Shiladitya Bora, CEO, Drishyam Films, (middle) Sudhish Kamath, director and Manish Mundra, promoter, Drishyam Films
Eleven co-directors of X: Past Is Present claim not paid by Drishyam Films, producer mulls legal action instead
Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; August 14, 2016)

The collaborative feature film, X: Past Is Present, with 11 directors on board, has been billed as a singularly unique experiment in filmmaking. However, it has now run into troubled waters.

The filmmakers — Abhinav Shiv Tiwari, Anu Menon, Nalan Kumarasamy, Hemant Gaba, Pratim D Gupta, Q, Raja Sen, Rajshree Ojha, Sandeep Mohan, Sudhish Kamath and Suparn Verma — claim they are still awaiting their dues from producer Manish Mundra of Drishyam Films. The banner's projects include the recent award-winning Punjabi film Chauthi Koot as well as Neeraj Ghaywan’s Masaan (2015).

Kamath argued, “It is a betrayal on many levels. We have given them adequate time. We were operating on good faith, but realised that they [the producers] are not making any efforts to sell the film or censor it for TV. They just wanted to get rid of it. We are all co-producers and we were experimenting with a different kind of cinema being made by people from different parts of the country. I recently mailed Manish Mundra saying that it’s okay not to pay me, but he should at least pay the others. To which he replied, ‘You are a real pain in the a***!’ After that he disappeared. What is so shameless when directors and writers ask for money? The master and slave mentality of the producers need to change.”

However, Shiladitya Bora, CEO, Drishyam Films, argued, “Kamath had signed a contract with us which clearly states everything. All the allegations are baseless. We are planning legal action. We have provided the contracts to our lawyers. They are working on it and we will get a clearer picture next week. We do not want to comment about the tweets because then there will be no end [to this mud-slinging]. We have done more than what was needed; there was no default. We can provide all documents.”

Earlier this week, Kamath took to Twitter to vent ire over the non-payment of fee. He posted a series of telling tweets which read: “Drishyam Films has infringed upon the copyright of the original authors & does not have the authorisation from us to distribute the film. All channels and networks distributing XPast isPresent are infringing upon the copyright of 11 writer directors who haven’t yet been paid. We did put in money as coproducers but the terms kept changing because Mr Manish Mundra wanted solo producer credit.”

Rajat Kapoor, Anshuman Jha, Radhika Apte and Swara Bhaskar feature in the film.

How the drama unfolded

X: Past Is Present released in November 2015 after doing the rounds of various film festivals. The idea to make the film took shape in 2013. Sudhish Kamath approached the other 10 filmmakers and got the project got rolling. Early this week, he claimed that the directors were not paid by Drishyam Films and anyone dealing with the project on any platform amounted to copyright infringement.

X: Past Is Present is an experiment that goes horribly wrong. The concept and the idea sound interesting but the final product is lacklustre and very incoherent. It features 11 tracks, all made and written by 11 groups of directors and writers. Each director has its own style but this aspect doesn't really enhance the appeal of the film - rather the scenes looks disconnected despite that the story is actually going forward. Few sequences do impress to be honest but when seen in totality, it fails to really make a mark. Rajat Kapoor is fine and his scenes with Aditi Chengappa after a point don't really engage much. Swara Bhaskar, Huma Qureshi, Radhika Apte, Bidita Bag and Richa Shukla deliver brilliant performances. As 11 short films, these stories might have worked (especially Swara Bhaskar's track) but when all clubbed in one film, it's a major disappointment. Avoid!

My rating - ** out of 5!

What happens when multiple directors direct different parts of the same film? Sudhish Kamath, one of the 11, tells us
Ananya Ghosh (MID-DAY; November 15, 2015)

Multiple directors collaborating on one film is nothing new. While New York Stories had Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola directing three separate NYC-themed segments, closer home, Bombay Talkies had Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Karan Johar working on stories rooted in the Maximum City. However, X: Past is Present, claims to be different. It has 11 directors, working on one continuous narrative instead of individual shorts.

It started as an experiment at The Goa Project, a annual multi-disciplinary conference, but soon became a full- blown film. “On one hand, you have Rajashree Ojha of Aisha fame, Suparn Verma who did Aatma and Nalan Kumaraswamy who does Tamil commercial films; on the other, you have Qaushiq Mukherjee aka Q, known for his genre-defying movies. The idea was to bring filmmakers from opposite ends of the spectrum with disparate styles of storytelling. We wanted to bridge the gap between the two kinds of cinema that exist in India today,” says Sudhish Kamath, who has directed the holding story of the film.

“It is hard to believe but I once saw Q dancing to Kajra re at an after-party. If such a hardcore anti-Bollywood guy can enjoy a mainstream item number, although he will deny it if you ask him, then anything can happen! That incident gave me the conviction that this ‘absurd’ idea might actually work,” laughs Kamath. He reveals that Q is doing a version of Devdas in his segment, “But, of course with a twist,” he says, adding however, that directors and their individual scripts will not be identified.

The plot revolves around a director attending a film festival where he meets a mysterious girl. She reminds him of his former girlfriend, rather, girlfriends. “Each director deals with the memory of a girlfriend and each woman represents a different genre — comedy, romedy, horror, drama, conversation, dramedy, erotica and so on. Just as memories, these don’t have clear beginnings or endings and one often collapses into the other; each story has an echo in another. The stories are all interlinked,” explains Kamath, who has directed the ‘thread story’.

Each of the 11 directors was given a few parameters to follow while weaving their stories. “There is a constant and a variable. The constant is what keeps the film together while the variables are the ‘X’ factors each director brings through their stories,” says Kamath.

The more difficult task was that of the editor’s who had to stitch all patchworks into one fabric. “We approached National Award- winning film editor A Sreekar Prasad. However, there was a technical issue in the software used. So, instead, he marked the edits. Then we got Vijay Prabakaran, who edited it and then compared the notes and once all the boxes were ticked off, we sent it to Sreekar sir, who okayed it with a few more cuts,” reveals Kamath of the 105-minute film that is slated for a November-end release.

BOMBAY TIMES (October 31, 2015)

Huma Qureshi, Radhika Apte and Swara Bhaskar, three powerhouse actresses known for their avant-garde choice of films, share credits for the first time in the upcoming film, X: Past Is Present. Having made their mark playing offbeat yet strong characters, the three actresses will be seen in a bold passion play of man-woman relationships.

Helmed by 11 directors with strikingly diverse filmmaking styles, the cinematic treat delves into the mind of a single man who recalls his passionate journey with various women spanning 25 years. Rajat Kapoor as the lead character, the mysterious and brilliant K, proves his mettle once again. He shares sizzling chemistry with each of his leading ladies. Apart from Huma, Radhika and Swara, the ambitious project also features nine other beautiful actresses. Anshuman Jha (of Love, Sex Aur Dhokha fame), is also a part of the interesting cast that comprises fresh and known faces.

Conceptualised by Sudhish Kamath, this venture took shape after Manish Mundra and Shiladitya Bora, who produced Ankhon Dekhi and Masaan, decided to back this film. Besides Sudhish, a diverse group of filmmakers like Abhinav Shiv Tiwari, Anu Menon (London Paris New York), Nalan Kumarasamy (Soodhu Kavvum), Pratim D.Gupta (Paanch Adhyay), Q (Tasher Desh), Raja Sen, Rajshree Ojha (Aisha), Sandeep Mohan (Hola Venky) and Suparn Verma (Aatma) have collaborated for this project that has been shot on a tight budget.

The movie's credits also feature some big names - from award-winning cinematographer Ravi K Chandran to multiple National Award-winning editor A Sreekar Prasad and writer-director Thiagarajan Kumararaja (Aaranya Kaandam).

After a rousing premiere at the South Asian International Film Festival (SAIFF) last year, where it played as the opening film, the producers are now ready for a nationwide release by PVR Pictures. It has already generated curiosity on social media with many celebrities sharing the intriguing trailer.

X : Past Is Present, produced by Drishyam Films, releases November 20.

Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 10, 2014)

Anshuman Jha, who shot to fame with Dibakar Banerjee’s Love Sex aur Dhoka, has four films coming up, the most interesting being X: Past Is Present, the film, helmed by 11 directors. The actor appears in three segments in the film directed by Nalan Kumarasamy, Hemant Gaba, and critic-turned-filmmaker Raja Sen. He is seen playing three different ages and romancing three seperate girls. Jha confirmed the news saying, “Yes, it’s Swara Bhaskar at 16, Pia Bajpai when I’m 20 and Huma Qureshi when I turn 25. It’s a great learning experience wooing women older than me,” he laughs adding that they shot these portions in three different metroes, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai.

Which woman did he connect with best? “Huma, since I knew her from my theatre days. We were to do a play Fire in the Rain together, but it didn’t work out,” he says, recalling that while shooting at a Bandra apartment the floor suddenly collapsed. “I was traumatised, thankfully, Huma wasn’t present and nobody was hurt.”

Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 15, 2014)

After failing to raise money for his upcoming independent film, a disillusioned Rajat Kapoor had poured out his frustration in a tweet stating that he is planning to go back to theatre. Never had he thought that a simple tweet can do what months of his hard work couldn’t. Within hours, he landed a producer.

Manish Mundra, a NRI with a petrochemical factory in Nigeria who followed Rajat on the social networking site and had watched his films, tweeted back saying he was interested in investing in the project.

When Mirror contacted Manish in Nigeria, he confirmed the news over the phone and said: “Rajat sent across his cell number and we had a telephonic conversation. He offered to send me the script but I was more interested in the budget.”

The writer-director-actor however needed some convincing. He didn’t initially take Manish’s interest in the project as a genuine one as he had absolutely no Bollywood connections. But to his surprise, Manish flew down to Mumbai, met him and signed up as the producer of Aankhon Dekhi before flying back leaving him to make the film the way he wanted. “He returned when the film was ready and fortunately liked it a lot. Now, Manish is so gung-ho about the medium that he plans to make at least one film a year,” said a delighted Rajat.

And Manish is ready with his second project, X: Past Is Present, made by 10 directors, with Rajat as one of the actors in the motley cast. He is also in talks for a third film. His debut production, Aankhon Dekhi, which is about an elderly man who one fine day decides he will only believe what he sees, is gearing up for a March 21 release.

“It is a modest budget for a Hindi film but the biggest budget I have worked with. If the film works, maybe Manish and I will collaborate on another film,” said the still-awed Rajat who is yet to believe his luck.

His producer added, “I’ve invested Rs 8-10 crores in the film which is small for Bollywood but big for me. But it’s worth the expense.”