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Home , Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Gangs of Wasseypur, Guneet Monga, Ketan Mehta, Miss Lovely

[LISTED]

THE UNDERDOG TURNED SUPERSTAR

ANURAG KASHYAP, , , ,

Text Shahnaz Siganporia Photography Ishika Mohan Motwane

N THE INDIAN FILM INDUSTRY, there are good and bad words. ‘Un- derdog’, ‘struggler’, ‘starlet’ are clubbed into the ‘bad’ category while I words such as ‘Superstar’, ‘’, ‘legacy’ fall into the ‘good’ category. However, sometimes the two combine to form a heady cocktail. The starlet bags a 100 crore film and the underdog becomes the superstar. The latter is a tricky balance—there’s the formulaic superstar and then there’s the superstar who paves his or her own way and creates cinema that goes way beyond the norm. Over the last few years, the tides have been busy changing, contorting and transforming our home-grown film industry. And let’s face it, in an industry raking in the moolah, thanks to wish-fulfilment and feel- good stories, we’re suckers for the runt who becomes the alpha. In the 100th year of Indian cinema, Platform celebrates the erstwhile underdogs who have gone on to carve out a space for themselves and have begun their ascent to stardom.

NOV/DEC 2013 · PLATFORM · CREATIVE LIFESTYLE · 031 [LISTED]

FROM BANNED TO LAUDED

THE BEGINNING I don’t know why I wanted to make films. It’s like asking yourself why you love someone. How do you explain that? You just do, you know? I just knew that filmmaking is what I wanted to do. I was studying to be a scientist and something just snapped—I knew that I should have- been making films. As soon as that realization hit me, I didn’t waste any time. Within six months, I had quit my studies and was on my way to Bombay. There’s been no looking back since.

THE BUMPS ALONG THE WAY The film industry in , by and large, did not take the art of cinema seriously. It was all driven by profit and nothing else. But you have to realize this first before you can figure out how to deal with it. When my films were banned and I was given no initial acceptance, I had to figure my own way out. I knew one thing for sure; I would not change the way I made films. So I had to figure out if there was an audience for the kind of cinema I wanted to make. So I travelled across the world to find my audience. And I did it. I just loved it so much that there was no second- guessing myself at any point.

THE TURNING POINT I think lots of things have led to where I’ve reached today. But there have definitely been certain defining moments. The first was when I travelled with Dev D and when I served on the jury of the Venice Film Festival. The second was at the where Udaan (which was pro- duced by me) won so many awards. The third (and probably my big- gest break) came with the release and reception of . Everything has changed now. Yes, there might be a lot of adoration and fame, but I feel I’m more hated now than ever. The perception people bring with them is so ironic. They will support the underdog as long as he stays the underdog. The minute the underdog becomes the dog, the perception changes. Then he automatically becomes a sell out. I know people think I’ve sold out, but it’s okay. People will think what they will; as long as I know what I’m doing and I’m proud of it, it’s all good.

THE WAY AHEAD I want to travel now. I still need to see a lot more of the world and I want to make more cinema and tell all my stories. I have produced a lot of films in the past and I’ve enjoyed it, but now the time has come to leave the producing to the producers and concentrate on making more of my own cinema.

032 · PLATFORM · CREATIVE LIFESTYLE · NOV/DEC 2013 NOV/DEC 2013 · PLATFORM · CREATIVE LIFESTYLE · 033 [LISTED] Guneet Monga

FROM AWESTRUCK TO AWESOME

BOTTOM-UP My journey into films was rather sudden. As bizarre as it may sound, I was a DJ when I was still studying. Then my best friend told me that her mother was working in the production depart- ment for a few international films and my friend didn’t want to assist her mother, so I jumped in. I still remember being in awe of the way films were being made. I began at the bottom. When I came in, all I wanted to do was produce my own film. When I did, I wanted to make my second! My ultimate goal is to contin- ue making films and also own a sea-facing bungalow!

AGAINST THE ODDS I believe our films have crossed over into new territories, opened up markets and the numbers we have managed to achieve inter- nationally have been great. Yes, it has been challenging, because like everything else, it has taken time for people to understand how we function. It has changed now. Over the last few years, there have been many more co-productions and more Indian films making the mark internationally. It’s an ever-changing industry and I am just so happy that today co-productions, fes- tivals, markets etc are active discussion points while making a film, even in studios.

GETTING TO THE TOP I have goals, and when I achieve them, I move on. However, to be honest, I think I have been close to the people with whom I entered this industry. They are part of my everyday life and I cannot do without them. We all work together. My other mile- stones have been producing films like , VTMK, , Peddlers, Danis Tanovic’s film—each one accomplishing something completely unique.

THE VISION I want to be a happy producer, one who is able to support the directors through whatever stories they want to tell. I want to be part of films, which when revisited years later, are still as pure as they were on their first screening. I am proud of all our films. I want to ensure that Indian films are perceived as a force to reck- on with and that this notion of Indian films being all ‘song and dance’ is done away with.

034 · PLATFORM · CREATIVE LIFESTYLE · NOV/DEC 2013 NOV/DEC 2013 · PLATFORM · CREATIVE LIFESTYLE · 035 [LISTED] Nawazuddin Siddiqui

FROM RAGS TO RED CARPET

ACT I SCENE I After I graduated, I was working as a watchman in New . I was bored and one day my friend took me to watch a play. I saw close to 70 plays after that. I knew mechanical jobs weren’t for me, and I had to do something creative. I didn’t think I would need a recom- mendation from anybody fancy. So, I joined a local theatre group and after a few months I joined the National School of Drama. In 1996, I graduated and continued performing with various groups, mainly in street plays. I used to make a bit of money—just barely enough to manage rent and food. I thought, ‘Why struggle in Delhi? I might as well go and struggle in .’

THE STAGEHAND The year I came to Mumbai, I got this two-minute role in where I got beaten up and had to cry. After that, I got one scene here and there, barely a few seconds long. It was a strange time, and I used to take a loan from one friend to pay back the other. I thought about quitting, but I didn’t know what else to do. All I can do is act. I then went to audition for Anurag Kashyap’s Black Friday and I got a nine-minute role. He promised me back then that he’d cast me as the main lead in one of his films and he actually did.

CUE LIGHTS Early in 2010, I got cast in the lead role in ’s and Prashant Bhargava’s Patang. Then came and Gangs of Wasseypur—the latter was what put me on the map. It was a film that made it clear to the world that I wasn’t just a supporting actor. This year has been fantastic; I had three films in Cannes—The Lunchbox, Monsoon Shootout and Bombay Talkies. Now, I only want main roles—I’m 100% sure of that. You get slotted very easily in this industry and I don’t want to be slotted as a supporting actor.

THE ENCORE I have already finished shooting for a couple of films that will be releasing next year and I’m very excited about them. ’s The Mountain Man is my first biopic and then there’s Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s Sniffer and debut director ’s Haramkhor. Stardom and fame aren’t things I’m chasing, in fact, they scare me because I don’t want to ever get complacent about my work. All I know is that I want to feel challenged.

036 · PLATFORM · CREATIVE LIFESTYLE · NOV/DEC 2013 NOV/DEC 2013 · PLATFORM · CREATIVE LIFESTYLE · 037 [LISTED] Richa Chadda

FROM STARRY-EYED TO STELLAR PERFORMER

THE LONG SHOT I think in this country, cinema creates a very unusual kind of icon. I dreamt of being a movie star ever since I was a kid, and as I grew up, I just couldn’t see myself as anything else. I am from , so I moved to Mumbai to hone my acting skills and I signed up for a workshop with Barry John, who I consider to be my guru. Someone spotted me and I landed an audition for ’s Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye. That role wasn’t a typical launch, but for me it was a defining moment because it made me believe that I could make acting my career.

THE ODD ONE OUT I’ve never felt hopeless about myself as a performer. People call me unconventional, perhaps because of the way I look or the choices I’ve made as an actor, but I think that comes from a very myopic vision. I don’t want to do anything non-cerebral, so even if I’m offered a ‘conventional’ role, I will make the most of it. I’m brutally honest, so I can’t play dirty. I preserve myself from this side, because I don’t want to lose the plot at the age of 25. I refuse to sleep around for work, which is another drawback here. This does marginalize you in the industry. There have been times I’ve lost work because of this, but now I don’t have the time to bother with all of this—I’m in a good place now.

THE NEW WAVE I have benefitted from the fact that not many actors are willing to take on challenging roles. Gangs of Wasseypur was offered to a number of actresses before it came to me. They turned it down and I grabbed it. I think I’m a pretty regular actor, but even medi- ocrity stands out in this industry where people don’t expect any- thing better from actors, especially women. The work has chosen me, and I’ve been lucky to have worked with Dibakar Banerjee, Anurag Kashyap, , and so on.

FLASH FORWARD I’m excited about my upcoming releases. There’s Ishqeria, which is a love story with a feminist approach; Tamanchey, which is an underworld love story; Jia Aur Jia with , which is about two girls on a self-discovery trip, and Bad that is based on . And I’m also doing a cameo in the TV series 24, star- ring . I want to make movies and raise the bar for myself each time. I also want to make a lot of money because if you’re broke, then it’s really not going to help anyone.

038 · PLATFORM · CREATIVE LIFESTYLE · NOV/DEC 2013 NOV/DEC 2013 · PLATFORM · CREATIVE LIFESTYLE · 039 [LISTED] Vikramaditya Motwane

FROM SMALL TO BIG

DAZED & CONFUSED I started quite young and quite by chance. I was kind of thrust into this world when my mom started producing this show called, Teen Talk. I did nothing back then but hang out with my college friends doing pretty much nothing. This show however, gave me something to do. At the time, I really wasn’t a fan of Bollywood, I had discovered world cinema, so my head was full of Woody Allen and Ingmar Bergman. I happened to watch Khamoshi—it was an eye opener because I realized, ‘Ok! It’s possible to balance Bollywood and the indie-cinema sensibility.’ My mom knew Sanjay Leela Bhansali and I asked her to connect us. I met him and started assisting on . I was finally on a film set and realized that the director is at the helm—that’s what I wanted to do. Wanting to be a director isn’t good enough; you have to have stories to tell on celluloid to an audience. It took me a while to real- ize that.

REALITY BITES I met Anurag Kashyap when I was working on Water. We were in , his hometown, and he took me around—we just hit it off. He shot after that, it was an open set and he called me over. Whenever he was looking for someone to do anything, I was putting my hand up and saying, ‘I’ll do it, I’ll do it!’ It was such an exciting time. The great thing about my career was that I’m a Bombay boy—I had a roof above my head throughout. I had my family and I had Anurag Kashyap—this kept me going. He took risks before I even began. He forged the way for the rest of us. That gave me the patience to wait it out with Udaan and it paid off. With , there was a lot of pressure. I questioned every- thing, and sometimes that was good, at other times it was detrimental. But I’m glad (in retrospect) because now I know that you just have to go ahead and make your next movie.

ALMOST FAMOUS There have been certain stages in my film career that have brought me to where I am today—assist- ing on Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam was my ‘film school’; the making of Udaan and those crucial years in between where I was just trying to make a film and not compromising, and the making of Lootera. That love-hate relationship of making a film is what I’m absolutely in love with. It’s not the fanfare, it’s this journey for me that makes it all worth it.

HIGH FIDELITY I want to be a filmmaker who can make anything and everything. I need to push the envelope every single time, be it content and/or form and expand cinema in a way, but most importantly, I just want to tell stories and be able to engage an audience. P

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