Showing posts with label Shashilal Nair. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shashilal Nair. Show all posts
Shashilal K Nair was in a pub playing with white mice-Tajdar Amrohi
7:34 AM
Kamal Amrohi's son Tajdar brought Shashilal Nair back to direct 'ek aur' love story and revive his banner
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 8, 2016)
Shashilal K Nair, who bagged the National Award for Best Special Effects for his 1993-drama, Angaar, featuring Jackie Shroff, Nana Patekar and Dimple Kapadia, dropped off the face of the earth after his leading lady, Manisha Koirala disowned the controversial 2002 film, Ek Chhotisi Love Story.
Prod him on where he was for the last 13 years and he says that the only person who could answer that question is Tajdar Amrohi, son of late filmmaker Kamal Amrohi, who kidnapped him and brought him back from UK to revive his family banner.
"I have only two friends, J P Dutta and Shashilal Nair. Since JP was busy I went hunting for Shashi in December 2013," says Tajdar.
His filmmaker friend, K Asif, told him that Shashi was last heard to be in Manchester and Tajdar immediately booked himself on the next flight to London from where he took a bus to Manchester, and began inquiring about his long-lost friend. "I was told that it was impossible to search for someone in this huge city so I thought that I should head to Scotland Yard and file a missing person's report. After a week on the road, I learnt that he was in Huddersfield," he reminisces.
The British town was a colony of retired locals. An old lady told Tajdar that there was only one Asian there and he always frequented a particular dingy pub every evening. Tajdar headed there at 8:30 pm, and in walked Shashi. "When I hugged him from behind I was surprised to notice that he was playing with white mice," recalls Tajdar.
He booked them a one-way flight to Mumbai and convinced Shashi to direct a film for the revival of the Kamal Amrohi banner.
"The film will introduce Mashoor and Esther, who play a couple in love, travel by the local train and romance at the railway station. It's a common man's story. We've filmed from Dombivali to Haji Ali and are currently dubbing for it. It will release in April," he says.
Shashilal's past projects include One 2 Ka 4 with Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, followed by Ek Chhotisi Love Story. "Ek Chhotisi Love Story left me a broken man. It was the most unpleasant experience of my life. Everyone stabbed me in the back, my heroine, politicians gundas and friends. I didn't want to talk about it so I took a sabbatical. But now, I'm back with fresh faces and ek great love story," promises Shashi.
Ek Chhotisi Love Story director to work with Manisha Koirala in Meena Kumari biopic?
7:50 AM
Subhash K Jha (DNA; August 14, 2014)
Manisha Koirala might play Meena Kumari in a bio-pic produced by the latter’s step-son Tajdar Amrohi.
The
only hitch seems the tumultuous history of conflict she shares with
director Shashilal Nair. They were close friends. She did one of her
best films, Grahan, with him. But In 2002, the two had a massive
fall-out over the content of Ek Chhotisi Love Story. The controversial
film Manisha starred in, and Nair directed, was about an adolescent’s
wet-dreams about a sexy woman. Manisha accused Nair of doctoring the
content and using a body-double to do the intimate shots. The matter got
ugly and ruined their friendship. Nair gave up films and this city and moved to England. Now Tajdar has brought him back to direct the Meena Kumari bio-pic.
Says Tajdar, “I could think of only two directors who could be on the same page as me on this. One is JP Dutta, who is busy with his own film, the other is Shashilal Nair. I tracked down Nair in Manchester. I wouldn’t take no for an answer or let him come later. He came back with me and we started work on the project immediately.”
He adds, “I’ve zeroed in on a particular actress and she has agreed. Nair had problems in the past, but I am telling him to forget what happened earlier and start afresh.”
Director & producer of Meena Kumari biopic squabble over creative differences
7:38 AM
Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 11, 2014)
The biopic of Tragedy Queen Meena Kumari has taken a sad turn. Shashilal
Nair (director of the infamous Ek Choti Si Love Story) returns to the
arclights with the film. But all is not well between Nair and the
producer of the film, Tajdar Amrohi, the son of the late filmmaker Kamal
Amrohi and Meena Kumari's stepson.Tajdar, who has re-booted his father's banner, Mahal Pictures, under a new name, Kamal Amrohi Pictures, clashed with the director over the portrayal of the actress' life.
When contacted, Tajdar confirmed that Nair and he are not on the same page as yet. “He wants to take certain cinematic liberties but I am not playing to the gallery. I know we are not making a documentary but we have to stick to the truth," he asserted.
To begin with, Tajdar and Nair have not agreed on the choice of actress to play the film icon onscreen. Also, the two men are on the opposite sides of the fence when it comes to zeroing in on the film's title. “Nair also wants a few song situations which I am not comfortable with," says Tajdar, adding, “Actually, besides the heroine and the title, there are several other things that need to be shown in correct perspective. Creativity doesn't mean that you tell a warped story."
Mirror has it that the last argument between the filmmaker and the director happened while they were discussing a scene where Kamal Amrohi, while returning from an award ceremony with Meena Kumari, dismisses her award as a small achievement. Says Tajdar, “Chhoti ammi and abba did argue, not while they were returning from an awards nite but after seeing Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam. Chhoti ammi asked my dad if he had liked her in the film and he said 'Great'. She reacted saying that his 'Great' didn't sound genuine."
He adds that it was also said that his father robbed Meena Kumari of the chance of becoming a mother.
“But the truth is that she had conceived twice. But she terminated the pregnancy herself, both times," he insists. “And they did not divorce each other. For God's sake, she was a Sunni, yet she was laid to rest besides my dad in a Shia cemetry at Mazgaon."
He added that contrary to popular opinion, his father was not the villain in his chhoti ammi's life. “I am going to put the truth across in this film. These misconceptions need to be erased," he avers.
When contacted, Nair confirmed his differences saying, “Duniya hai. Objections to hote rahenge."
Tajdar added that they plan to iron out their conflicts.“Nair is the right man for the job, we will make it work,“ he concluded.
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