INTERVIEWS DIRECTORS: Gautham Menon, Ajitpal Mangat, Anup Sengupta & Vikram Kumar; DOP: Arthur Wilson

LIVING COLOUR Adlabs DI Colourist Nilesh Sawant talks about bringing DOP dreams to life.

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First Quarter2009

VETERAN DIRECTOR PRIYADARSHAN ON BILLU BARBER, HIS ODE TO FRIENDSHIP

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FIRST QUARTER 2009 contents

Silver JubileeDirector Priyadarshan talks candidly aboutmaking successful adaptations.

01

cover story

Director Gautham Menon in a characteristically frank conversation on his inspirations and controversies.

Saying It Like It Is

04

Kolkata director Anup Sengupta on how he makes films happen so quickly.

Need for Speed

07

DOP Arthur Wilson on the parallels between art & cinematography.

Playing with Light

09

First time director Ajitpal Mangat on the challenges he faced in making Victory, a film on cricket.

New Innings

11

Young director Vikram Kumar on his thriller 13B.

Young Gun

14

DI Colourist Nilesh Sawant spills the secrets of colourcorrection.

Bringing DOP Dreams to Life

16

priyadarshan

01

AFter completing 25 years in the business Priyadarshan is going strong with one of his

biggest releases till date, Billu Barber, which is his first time working with Shah Rukh Khan as producer and actor. He talks to us just before the much-awaited release of the film.

Excerpts from the interview:

What is Billu Barber about?Basically Billu Barber is a tribute to

friendship. It is the story of a simple

ordinary man who led an extraordinary life. It is about Bilas Rao Pardesi (Irrfan Khan) who lives in a village with his wife Bindiya (Lara Dutta) and two kids. Life is bitter sweet - we can say more sweet than bitter - till one day a superstar (Shah Rukh Khan) comes into their lives and everything changes. Life changes, people change, friends change, the village changes but one man does not - Billu Barber. Will the world see the greatness behind his small existence? And most of all, will life ever be the same for Billu Barber again?

This is what Billu Barber will unfold. It is the story of a true friendship between Lord Krishna, the King of Dwarka and Sudama, a poor hermit which is known to most of the Indian children. The moral of the story is so strong that it inculcates humility and greatness and conveys the true meaning of friendship.

Isn’t Billu Barber a remake of the Malayalam hit Katha parayumbol?

It is based on Katha Parayumbol but it is not a remake. The treatment is

Priyadarshan in a candid conversation with Jyothi Venkatesh about Billu Barber, directing successful adaptations and his upcoming projects.

SilverJubilee

very different. The character played by Sreenivasan in Malayalam, Jagapathi Babu in Telugu and Pasupathi in Tamil, is being played by Irrfan Khan in Hindi.

Has Katha parayumbol also been adapted in other languages?

Yes. Recently director P Vasu remade the Malayalam film Katha Parayumpol into Tamil and Telugu, titled Kuselan and Kathanayakudu, respectively. Rajinikanth played the role of superstar in both of these.

Where did the Tamil adaptation fail?The strength of the original story was

diluted when it was made in Tamil and Telugu. Besides the films suffered because of the problem of adding additional characters. Then there was also the upscaling of Rajinikanth’s role, as compared to the role of Mammootty in the original Malayalam version.

How did you do justice to Shah Rukh’s character as the superstar?

A lot of changes in the screenplay were made to suit the larger than life image of Shah Rukh Khan without in any way diluting the strength of the original script. As a result, we have him doing as many as three item numbers with hot and happening Bollywood actresses like Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra.

Is it different from the usual Priyadarshan films?

The film is full of my comic touches, complete with the much loved village bumpkin characters played by Asrani, Om Puri and Rajpal Yadav. But above all, it rekindles the timeless friendship of Krishna and Sudama.

Does criticism about you being the Master of Remakes bother you?

When the critics dub me the remake man, I am not at all bothered because the Oscar two years ago went to the remake version of a Hong Kong film [The Departed]. Then, my Kabhi Na Kabhi was not a remake of

any Malayalam hit but an original subject written by Javed Akhtar. Do you know that all David Dhawan films have been rehashed from Bhagyaraj’s hit films? I think most remakes of South Indian hits fail only because they try to make it as it is. Shankar also failed when he made the Hindi version of his original Tamil film Mudhalvan as Nayak. I make it a point not to let any of my films in Hindi look like a South Indian film from any angle.

Wasn’t your Bhool Bhulaiyaa a rehash of the Tamil hit chandramukhi starring Rajinikanth and Jyothika?

02

TOP: Discussing a scene on the sets of Billu Barber; ABOVE: In Kuselan, Rajinikanth plays the role now played by Shah Rukh in Billu Barber; BELOW: a song picturisation from Billu Barber

“I am of the opinion that known devils are better than unknown angels.”

Picture Company and Gulshan Kumar.

Which are your other forthcoming projects?

I have five mega projects lined up. I am finalising a script for a film starring Amitabh Bachchan and Akshaye Khanna. The story

is about bank robbery. I’m directing it for Percept Pictures. I am also planning to make a horror film for Percept Pictures titled Grrrr which will be my 77th film. It features a 3D simulated tiger and is my tribute to Jim Corbett who is my childhood hero. Horror is a new genre for me – I had somewhat ventured into it with Bhool Bhulaiyaa. Plus, I am making the Hindi adaptation of Majeed Majidi’s classic The Children of Heaven with Darsheel Safary, Rituparna Dasgupta and Atul Kulkarni.

03

Chandramukhi was a commercial massacre of the original Malayalam film Mani Chitra Thazhu starring Mohanlal and Shobhana which was made way back in 1981. To tell you the truth, I was irritated when the media wrote that I was remaking Chandramukhi when the original version is even today considered classic. I had not directed the film but assisted Fazil in direction. The concept also was his but they killed his concept and made it into a Rajinikanth style film because they wanted to cater to the masses. I made Bhool Bhulaiyaa by sticking to Fazil’s original concept.

In what way was Bhool Bhulaiyaa different from the original Malayalam hit?

Though I followed the original, I made sure that the subject suited the North audience and did not reek of nativity in any way. I decided to have Banaras as the backdrop instead of Kerala. Chandramukhi was more of an action film. In the original version, they showed the protagonist as a split personality. However since I am a psychology student, I took the liberty to base the story on identity syndrome.

Didn’t you plan to cast Aishwarya Rai in place of Vidya Balan when you set out to remake manichitra Thazhu as Bhool Bhulaiyaa?

To make Vidya Balan do Shobnana’s role was a big challenge for me as a director. To Vidya’s credit, I ought to say that she has

worked very hard on her role, though there is a lot of difference between a genuine dancer and a filmi dancer. The role that Vidya played in Bhool Bhulaiyaa was tailor made for her. I had Aishwarya Rai in mind initially when we were planning the project. However after Vidya was zeroed in for the film, I realized that it would have been a grave mistake on my part if I had taken on Aishwarya instead of Vidya.

How do you react to yet another criticism against you - that you choose the same set of actors for your films again and again?

When the butter is at home, why should I search for ghee? I like to use complete actors like Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav and Manoj Joshi who can do all kinds of roles. I am of the opinion that known devils are better than unknown angels.

You seem to have no qualms admitting that you like to play to the gallery as a film maker...

Dhol was a time pass film, which was rehashed from three Malayalam films - Manamathai, Mazhai Peyyunnu Madhalam Kottunnu and Chandralekha. So what if it did not click like some of my earlier films? I could not sit through the Hindi remake of my hit Malayalam film Chandralekha because Raj Kanwar mauled my original version very badly. Can you tell me one single serious film which has worked in Hindi in the last two years at the box office? Today the majority of the audiences are youngsters who have problems at their homes and want to pass time when they come to the cinema houses.

Have you stopped making Malayalam films?

On the contrary, next year I will return to Malayalam films to direct veteran scriptwriter MT Vasudevan Nair’s next script, which will also star my favorite actor Mohanlal in the lead.

Tell us about your ambitious project Kanchipuram.

Kanchipuram is a tragic tale of pre-Independence Indian silk weavers in Kanchipuram. The story unfolds against the backdrop of the first rumblings of labor unionism in South India. The film has Prakashraj, Shammu, Jayakumar and Shreya Reddy, the daughter of the former wicket keeper Bharat Reddy, in the lead. The film, using Tamil language and grammar of that period, has been produced by Percept

“Can you tell me one single serious film which has worked in Hindi in the last two years at the box office? Today the majority of the audiences are youngsters who have problems at their homes and want to pass time when they come to the cinema houses.”

TOP: Garam Masala; ABOVE: BhoolBhulaiyaa

gautham menon

Gautham Menon tells Daya Kingston that he is inspired by real life, evenhis own.

What striKes you First about Gautham Vasudev Menon is his outspokenness.

Like the films he makes, there’s a kind of honesty to what he says. That’s something that has spilled over to his characters who are as real as they come - no sugar-coated puppets, but fleshed out characters you might just meet around the corner.

Menon’s films are shot stylishly and veer towards a western sensibility in approach.

He does not believe in too much dialogue, preferring instead to use meaningful visuals and nuances in expressions to convey his message. His films are rather urban with a liberal dose of English thrown in and this has brought him his fair share of both fans and detractors.

Menon’s take on film-making is uncontrived. “I think you ultimately make a film according to your sensibilities and hope people will like it at some point. So

04

Saying it like it is ABOVE: Vaaranam Aayiram

far, people have identified with my films and it’s worked for me. Even if my films do well only in the main centres, we get out money back.”

Surprisingly, he does not have a film background. “I am essentially a qualified engineer but was always passionate about films. Even while I watched films back in the tenth standard, I would get into why the camera was placed here and how I would have created the same scene. I liked the medium and visuals were constantly running round my head.”

Menon started his career as an assistant to renowned ad filmmaker and movie director Rajiv Menon and got his first break with Minnale. The refreshing feel-good urban love story was breezy and touched a chord with the audience making it a blockbuster. It was remade in Hindi as Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein. Menon then went on to make Kaakha Kaakha, an action thriller which was a big hit and was remade as Gharshana in Telugu. The next was Vettaiyadu Vilayadu with Kamal Haasan, again an action thriller, followed by Pachaikili Muthucharam and his latest release was Vaaranam Aayiram.

“I met Rajiv sir and started working with him on Minsara Kanavu and learnt a lot just by observing. I then met Madhavan at a party and he found Minnale’s script appealing. He thought it could be a good one to do after Alaipayuthey and it fell into place.”

“I don’t know what my style is but like

05

to make my films as realistic as possible. My characters are mostly drawn from life. For Kaakha Kaakha, we spoke to a lot of encounter specialists and for Vettaiyadu Vilayadu, I looked through files of serial killers. Most moments were from real life.

“Vettaiyadu Vilayadu was a mature film and I had a serial killer as the antagonist, a first in Tamil cinema. I have always been a fan of Kamal Haasan and enjoyed working with him. I realized that you write a scene with a certain preconceived visual in your head – imagining how the actor will perform and so you write the performance also in your screenplay. But he gave it a third dimension and you can’t write something like that. For example, there was a very commercial moment where he was supposed to threaten the guy and say ‘Take my eye’. He went one step further without telling me by opening his eyes with the fingers, I asked

“I don’t know whatmy style is but like to make my films as realistic as possible.My characters are mostly drawn from life.”

Ravi Varman (the cinematographer) to zoom in immediately.

“Vaaranam Aayiram is autobiograph-ical. I kind of discovered myself with this film. The script was written after my father’s death and I wanted something to remember him by. This is essentially the story of a youngster whose memories are triggered off by the death of his father. It happened to me as well. As I was coming back from somewhere, I got the news of my father’s death. I sat back for about three hours and thought about my entire life and, here and there, my dad came into the picture and I realized what he meant to me. When I spoke to Suriya, he felt it was a universal idea that everybody could identify with.”

Speaking of Suriya, he is all praise for the star. “Suriya is the most versatile actor in the industry and is completely a director’s actor. I don’t think any other hero would have done Vaaranam Aayiram, playing a 60 year old and a drug addict. In fact, I

TOP: Menon in action on sets; ABOVE: Vettaiyadu Vilaiyadu

ABOVE: Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikaalam

06

had narrated the story to many actors in Telugu but they refused.”

Menon has been tagged an urban filmmaker but he is okay with that. “I think it’s a compliment although I don’t quite agree. For instance, some Dutch and American women watched Vaaranam Aaayiram without understanding a word and loved it. Somehow they identified with the urbanization or English in the film. I am keeping a larger section of the audience all over the world in mind. I don’t want my films to cater only to the Tamil audience.”

He shares his experience with Adlabs during its making. “My direct contact with Adlabs is through Prabhakar who is very friendly. The last minute work was crazy and he put in lot of work. When there is a person who handles your work efficiently, it’s a great experience. I am pretty happy.”

All Menon’s films so far have had music scored by Harris Jayaraj and their recent split has been the grist of gossip mills. He says, “I would love to work with Harris all over again. It’s just that one needs a creative diversion sometimes. All I say is that if there are good technicians, why not try them? I also like to work with a different cameraman for every film and get something new.”

He tells us about his next film Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikaalam. “It will be a yuppie film with four young boys. It’s essentially their take on women, the way they look at life and when how they handle situations when women come into their life. It will be a feel good film and the high point is AR Rahman’s music which is futuristic. The film is not an in- your-face sort of comedy but you can laugh with the characters. The cast includes Karthik who is Sridevi’s nephew; Shyam, a VJ on SS Music; Satish, a dancer and Trisha.”

“I am keeping a larger section of the audience all over the world in mind. I don’t want my films to cater only to the Tamil audience.”

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Kaakha Kaakha; Pachaikili Muthucharam; Suriya in a double role as father and son in Vaarinam Aayiram; Alaipayuthey

07

anup sengupta

Director anup sengupta has created a record by shooting and making two films, Mama

Bhagne and Rajbangsha, within a span of just two months. Each film took less than 20 days each to shoot.

Naturally, one feels curious to know the inner workings of the director who has achieved this cinematic feat. He explains, “When I start work on a film, I work day and night at it continuously for 18 to 19 days at a stretch. Out there in Hyderabad, I get 12 hour shifts, something one cannot even think of here in Kolkata. Of course my whole unit cooperates intensely with me, thus making my work very easy. And that is where Adlabs comes in, both as producer and laboratory. They give me raw stock so as soon as a long stretch of shooting is completed, the cans are picked up as a lot, sent for processing. Then the come right back here at Kolkata where my editor Atish De Sarkar starts preparing the rough cut according to my script. So that by the time I finish shooting and get back to town, I can sit for the final cut with my editor. Again we complete the final editing in just seven days. Adlabs takes care not only of processing but also

ABOVE: Chore Chore Mastuto Bhai

Director Anup Sengupta tells MalabiSen how he manages to wrap up hisfilms so quickly.

Need forSpeed

08

of my dubbing, background and mixing needs. My worries as a filmmaker are, frankly speaking, minimum because I am working with such an efficient set-up.”

Rajbansha is a social story set within the framework of a mother-son relationship. Anamika Saha plays the role of a wealthy and influential mother who has three sons, two of whom are married while the youngest, played by Prasenjit is a bachelor. This young man tries to be the village do-gooder but his elder brothers drive him away by poisoning their mother’s mind. Meanwhile, a girl from Kolkata, a botanist, comes to the village and falls in love with the young hero, ultimately marrying him. With this girl at his side, our hero manages to become an agriculture specialist and also opens an old age home in the village. His once-wealthy mother, through the manipulation of her elder sons, loses all her money and is thrown out of her house. She takes refuge in her son’s old age home, where she reunites with the son she had once discarded. The cast of Rajbansha includes Jayanta Dutta-Barman, Raja Chatterjee, Kunal Dutta, Moumita Chakraborty, Pia Das, Shubhashish Mukherjee, Dulal Lahiri, Kaushik Banerjee and Moubani Sarkar, daughter of the famous magician P.C. Sorkar Junior.

About Mama Bhagne he says, “It’s the story of a young man, also played by Prasenjit, who is at first a bit of a lazy slob. He goes to Kolkata to work where he meets a girl whom he believes to be very rich, and marries her, finding out later that she is the daughter of a poor gardener. Now it is his maternal uncle, played by Ranjit Mullick, who comes to rescue his nephew. It is through his machinations and constant help that the young man transforms himself to be a really worthwhile member of society. I project the film mainly as a comedy, but in the end we take it to a more serious level. The cast includes Ananya Chatterjee, Arun Banerjee, Kalyani Mondol, Bishwajit

Chakraborty and Ashok Kumar (of Jatra and TV fame).”

He rues the decline of comedy. “The era of comedy seen that way, has ended. Once we had people like Robi Ghosh, Bhanu Bandyopadhyay, Anup Kumar, Jahar Roy, Nripati Chatterjee, Chinmoy Roy and a host of others. Personally I love making comedies. Earlier on, I had done a comedy, Chore Chore Mastuto Bhai with Mithun Chakraborty in the lead role which was a big hit. Mama Bhagne is more of a situational comedy.”

Sengupta reveals that he comes from a “totally interesting and unique background. My base is the Group Theatre Movement of Kolkata. I used to act and work with ace theatre director Jnanesh Mukhopadhyay at his group Mass Theatres. Then we formed our own group ASJ Enterprise in Barasat. We staged famous comedy plays like Aami Mantri Habo and Badal Sarkar’s Ram Shyam Jadu, where I played the third thief, Jadu. My backdrop as an actor helps a lot in my directorial ventures.”

Of course, such speed could not be achieved without a team effort. “As a director I have an excellent relation and understanding with my actors and technicians and the whole unit. All of us work as one big team. Take for example Prasenjit. Even when I’m talking to my cinematographer, he observes me so that by the time I get back to him, he knows exactly what I need out of him as an actor. This works in the case of all my artistes. They always cooperate very well with me without which I would not have been able to reach where I am now. In fact all of them go far beyond my own expectations as a director.”

Intensive preparation is another time saver. “I always have a preliminary idea about what lens I shall use for the final shooting,” he continues. “When I hear the script, I keep my eyes closed. I visualize the film as the script unfolds before my eyes. I use 40mm wide angle for drama, song-sequences or fights. To enhance drama I use 40-50 mm lenses. 75mm or even 100mm. For big close-ups I use 100mm to 75mm. Wide angle lenses include 40mm or 50mm. That way I keep myself very aware and conscious about what I want in the final visual look of the film and when I talk to my cinematographers, I try to be as clear as I can as to my particular demands. I decide the particular camera angle or placement. The cinematographer

decides mainly on the lighting pattern where my films are concerned.”

It helps that his theatre background has given him a feel for the right kind of dialogue for a particular situation. “Even as I’m shooting, I add dialogues over the written script. I may even rewrite the script in the three or four sessions I have with the scriptwriter. And on-the-spot improvisations are a part of my creative repertoire.

“Of course I am grateful to all my actors who manage to give me continuous dates for a particular film. We are, so to say, ‘immersed’ in the film as we work at it for 12 hours of the day. When you ask why Hyderabad instead of Kolkata, my answer is that in a place like Ramoji Film City, you get all sets or locations ready which is impossible here in Kolkata. Either the studios are busy with a TV serial, or the sets are not ready in time; some problem or the other comes up eventually. So even if shifting the whole unit to Hyderabad is an extra cost, the way we can work day and night there makes it much cheaper on the whole.

“The Adlabs organization, I again emphasise, is wonderful. The excellent editing-set-up here at Varsha Vision, the rapid telecine transfer to edit at Avid, all go towards my success as a filmmaker today. Here I must mention also my family, my actor-wife Pia Das, who works even as Production Designer for my films. Both my wife and son give me excellent support throughout the shooting process. We work as a family, all of us in the unit, and filmmaking is great fun.”

Lastly, he makes no bones about his audience. “I personally feel that the director has to be technically very sound in all departments of cinema, otherwise he cannot make a commercially successful film and I am an out-and-out entertainer. I make films for the public who throng the cinema houses from the heart of Kolkata to the remotest suburbs of Bengal.”

“When I hear the script, I keep my eyes closed. I visualize the film as the script unfolds before my eyes.”

ABOVE: Chore Chore Mastuto Bhai

09

Arthur is a graduate from MGR Film and Television Institute (Chennai) and by sheer interest and experimentation, improved his skills in cinematography, so he considers himself self-taught. “I hail from a small village called Koneripatty near Salem. I came to Chennai to study with the help of my uncle. I assisted cinematographers like Selva Kumar but I had to struggle to become a cinematographer myself. This has instilled in me the habit of selecting my assistants from talented and sincere youngsters who are interested in learning cinematography.

“I am proud of the fact that I was the cinematographer for directors like Lingusamy, Sasi, Simbuthevan during their maiden ventures. I am learning from every film; film technology is growing every day. But according to me, cinematography is based on paintings. If you do thorough research on Leonardo Da Vinci and Rembrandt and understand them, you can become a

SilKy streams oF light pour into a shot while another has a dark, foreboding feel. With a twist of his

camera, ace DOP Arthur Wilson creates visuals that have the fascinating texture of a painting. Inspired by masters like Rembrandt, he believes in using light as the narrative medium to tell the story.

With over 20 films to his credit and big successes in his kitty, he finds a firm place as one of the acclaimed cinematographers in Chennai. Some of his finest works are Vanathai Pola starring Vijayakanth and directed by Vikraman, Linguswamy’s Aanandham, Sasi’s Sollamale, Ravi’s En Swasa Katre, KS Ravi Kumar’s Panchathanthiram, Sunder C’s Anbe Sivam, Simbu Devan’s Imsai Arasan Irubathi Moondram Pulikesi and the Telugu film Batra.

arthur wilson

Arthur Wilson tells Daya Kingston that he is as influenced by classical art as he is by genius cinematographers.

Playing with Light

ABOVE: Wilson at work on the sets of Naan Kadavul

10

good cinematographer. My favorites, the geniuses in cinematography are Vittorio Storaro, Roger Deakins, Conrad Hall, Svan Nykvist and Christopher Doyle. My favorite director is Sergio Leone.”

His first film Sundara Purushan starring Livingston and Rambha in lead roles became a runaway hit. It was also instrumental in bringing about a change of image for Livingston who until then had acted only as a villain or sidekick.

He has also worked on two films with Kamal Haasan - Anbe Sivam and Panchatanthiram - and says, “He is one of the finest and skilled artists. There’s nothing he doesn’t know about cinema. At the same time he’s very friendly with his co-workers. I have a lot to learn from him. In Anbe Sivam, we shot a scene where he’s stuck in a storm. It was a great challenge because we shot on a floor filled with water. Kamal sir appreciates me for that shot.”

Imsai Arasan Irubathi Moondram Pulikesi was a historical comedy with comedian Vadivelu playing the lead. He says, “The film is a historical movie but filled with wit and humour. It’s almost making fun of history. I created and shot it in a style similar to old historical movies but changed the camera angles to suit Vadivelu’s humour. The art direction by Mr. Krishnamoorthi was wonderful. He did a great job; that helped a lot.”

Arthur’s latest project is Naan Kadavul directed by Bala which has been in the making for a long time but is expected to be a film that will be talked about. Arthur says, “Working for Naan Kadavul was an amazing experience. The film is based in Malai Kovil and talks about the lives of beggars and the agents who make their living through them. The protagonist is a person who has been meditating for years in a graveyard along the outskirts of Kasi. The female lead is a blind beggar girl. As the story revolves around the lives of these characters, it was not necessary to have big colourful sets or picturise soft-hearted romantic scenes. The script depicts only the reality in lives, so the cast demanded real live characters. The beggars in the film were all real life personalities and not many actors were used. It was more challenging to shoot a true incident with real life characters in realistic locations. The plot moves on the darker shades of the character so we used lower shades of light which resemble Rembrandt paintings.

The movie was canned in Varanasi,

Kanchipuram and the outskirts of Madurai. The specific portions which happened in Kasi fill the frame with agoris, rishis and dead bodies. “I used the tone of fire as a major source for the particular locations, whereas the Malai Kovil portions had to be canned in a way that the frame is filled with a comparatively dark, smaller source of light. I used Kodak Vision 5279, Vision 2 5201 stocks and no filters for this movie.

“Bala is one of the finest directors and provides scope and independence for the cinematographers who work with him. He’s so clear about what he wants; explains the scene in a detailed manner and expects perfection in lighting the character according to their reactions. It was personally a wonderful experience for me to move along the shore of reality. He proves his brilliance in handling the perceptions of the scene.”

Quizzed about his impressions of Adlabs, he replies, “Working with Adlabs is an excellent experience. Technically, the quality and infrastructure is amazing.

At the same time, they are very friendly to cinematographers and are also updated in the latest technology.”

On his ambition, he says, “When I see foreign films, I marvel at their cinematography and quality. They are well received at world film festivals and win awards. My aim is to participate and win an award in a best cinematography category. Day by day this interest grows as I watch a lot of movies from Iran, Korea and Japan. My working slogan is: Make a mistake - that will correct you.”

“According to me, cinematography is based on paintings. If you do thorough research on Leonardo Da Vinci and Rembrandt and understand them, you can become a good cinematographer.”

ABOVE: Arya as a sanyasi in Naan Kadavul

TOP: Imsai Arasan Irupathi MoonamPulikesi; ABOVE: Anbe Sivam.

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From a cheF to an actor, an ad film man to a TV producer, director and finally to a feature

filmmaker, Ajitpal Mangat has enjoyed each milestone of his professional journey without planning any. “I have simply gone with the flow of life and worked passionately at whatever came along,” says Mangat as he starts a new innings in his career with Victory.

Victory was destined to happen, debutant director Ajitpal Mangat tells Aarti Bhasin.

ajitpal mangat

New Innings

Victory; LEFT: Ajitpal Mangat on the sets of Victory

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Why the shift from ad films to cinema? During my years as an ad filmmaker I

would often write stories on subjects of interest. All my friends, who got to read them, would push me towards taking up films as a serious career option. But the lure of the high paying ad industry compared to the insecurities of Bollywood kept me away from it till one day I happened to mention the story of Victory to Mr. Manmohan Shetty. By the time the story concluded, he had already proposed to produce the film.

So it was an easy transition? Well, not so easy at the thought level,

considering I am very rigid about not working under producers as I prefer to have control over things. But it was Manmohanji’s idea that we start a company where I could be the producer as well. So Victory happened.

Why start with a sports film? It’s important to do what one believes in.

I am a sportsman at heart and a passionate follower of cricket. International films like Chariots of Fire, The Rookie and The Goal would often made me wonder why Bollywood couldn’t make such films. Victory came as an answer.

Bollywood has had chak De and iqbal…

Yes, I am glad that we have started thinking on these lines - that passion has various definitions apart from love and violence. Acceptance of such films by Indian audience is a path breaker. It encourages filmmakers to ideate on

untouched options.

Any comparisons of Victory with iqbal? None... Iqbal was the making of a

cricketer whereas Victory is the journey of a Team India cricketer. It’s the unexposed side of a cricketer’s life.

Please elaborate. There are two sides of a cricketer’s life

– one is the struggle to become a cricketer and the other is the journey to sustain the stardom by remaining grounded. Both are tough to achieve but the latter is a little more difficult as once we get what we want, it’s not important anymore till we know how to keep it.

Victory is the story of an underdog, Vijay Singh Shikhawat (Harman Baweja), a young boy from Jaisalmer, whose father (Anupam Kher) dreams of him becoming a Team India cricketer. As fate would have it, the boy gets the opportunity and now the film explores that side where he has to sustain his stardom despite lures and negativities. It’s an authentic story from real life situations. It’s got the pain that comes with getting bowled without a run, the joy that comes on scoring the best, the competition that comes from equally competent teammates and the sledging that happens between competing teams. It’s all about the game and every aspect around it. It’s about the passion for cricket.

You were well versed with the details of the game as you scripted it?

I have many cricketer friends so I had sessions with them, trying to understand their emotions on and off the field. I went to watch matches across the globe, followed moments that I would often desire to capture on camera, spent hours with cricket coaches educating me on the statistics of the game and to all this I added emotion along with a story to weave them together. As an ardent cricket watcher I had the story. What I researched was for the authenticity.

To make it authentic, you got 45 professional cricketers from across the globe…

Victory couldn’t have been a reality without these people because it is about Team India. I could not have 11 unknown faces competing with 11 unknown faces. It had to be authentic as we are talking about a real game that is a passion for

“Passion has various definitions apart from love and violence. Acceptance of such films by Indian audience is a path breaker.It encourages film-makers to ideate on untouched options.”

TOP AND ABOVE: Victory

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more than many across the globe.

Was it difficult getting international cricketers?

I guess its all about conviction. When Brett Lee read the script, within two days he was in India. He said, “This is the best script on cricket I have ever read” and signed. With him on board, everyone else followed.

In fact, everyone who has seen the film is surprised by the fact that we have the most authentic casting to the extent that even commentators such as Mahinder Singh, Tony Greig and Dean Jones have given their commentary for the climax and Allen Border came in for a presentation ceremony in the climax. To add to it, we shot in18 stadiums across the globe. So nothing is difficult when you go forward with conviction.

How tough was it shooting the game? It’s so much easier writing on paper

within a comfortable environment; it’s tougher getting it executed. Cricket is an expensive game considering that everything comes at a cost. We also cannot discount the fact that cricket, in contrast to football or basketball, has still not been choreographed for film

shooting. So we had to play the game live and capture moments very intelligently keeping in mind the fact that we simply had a 35 mm film camera as against the 30 odd digi cameras that surround the field in a real game. We used our heads and the experience of our advisors to choreograph each shot in the game.

You did not think of using digi cameras for adding value to capture real moments?

No, the quality could not have matched the film and the only other option was High Definition cameras. Unfortunately there are not many HDs in India. Besides they are too expensive for a feature film shoot.

Any moments to share from the shoot? All moments were worth capturing.

Once during a shoot Harman and Brett broke into such an argument that I had to run onto the pitch to pull them apart. On interrogation, I got to know that Harman had scored twice in a row and to beat him up on the game, Brett started striking back followed by abuses - a part of the real game. This got Harman riled up and he started abusing him back. I had to calm them down by reminding that this

was just a shoot and not a real game. But Brett’s reply was “If he strikes me I will strike him back.” I realized this is how sledging happens on the real ground. So very often the game would precede the film and often someone was required to butt in and break the spell.

Having so many cricket stars, we would get calls from family members of the crew to take their pictures and autographs. In fact when Allen Borders walked in for his shoot, for a couple of minutes I just forgot about the shot on the video edit and kept staring at him like a star struck fan.

There were amazing moments like when Brett would take out his guitar in the night between shots and start singing Hindi songs making us burst out laughing at his pronunciation and tone. There were scary moments like when a ball thrown at the speed of 150 kmph hit Harman on his left shoulder. Overall the film has been a journey to remember for all of us.

Are you a better director or writer?That’s a tough one. As a writer I had the

drama visualized, so as a director I could strategically place each scene the way I thought of it. I guess it’s a marriage of the two where neither can be separated from each other.

ABOVE: Victory

Young Gun

vikram kumar

A director who won a National Award at the age of 20, Vikram Kumar talks to Jyothi Venkatesh about his new thriller 13B.

ViKram Kumar looks so much like the boy next door that it’s hard to imagine he’s an award-winning

director completing a bilingual feature

film out in March. We asked him some questions abut his first major project:

Tell us something about your film 13B.My film 13B is a supernatural film. I

would not call it a horror film because it is not one by any stretch of imagination. Though it is a scary movie, it isn’t in that genre. A TV is the main protagonist of my film!

What inspired you to make 13B?

I was inspired by people watching a lot of TV, whether in my family or outside. I myself am a TV addict. I wanted to tell a story revolving around the wonderful machine called the television because today there are people who even decide who to meet and when and where

depending upon when their favorite show is on air. At times, guests who visit us feel unwelcome when they encroach on our time for television. Today we cannot just dismiss TV as the idiot box because it plays with our emotions and even makes us laugh or cry. Though it is just a few inches wide, the TV is the window to the whole world outside.

Do you feel that it is the right time to come up with a movie like this?

I think it is the right time. Ramu, after coming up with films like Bhoot, Darna Mana Hai and Phoonk earlier, is now making a creature film in Sri Lanka and I hear that even Priyadarshan, who I had assisted for quite some time in filmmaking, is now all set to come up with a film called

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Grrrr dealing with supernatural forces.

Why did you zero in on Madhavan to play the main lead in the film?

I wanted to make a bilingual in Tamil and Hindi. Just to explain, while the Hindi version is called 13B, the apartment number of the house where all the action is based, the Tamil version is called Yaavarum Nalam (meaning “all’s well”) after the TV show which causes all the strange happenings in the story. The titles are different because a couple of years ago, a Tamil film with the title 12B had been released and I did not want people to get confused with a similar sounding title.

Apart from Kamal Haasan, no actor other than Madhavan fits the bill. I closed my eyes while writing the script and could think only of Madhavan for the role.

How do you rate Madhavan as an actor?

I’m lucky I got Madhavan as my leading man because he’s very flexible and no longer a lover boy though he had made his debut in Tamil films as one (in Mani Ratnam’s Alay Payuthe). He is very competent and pushes the envelope even beyond the imagination of the director when he sets out to act in a film.

Neetu Chandra plays the leading lady opposite Madhavan. Why did you opt for her?

I liked Neetu when I watched Traffic Signal. What made me decide to cast her in both language versions is that she looks every inch an out and out South Indian girl, because she is dark and dusky. I did

not need stars like Sada or Asin who are known for their modern and glamorous image. I needed an actress who can pass off as a domesticated girl who will easily blend in with the family.

Is 13B an art film?

Not at all. I have never seen a happy art film. All the art films I have seen till date have dealt with sorrow and negativity. I do not want to make an art film.

What message did you set out to put across through your film?

13B is not a message-oriented film. It’s a popcorn film designed with entertainment in mind. As a filmmaker, entertainment is my primary motive. Cinema is a mass medium. It is not the job of the filmmaker to make people think, because today no one comes to watch a social commentary. If I have to drive home a message, I would rather write a book.

Is 13B your first film as a maker?

I started my career at the age of 20 by making a 10 minute long silent fictional film called Silent Scream on suicide which is fast spreading as an epidemic. It was about how no one talks about the act as such but only about why a person commits suicide. It won me a National Award. The Telugu film Ishtam was my first film as a maker. It starred a bunch of newcomers. Poonam Dhillon who plays Madhavan’s mother in 13B played the role of the hero’s mother in Ishtam. It was a love story about how too much love works negatively in a person’s life. I was just 24

when I made Ishtam.

What role does sound play in your film?I feel that sound is even more important

than dialogues when you make a film like 13B which abounds in visuals and camera movements. 13B will be an eerie experience for the viewers. The highlight of my film is the camerawork by veteran cinematographer PC Shreeram.

How was it like to work with PC Shreeram?

Shreeram was like the pillar of strength for me all through the making of my film. On the sets he functions merely as

a cameraman though he has directed a couple of films and is equally brilliant at direction. He took up my film as a challenge. I would not hesitate to state that I learnt more about filmmaking in the last one and a half years of making 13B than I had in ten years before that. I am a richer filmmaker now and the filmmaker in me has a lot of clarity.

What did you learn by assisting Priyadarshan?

I learnt the grammar and technique of filmmaking from Priyadarshan since I was a complete novice as far as filmmaking was concerned back then. I assisted him for three and a half years in nine films including Chandralekha (Malayalam), Snehithiye (Tamil), Megham (Malayalam), Doli Sajake Rakhna, Hera Pheri, Saat Rang Ke Sapne and Kabhi Na Kabhi etc, besides Kashmakash, a work in progress starring Suniel Shetty and Juhi Chawla.

Tell us about your experience working with Adlabs on 13B’s processing, DI and special effects.

Spectacular! There’s a great deal of computer graphics in the film so I spent a lot of time there. It was great to work with a bunch of really talented and hardworking guys who made my life a lot easier.

“All the art films I have seen till date have dealt with sorrow and negativity. I do not want to make an art film.”

ABOVE: 13B

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living colour

Bringing DOPdreams to life

AFter getting his initial exposure to film at Adlabs’ Printing Department, Nilesh

Sawant’s first stint at Colour Grading was on the Analyzer working on Hum Tum Pe Marte Hain with DOP Sameer Reddy in the year 1999. He talks about his experience. “In spite of the shortcomings of the Analyzer at that point in time, our endeavour was always to match the output required with quality and colour consistency. Our industry is what it is today because of the attention to detail - especially in colour consistency - that many of our DOP colleagues have demanded from time to time and it was no different then.”

He saw himself doing almost 30 films

Nilesh Sawant started his career with Adlabs in 1990 and came back as a Colourist at Adlabs Digital Lab when it opened for business in 2008. Having had firsthand experience of the way technology in film post has changed over the decades, he has invaluable insights on the evolution of colour consistency and grading.

during his initial stint including some FTII diploma films. This gave him an interesting insight early in his career into the mindset of talented young film talent who are today the torchbearers of the industry.

LEFT: The sky was a stubborn white during the filming of this song from Singh is Kinng. The bright blue that viewers saw in the film was artifically created later on Baselight by Nilesh.

BELOW: Nilesh at work on Singh is Kinng;

His first experience at DI was for Taxi No. 9211. “This project sought a different look and feel as demanded by the script, and the versatility of the digital grading equipment enabled hands-on experience through learning with DOP Karthik Vijay.”

He began to understand how superior this digital grading process is to the former in aiding the DOP to bring out his actual thought process on to the silver screen that at times could not be fulfilled at the time of the actual shot being taken. For example, owing to limitation of time and resources, certain shots are taken with limited lighting and weather conditions not always in sync with the requirements of the DOP. These scenes could later be given the finesse of a near normal shot. Similarly, digital grading is also very effective in bringing out the visual effect as conceptualized by the DOP post production.

Subsequently, his experience at digital grading was enriched with exciting projects notably 36 China Town, Bhagam Bhag, Welcome, Billa (Tamil) to name a few. He says, “Billa in particular was extremely satisfying both for the DOP and for me as a technician, as it achieved a look and feel that was seen as a trendsetter in the South.”

One of his recent projects was the widely- appreciated Singh is Kinng executed on Baselight (Digital Colour Corrector). “The versatility of the colour grading tools is exemplary. One can experiment to one’s heart’s content to bring out the actual combination demanded by the script and the DOP. Digital grading gives a variety of options to the technician for using these tools to enhance the effectiveness of different colour tones and create lighting patterns to set the mood of the scene as conceptualized by the Director and visualized by the DOP.”

“One can experiment to one’s heart’s content to bring out the actual combination demanded by the script and the DOP.”

Adlabs team.He finds it a fascinating challenge

to keep abreast of rapid technological advances. “As you know, video and IT technologies are converging, and with IT coming into the industry, the world is getting even smaller. We can now look at working in one place and remotely controlling other places. For example, it takes about 16 hours to travel to New York, but data goes there in six hours. We can use hardware in one place and the customer can get his work done on any location. There are a lot more possibilities that we are working on.”

His team consists of two senior engineers for Digital Labs, three for Digital Cinema and four-five assistants for each department. “I enjoy my job,” he says, “it’s much more interesting than to work on the same things… here I get to learn so much too.”

technical Director

An a n t h a K r i s h n a n , Technical Director at Adlabs, is in charge of the Digital Lab

and Digital Cinema, from design to implementation, heading an engineering team that supports the projects.

Hailing from Chennai, Ananthakrishnan joined Adlabs in July 2007 after 20 years’ experience working with companies like Prasad CFX and Crest Communications. Over the years, he has seen changes in technology from analog to digital and now IT-based, and upgraded his own skills as he went along. He also selected and trained a lot of freshers, some of whom joined him on the

ANANTHAKRISHNAN: Teching It to a WholeNew Level

“With IT coming into the industry, the world is getting even smaller. We can now look at working in one place and remotely controlling other places.”

CHENNAIAdlabs Films Limited,No. 9A, Kumaran Colony Main Road, Vadapalani,Chennai - 600 026.Tel: +91 44 2362 1049 / 3483Fax: +91 44 2362 1050Contact: A. PrabhakarEmail: Prabhakar.Angm@adlabsfilms.com

KOLKATAAdlabs Films Limited,Plot No. 12, Block AQ - Sector IV & V, Salt Lake CityKolkata - 700 091Tel: +91 33 3293 4229 / 4234Fax: +91 33 2367 5212Contact: Jayanta RayEmail: Jayanta.K.Ray@adlabsfilms.com

MUMBAIAdlabs Films Limited,Film City Complex, Goregaon (East), Mumbai - 400 065.Tel: +91 22 2842 3333 / 4488contacts: Film Processing: Krishna.Shetty@adlabsfilms.comDigital Lab: Chandramohan.Pany@adlabsfilms.comDigital Cinema: Patrick.Vons@adlabsfilms.comStudios & Equipment Rental: Ashish.Chakravorty@adlabsfilms.com

adlabs team member spotlight

CONTACT US

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2008’s biggest releases had one thing in common.

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They were all processed at Adlabs.

Jodhaa Akbar Bheema Race Jannat

Sarkar Raj Dasavatharam Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na Ghar Jamai

Singh is Kinng Bachna Ae Haseeno Fashion Golmaal Returns

Dostana Vaaranam Aayiram Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi Ghajini