, some of the South films she had signed did not take off for whatever reasons, and Vidya was tagged as ‘jinxed’. To play Silk, maybe she tapped into that phase of her life when, hurt and disappointed, she would cry herself to sleep every night,” Milan muses.

The director admits that some scenes, like the orgasm one or the one where she is lured into shooting for a porn film for money, made her uncomfortable, but otherwise, Vidya slipped under Silk’s skin right from the first look test at his office. “The clothes did not fit right and the costume designer wanted to do the test another day, but Vidya insisted on trying on some and getting a few pictures clicked. When she stepped out in a pair of tight shorts and sunglasses, puffing a cigarette, she was Silk. Despite her initial doubts, she never had a single moment of indecision afterwards,” Milan marvels.

In fact, he admits, it was primarily because of his affection for both Vidya and him that Naseeruddin Shah could be coaxed into grooving to an “Ooh La La” for the first time in his chequered career. “He turned up for rehearsals for two months prior to the shoot and Vidya was there every day, even when she was not required. She would laugh at his discomfort and charm Naseer saab into doing the jhatkas and matkas. He was particularly annoyed and cranky during the rain sequence and the temple dance, but together we cajoled him into carrying on,” Milan reminisces with a chuckle.

For Vidya herself, the challenge was Silk’s death scene. It starts with a phone conversation with Emraan Hashmi’s character, Abraham, who is at a party, where she asks him to say goodbye to everyone for her. After ringing off, she starts getting ready, draping her sari and putting a bindi, even as the director who has fallen in love with her, realising something is amiss, makes a mad dash to her place to stop her from taking her life. “Rajat (writer Rajat Aroraa) kept rewriting the scene, giving it to me just two days before we were to shoot it. When I read it, I was very moved. Vidya aced it on screen,” Milan raves, adding that before she was to dub her voiceover, he had sent his leading lady a rough dub in his own voice to cue her into how he wanted her to read aloud her last letter. “She heard it and called me to the dubbing studio, saying she wanted to do it exactly the same way. So then, I would say a line first, and she would repeat it in the same tone and manner. That’s how the scene was dubbed,” he recounts.

The last day’s shoot was at the Indian Oil colony in Chembur, close to where Vidya lived. It was the scene at the race course where Naseer’s star Suryakanth tells Silk he doesn’t want to be seen in public with her even though he has been sleeping with her. Stung, she walks into the race course alone, and places her bet on the horse with the longest odds against it. “Vidya emerged from her vanity van with a gift for me, but halfway through, she broke down and ran back. That was the only time I saw her emotionally overwhelmed. The film was an incredible journey for all of us and she didn’t want it to end,” Milan informs from London. So, what was the gift, you wonder and pat comes the answer, “I don’t remember because Vidya had already given me the best gift ever... the gift of Silk.”

The performance bagged Vidya Balan her second National Award for Best Actress and nine years later, still impresses.

Kangana Ranaut, Prachi Desai, Milan Luthria, Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi and Rajat Arora

Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 2, 2019)

It’s been almost a decade since Milan Luthria’s gangster drama Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai opened in the theatres on July 30, 2010, yet it still resonates with the audience. The director reveals that it was conceived in 2008, the same year that he got married. “The offer came out of the blue and I gave my nod because I liked the idea. But just when the film was to flag off, we were hit by the recession and could no long afford to make the film,” he shares.

Even when the project was revived, it was difficult to get the dates of all the actors—from Ajay Devgn and Emraan Hashmi who played the protagonists, underworld kingpin Sultan Mirza and his right-hand, Shoaib Khan, to Kangana Ranaut, Mirza’s actress-lover Rehana, Prachi Desai cast as Shoaib’s sweetheart Mumtaz after Milan was impressed by her performance in Rock On!! and Randeep Hooda as ACP Agnel Wilson. “On the first day of the shoot, I was in the van with Ajay, and five minutes before he stepped out, he asked me how I wanted him to play Mirza. I told him I cast him for the intensity in his eyes and the way he walked. Responding with a 'Okay, let’s go,' he strode out, dressed from head-to-toe in white. “A hush descended on the set, the awe was palpable,” Milan reminisces.

He however wasn’t happy with the first shot. “I thought Ajay looked like Malik from RGV’s Company,” Milan confides, and pointed out to the actor that this was not a brooding gangster but a flamboyant character in love with a movie star. “Okay got it, roll camera,” Ajay nodded. And from that moment he was Sultan Mirza.

Emraan was a perfect foil to him but Milan admits that everyone around warned the actor against doing a negative role and taking on Ajay. “Emraan read the script two-three times before telling me that he’d do the film only if he could be the bad guy unapologetically. We were happy to comply since we’d only been trying to appease him with excuses and justifications for his character’s betrayal,” says Milan.

Kangana earned the nickname “chameleon” from her director because of the ease with which she flitted from one getup to the next. Her Rehana was an amalgamation of many actresses who’d been courted by real-life gangsters. She gifts Sultan Mirza a watch in the film which runs on his pulse beat and invites the cryptic comment, “I hope my pulse doesn’t stop before this does” which is a pointer to what is to come.

“In the original script, Shoaib tries to kill Sultan, misses and runs away. To stop the bloodbath that follows, the other dons of the underworld get the two together and make them swear on the Quran that they will not go after each other,” reveals Milan. The film eventually ended with Shoaib firing and hitting target. Sultan falls in Rehana’s lap and shows her the watch, telling her his time was up.

“The last shot was of him looking sightlessly up at the sky but Ajay pointed out that it would be impossible for him to keep his eyes open against the glare of the sun. So then, we had him falling to his knees and looking straight at Shoaib as he exits, stamping on a poster with his face emblazoned on it, along with the slogan, ‘Sultan Mirza zindabad,’” Milan recounts.

The film made Ajay’s Sultan Mirza a cult figure and proved Emraan’s brilliance as an actor too. It remains Milan’s most unforgettable film. “Even today, at a party, I’m introduced as the guy who directed Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai ,” he smiles. “To quote one of Rajat Arora’s famous dialogues from the film, ‘Iss vajah se log hamein dua mein yaad rakhenge.’”

Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 19, 2018)

Naseeruddin Shah who turns a sprightly 68 on Friday, July 20, is not a name you usually associate with a dirty picture, but the one exception when he gave his nod to Ekta Kapoor’s 2011 biographical drama, The Dirty Picture is unforgettable. I particularly loved the zany picturisation of the Bappi Lahiri chartbuster, “Ooh La La” and the film’s director, Milan Luthria, admits that every time his writer, Rajat Aroraa, and he discussed the character of Surya Kant, they invariably came up with Naseer saab’s name. But they doubted the National Award-winning actor with a repertoire of intense performances behind him, would accept the role. Still, mustering up courage, Milan approached him, having worked with Naseer saab in a number of films as assistant director and associate director, including Sir and Naajayaz, during which he’d grown fond of the young filmmaker and assured him, “Tu jab film banayega, main zaroor kaam karoonga.”

The character in The Dirty Picture was that of an ageing South Indian matinee idol who has no qualms about being in a long-term sexual relationship with the years-younger Silk but then humiliates her for being nothing more than everyone’s “dirty secret”. To Milan’s surprise, Naseer saab loved the character, urging, “Make him a swine, kamina bana do. I’ve wanted to play someone like this who is a lech and a womaniser with absolutely no scruples. Don’t spare me, I want to get into it fully.”

Milan remembers they were surprised when Naseer saab emerged during the look test in a girly wig, costume and make-up done to perfection by Vikram Gaikwad who later bagged the National Award. “He was completely transformed! And later brought a slightly effeminate touch to the character in the way he pats down his hair and looks at his makeup which was so real of the actors of the time with their reddened lips and elaborate eye make-up,” raves Milan.

However, while he was excited by the character, Naseer saab was wary of Bollywood’s jhatkas and matkas and informed Milan that if he wanted him to dance, he would need to practise for at least two months. So, the office would be opened at 8 am, Naseer saab would drive in around 8.30 and rehearse for an hour or so every day. “The steps didn’t come easy but he had a blast grooving to 'Ooh La La' except for when he had to dress up like a mythological character, grumbling that the armour and golden arm bands were cutting into his skin. Also, he didn’t like dancing in the rain so I told the choreographer I’d get wet along with him so he’d feel sorry for me and do it,” the directot narrates, remembering the challenge of rolling oranges downhill and the veteran actor chortling like a child when he watched himself prancing around on the screen.

The song was shot across multiple locations at Ramoji Rao Studio and Milan got a shock when he found that Naseer saab had been allotted the Mughal-E-Azam suite which had at least a thousand mirrors. He offered to change rooms with him but the actor laughed delightedly saying he loved the jhatak-matak and had been dying for someone to bring him to the Hyderabad studio all these years.

Milan points out that Naseer saab had played comic roles like the Tirchi Topiwale in Rajiv Rai’s Tridev and Ketan Mehta’s Hero Hiralal which had tapped into his quirky side but no one had taken him this far before. “He had a blast doing something he had never attempted before, often saying, 'Mazaa aa gaya.' And the fact that he was joined by his Ishqiya leading lady, Vidya Balan, added to the fun,” he says. Milan adds that Naseer saab and Vidya had a mutual admiration society going and while like them she was in awe of him, she also had a handle on him. “Vidya laughs a lot and got away with quite a lot,” Milan signs off with a guffaw.

Hiren Kotwani (BOMBAY TIMES; July 1, 2017)

Milan Luthria's multistarrer rolls in Mumbai this August; a two-month schedule in Rajasthan to follow
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 22, 2016) 



Mirror (January 13) had earlier reported that Milan Luthria and Ajay Devgn were reuniting for Baadshaho, a multistarrer set in Rajasthan, six years after Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai. Now, we've learnt that the filmmaker has zeroed in on the rest of the cast, which includes Emraan Hashmi, Vidyut Jammwal, Ileana D'Cruz, Esha Gupta and Sanjay Mishra.

"It's an exciting line-up, as all the actors play characters they've never done before. While Ajay is a man of the soil, impulsive and stubborn, Emraan's turn is rustic and twisted. On the other hand, Vidyut plays a cocky guy, while Ileana's character is a charmer, who has people eating out of her hands. Esha's character is a no-nonsense chick. All of them have shades of grey," reveals Milan, adding that the first schedule of his film rolls in August.

"It's a 15-day schedule to be shot on a set in Mumbai, after which we head to Rajasthan in November and stay on till December. We are yet to finalise the exact locations in Rajasthan and will be going on a recce sometime next month."

Baadshaho, co-produced by Milan and Bhushan Kumar, and written by Rajat Aroraa, is a thriller set in the Emergency era of the '70s. Milan and his team spent three months on the research. "We read a lot of books and saw several documentaries that talked about the media censorship during that time, among other things. We learnt how newspapers would arrive at doorsteps with certain reports clipped out," he adds.

Earlier, Milan had cast Pulkit Samrat, Shruti Haasan and Lisa Haydon in the film but reveals that a change in the script resulted in a change of cast as well. "They were part of a different subject but we found out that some elements of that script were used in another film so we changed the idea. The script was turned around last year in October," he reveals.

Milan's film was also surrounded by speculations that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor and Diljit Dosanjh were among the names being considered for the lead roles. "When a script changes, sometimes the people we reach out to no longer fit the bill. We did speak to a couple of actors but nothing was finalised," he explains.

Milan will collaborate with a foreign action director for Baadshaho. The music includes Rajasthani folk with a funky twist, composed by Ankit Tiwari.

Upala KBR (DNA; August 12, 2015)


Admits Lisa, “I have always wanted to work with Milan. I was to act in one of his productions last year, but it didn’t work out. When he came to me with the role in Badshaaho, I wondered how he thought of casting me in it. But this role is just right for me. In the film, I play a calm person with an amazing energy and I influence people.”

Milan adds, “I have always felt that something has not yet been tapped in Lisa. She plays a very strong character in my next and the responses from people about her casting has been electric! Lisa’s role is her career’s most challenging yet. I’ve always felt that there is this sensuality in Lisa that is very different from that of other actresses. It is something very individual to her. Much before Queen released, I had expressed a desire to work with her and we are both thrilled that it is happening. It’s a contemporary, sensual and yet, a very emotional role. Lisa will soon begin her workshops on the film.”

Milan adds, “I’m almost obsessive where styling is concerned. Lisa will be a delight to dress with the kind of figure and skin tone she has. It’s not an ethnic look. Lisa’s also very proactive and gives her own inputs on her look and styling. She lives very close to my house in South Mumbai, so we meet often to discuss the film and role.”