Showing posts with label San '75. Show all posts
Showing posts with label San '75. Show all posts
Indira Gandhi’s Emergency declaration on radio in 1975 has been turned into a song for San '75
7:43 AM
Anirban Das (MID-DAY; June 17, 2016)
Over four decades ago, India’s first woman Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
imposed Emergency in India, setting off nearly two years of widespread
arrests, censorship of the press and severe curtailment of civil
liberties. The country came to know of it via an unscheduled broadcast
on All India Radio (AIR) in the early hours of June 26, 1975. Gandhi’s declaration of Emergency has been included in Kay Kay Menon’s San 75 (San Pachhattar) in the form of a song, we hear.“Since the film is based on the Emergency Period, the makers felt it would be apt to include the late Prime Minister’s speech. However, it will be converted into a song to suit the film’s screenplay. The audio rights have been taken from AIR and the video rights from the Film Division of India as they are the sole rights holder. The makers have bought the footage for Rs 59,316,” says a source.
The sound track is titled Panic. “It has been composed by Sandeep Madhavan of Detective Byomkesh Bakshy fame. It took him three months and 15 versions to set the right song for the film,” adds the source.
Confirming the development, the film’s producer Kabir Lovee says, “Yes, we have bought the audio and video rights separately from AIR and Film Division respectively. We did not want to just use the speech, and have, therefore, converted the original speech into a soundtrack.”
In San '75, we refer to Indira Gandhi as Queen & Sanjay Gandhi as Prince-Kabir Lovee
7:46 AM
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 9, 2016)
After Sudhir Mishra's 2005 film Hazaron Khwahishein Aisi, debutant filmmaker Kabir Lovee's San 75 takes on a unique approach to portraying the Emergency era of 1975-77 with a madcap twist. "We're referring to Indira Gandhi as 'Queen' and Sanjay Gandhi, who was at the forefront of bringing technology into India, as 'Prince'," Kabir clarifies, further revealing that one of Indira's speeches has been officially adapted into a quirky rap number titled "Panic", which will be set against real footage from the period.
The period thriller begins from June 25, 1975, the day the Emergency came in to effect, and follows a German who brings the first mobile phone prototype, which cost Rs 40 lakh then, into India. Two local goons from Kakori who can't figure out what the mysterious object is kidnap him. "The incident piques the interest of intelligence and security agencies as they manipulate each other to get their hands on the phone," Kabir smiles at the thought of his film, adding that his leading man Kay Kay Menon's character resembles JNU student activist Kanhaiya Kumar. "He is an opportunist; he knows what is going wrong around him and moves from the good to the bad side."
The tonality of the film is styled with black wigs, long locks, bellbottoms, checkered shirts and a Dawood-esque spectacled look.
Directed by Navneet Behal, San 75 has been shot entirely in Lucknow on real locations of police stations, courthouses and markets, modified to resemble the 1970s.
Kay Kay Menon to play rebel without a pause in San '75
7:44 AM
Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 8, 2014)
Kay Kay Menon's rebel act in
Sudhir Mishra's 2005 film set against the backdrop of the Emergency,
Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, remains a career milestone and now the actor
has made another trip to the turbulent decade.San '75, filmed in Lucknow, is also rooted in that dark period of Indian history and the actor reveals that the crime thriller revolves around three people in pursuit of a packet from Germany. “One of them works within the system, the second person is outside it and the third is the system,“ says Kay Kay. No prizes for guessing that he's playing the second guy, the rebel without a pause.
The title itself could have got the film, produced by US-based Navneet Behal, in trouble. More so as Kay Kay admits that while there aren't any direct references to real people, there are enough hints to the period and those in power.
Having heard from his elders about the leader who imposed military rule on the country when her position as Prime Minister was threatened, Kay Kay is thankful for India's current status as a democracy. “But while democracy respects everyone's opinion, it doesn't endorse a 'free for all' stance. There is no harm in a little discipline. Now we have leaders who are working for the country and not just themselves. Therein lies the difference between that period and now, which makes me feel proud to be an Indian,“ he asserts.
The actor has been making news of a different kind with the Neeraj Pandey produced Saat Uchakkey, his first film with Manoj Bajpayee, which is set in and imbibes the ethos of old Delhi. “It is about a heist but not an Ocean's Eleven-style piece, in fact it is the antithesis of it. It will show you what acting is all about and it will make you laugh while remaining grounded in reality. I take even my humour seriously,“ he chuckles.
Yes, he has a somewhat intimidating image of an intense actor. That observation draws another laugh. “I refuse to carry the baggage of a 'good actor'. I've never intimidated anyone on the sets. I take my work seriously, not myself. Even if it's humour, I'm seriously funny,“ he laughs.
Does he still laugh when a major chunk of his histrionics is left on the editing table? “That's a creative call taken by the editor and the director. I wouldn't take umbrage. I aim to do work which will live on rather than be a part of the threeday, hit-and-run cinema culture. Ten years from now when I pick up one of my DVDs, I shouldn't have to cringe and look away. Screen time isn't a priority, substance is,“ he reasons, which explains why he agreed to do a cameo in Anurag Kashyap's period drama Bombay Velvet. He plays Vishwas Kulkarni, the cop who set up the Mumbai Crime Branch. “The investigating officer is one of the few characters in the film who actually existed in the '60s. Since he passed away, I didn't get to meet him but Anurag fed me with enough information to to recreate him on screen,“ he points out.
He's also a part of a secret service mission in Neeraj Pandey's espionage thriller, Baby. Reportedly, he plays a convict who joins agents Akshay Kumar and Rana Daggubati in an undercover operation. Kay Kay refuses to unveil this mystery mission. All he will say is that Baby is an Akshay Kumar film with Neeraj Pandey's sensibilities and the imagination of a spy thriller. It has a Maulana styled after Osama Bin Laden as its khalnayak. So will Kay Kay also give us the shivers? “Hindi cinema only sees the evil in me,“ he laughs, adding with a mock shudder. “It's terrifying!“
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