Bulgarian filmmaker Konstantin Bojanov’s The Shameless, for which Anasuya Sengupta won the Best Actress award in the Un Certain Regard segment at Cannes – a first for any Indian actor – took a dozen years and many challenges to come to fruition. “It’s like 12 years of bordering on insanity. In the meantime, I made one more film, wrote scripts for three more, produced one, and pulled my name out of it. So, a lot has been happening in these 12 years,” he said. Excerpts from an interview with us:

When the film was selected for Un Certain Regard, Bojanov said in an interview, “I’m a male director dealing with a female subject. I’m prepared to get attacked, left, right, and center.” But, he was surprised. “Almost no one asked me the dumb question: ‘Do you have the right to tell this story?’ We all have the right to tell stories. It’s freedom of speech. But some people on the extreme right and left lay down boundaries of what we can say and what is acceptable,” he tells us.

“I met hundreds of talented actresses, and all so very well-known. I had a shortlist of very strong performers as well. But I kept looking at pictures of Anasuya (Sengupta) on social media, especially her drawings (left). That’s actually how I got curious and reached out to her. There was something in her attitude that went with my gut reaction, and I always trust the latter.”

“This was a watershed year for India at Cannes,” says Bojanov, citing the official selections and Payal Kapadia’s historic Grand Prix win. “I also watched Santosh which has an extremely powerful story and performances,” he says. Hopeful about a resurgence in India’s independent films, he adds: “It just might be a new page in Indian cinema. There are some very talented actors also working in Bollywood, but they tend to play vastly idealized roles and themselves fit the stereotype. Anasuya herself doesn’t fit into the mould at all. Most of the films shown at Cannes this year had a female cast and none of them are stereotypical characters.”

The Shameless is set in Delhi, but the film was shot entirely in Nepal. The decision to shoot the film in Nepal was not what he would have preferred, but the film’s team had its reasons, says Bojanov. “We could have shot the film on our shoestring budget in India before the pandemic, but after the pandemic, the price of everything had gone up. Also, for foreign productions, any script needs to be cleared by the Ministry of External Affairs. The majority of the line producers were very sceptical about being able to obtain the necessary permits, so we didn’t even see the point of applying for permission,” he tells us.

Bojanov hopes that the audience in India will get to watch the film sooner rather than later, but he has concerns. “As much as I’m informed about the censor board (in India) and what passes through and what doesn’t pass through, the film will have great difficulties at the moment.”

However, he hopes they will find a distributor. “I was exchanging text messages with Anasuya just after Cannes and she said how everything about this project has been unusual. So maybe the rest of the journey will be unusual as well. I would very much like the film to be seen in India, I see people really interested in seeing the film here. If chunks of the film need to be cut out (for certification), it’ll destroy the film. I will not be okay with that,” he says.

- "It’s ironic, given Indian cinema’s history, not just in Hindi but in other languages, the first time an Indian actor has received an award at Cannes, is for a Bulgarian director’s Hindi film"

- "The parallel filmmaking scene in India was marginalized after the 70s, except in a few regions. It has seen a huge revival in past 20 years"

Manisha Koirala looks back on her films, relationships and making a career out of a stop-gap arrangement
Kunal Guha (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 16, 2020)

Manisha Koirala was only 17 when she caught her first break in acting, a Nepali film. The job offered her Rs 50,000, a grand sum for a teenager in 1990. With the 20-day shoot to be held in the neighbouring town, Pokhran, her Kathmandu-based family gave the go-ahead without much ado. “I never felt I’d get so hooked [to acting] that it will become something that I’ll end up wanting to do till my last breath,” says Koirala, who turns 50 today, marking her three decades in films. “Even when I made my Bollywood debut in Subhash Ghai’s Saudagar [1991], I felt I’ll do a film or two, and then move abroad and settle,” she says, over the phone from Kathmandu, where she’s presently staying put with her family.

Koirala’s filmography, which is one short of 90, includes super hits such as Bombay (1995), Agni Sakshi (1996), Akele Hum Akele Tum (1995), 1942: A Love Story (1994) and Dil Se (1998). But nudge her to look back on her career, and she ruefully reflects upon her “volatile” profession as one “where one’s sorrows, joys and anguish are shared with everyone”. “It’s been erratic,” she says. “I’ve had the great highs and crushing lows, so it has been dramatic.”

Hits and misses aside, Koirala suffered a major setback in 2012 when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. And while she has been cancer free since 2014, she remembers being extremely nervous when Dibakar Banerjee offered her a part in Lust Stories (2018), her first performance following her recovery.

“I had apprehensions about whether I still knew how to act and if people would like and accept me again,” says the actress, who went ahead with the film, despite having reservations about the subject material. “It had some intimate scenes. The story also featured an extramarital affair and I wasn’t sure about it.” The critical response the film garnered was reassuring but the life-altering experience of grappling with a terminal condition led to many epiphanies too. “A lot of illusions fade away and you see the reality of life as it is when faced with death,” she says. “You realise that you shouldn’t expect those who share a good laugh with you, to stand by you during your bad time, unless you want to be disappointed.”

But to be able to function and be relevant at 50 is something Koirala is grateful for. “I have seen documentaries, where actresses who reach their 40s and 50s say that work slowly diminishes after a certain age. While that’s the truth, if you work at it, and have the craft, nothing can stop you,” says the actress, who acknowledges that the rise of OTT platforms that have opened doors for actors of a certain vintage. “One doesn’t just have to be young, college-going and dancing around trees anymore. It was fun when I was that age and did it. But now, I get to play my age and sometimes, even older and I don’t mind. As long as there’s material for me and the director brings out my best, it’s great,” she says.

Koirala takes an optimistic view about the offers she’s received in recent years, which include playing Nargis Dutt in the Sanjay Dutt biopic, Sanju (2018). “When I started out, to get work for an actress at 50 was unheard of. Even the best actresses would last [in the business] for 10 years at the max,” she says. “But today, people appreciate your grey hair and respect that you’re accepting your age. Back then, you couldn’t afford to have a single wrinkle.”

Hailing from a prominent political family in Nepal, Koirala recalls how her family was initially sceptical of her delving into the “big, bad world of Bollywood”. But a few years in, they came around. “The reputation of the industry wasn’t that great at the time. But over the years, a lot of people from good families began joining films, and it became a respectable profession to be in,” she says, adding, “It hurts me now, when people say horrible things about the industry. There’s a lot of hard work and struggle, but a lot of dreams come true too.”

Entering mainstream, Koirala admits, was not easy at first. “When I got cast in Saudagar, I was clueless. Subhash ji put Vivek (Mushran, co-star) and me through various classes for kathak, diction, horseriding, driving and acting. I didn’t even know how to dress up or do make-up… I was taught everything from scratch.” From her initial days to plunging into the deep end soon after, Koirala remembers pulling 20-hour-shifts in her prime, a norm for many popular actors in the 1990s. “When one is young and has that extra energy, you work till you drop. That pulled me through a lot of hard work.”

Koirala credits her career’s trajectory to chance. In fact, according to her, she was hardly aware of Mani Rathnam’s legacy when he offered her a part in Bombay, and only agreed to it on cinematographer Ashok Mehta’s insistance. “I’ve been extremely blessed to have people around to guide me. Bombay helped me get recognised as a good actor,” says the actress, who is quick to admit how she struggles to watch some of her older films. “When I see myself wearing the frills and loud make-up, it makes me cringe. Even the extremes that we would go to show a character cry, it was just too much melodrama,” she says with a laugh.

On the personal front, Koirala, who has over the years been linked with co-stars, business tycoons, among others, says that every relationship she’s been in has been a learning experience, even though some have caused her much hurt. “Early on, relationships mattered to me a great deal, and I would give them my 100 per cent. I was often alone in Mumbai and there was a constant pressure of work. While I’ve always had a great circle of friends, there were many times when a sense of loneliness would creep in. Perhaps the need for relationships was a lot more back then,” says the actress.

Koirala tells us that she is presently in a “satisfying relationship” with herself. “Whatever I am today and whatever I’ve gone through, it’s all part of it,” she says. “I trusted people I shouldn’t have and regret the pain I suffered, but that’s also a part of growing up and maturing.”

MUMBAI MIRROR (November 30, 2019)

Ananya Panday was in the mood to spill some beans about actor-father Chunky Panday’s penny-pinching ways during her turn on Kapil Sharma’s show. Complaining about how her father was yet to throw her a party for a successful debut in the Student of the Year sequel, the actress revealed that her parents got all her kiddie birthday parties sponsored by brands. Special guest Archana Puran Singh was quick to point out that it was Chunky who came up with the idea of getting personal parties sponsored in the first place.

Ananya went on to add that her father even lied about her age so that he would have to buy a half-ticket instead of a full one at amusement parks. How amusing! Fed up of his tricks to save money, the actress has now decided to throw him a party to celebrate the success of her upcoming film.

Her Pati Patni Aur Woh co-star, Bhumi Pednekar, had also accompanied her to the show. She, too, had a few secrets to share. The actress, who plays a patni now, sheepishly admitted that when she was not a known face, she used to gatecrash weddings all the time. Once inside, she would tuck into food from the lavish spread laid out before dancing her heart out as if it was her best friend’s shaadi.

The actress also revealed that in her next film she will be playing a ghost and that she is looking forward to explore Nepal, Bhutan and Lakshadweep during the outdoor schedules of her projects.

Guess, as a bhoot, Bhumi might be able to attend weddings unnoticed once again.

Troupes from the UK, Germany, Nepal and Africa recently arrived in Mumbai to shoot for the climax of the duo’s upcoming 3D musical
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 12, 2019)

Mirror had earlier reported (June 26) that while filming for the last leg of Saaho alongside Prabhas in Austria, Shraddha Kapoor was prepping for the climax shoot of Street Dancer 3D. Now, we have learnt that 10 teams from across the globe have descended in Mumbai for the final schedule of the Remo D’souza-directed dance drama, which features Varun Dhawan as the leading man and took off on June 29.

According to a source close to the development, these international-level dance teams from the United Kingdom, Germany, Africa and Nepal will join Varun and Shraddha for the final dance competition in the film. “It’s a 25-day schedule with back-to-back performances and will go on till the month-end. Varun, Shraddha, Prabhudheva and Nora (Fatehi) have rehearsed for almost a month for this act. It is being choreographed by Suresh Mukund,” the source informed.

Incidentally, Varun and Remo’s previous collaboration, ABCD 2, was a rags-to-riches story based on the journey of Mukund and his dancing troupe, King’s United, from the Maximum City. And though the story of Street Dancer 3D is fictional, Mukund and his team have a special appearance in it. “The climax is where the high point of the story takes place, and it is being shot keeping the 3D sensibilities in mind,” the source revealed.

The film’s team is currently shooting at a Malad studio. “The special 3D set-up is of a live stage show with thousands of fans supporting their respective countries. The film’s premise has a nationalistic element that showcases the Indian team as underdogs who stand tall in front of the rest of the world,” the source added. Talking about the ongoing schedule, Bhushan Kumar, who is producing the film with Remo’s wife, Lizelle D’souza, said, “We are so glad that Street Dancer 3D has gone global and many artistes from across continents are a part of the finale act. The set looks spectacular and the actors have been rehearsing and shooting in the rain to complete the schedule on time.”

In the film, Varun plays an Indian-origin dancer who is born and brought up in London. Shraddha’s character has been kept under wraps. Apart from Mumbai, the dance film, which opens on Republic Day 2020, has also been shot in Dubai, London and Punjab.