Aaja ACTING kar le - says Surya
Aaja ACTING kar le - says Surya
Warning - long post
and NO ..this is not a casting call.
Had been pestering Surya for a short role in his debut film "Aaja Gunaah Kar le" since the Vikhroli Akarshan days (rather nights). The shoot got delayed by two months due to the fact that Surya met with an accident and slipped into a 'slip disk'. I wonder why all this slipdisk didn't happen to him when he was struggling. Why when his first film was on floor, that he met with the accident, delaying his long cherished directorial debut ? Why not when the shooting was complete and when 'sedentary' tasks of post production,editing etc were to be done ? or why not after the release of the film ? Why when the film was nearly 60% complete that his back had to cave in ?
As they say about comedy (it seems it was bitter joke God played on him), it's all about timing.
Anyways, enough of rants.
Was elated to hear he was back (miserable pun intended) and shooting. Got a call from him saying "do u still have the Acting ka keeda in you ?"
I replied "neeki aur pooch pooch ?".
"Come over at Rodas hotel, Powai monday evening 10 pm"
"Yes Bro"
"And no friends on the sets while we are working. Wear your black shoes and come"
The last sms triggered a warning. No friends with apna Surya on the sets ? And Wearing shoes ? I stopped wearing them since a year ago. Even in my IT days i preffered chappals (no …not sandals) ..chappals !!!
"Yes sir"
Reached the sets 30 mins late and was told to get into the costume. A white full sleeves Shirt, a Tie (Breathless !!!), black trousers and a suit. I looked like a Hotel Manager with the french beard (which I had been growing for the role - since I'm a method actor eheheheheheheh).
It was a conversational sort of long scene with all the four characters Varun badola, Rajesh shingarpure, Kanishk, Punit. A crucial scene in which drunk, they create a 'scene' and are told (by the hotel manager that is me) to leave. I barely had a line. Was an 'extra' sort of scene. I was happy with it. At least I had a dialogue (yippeeeee).
The junior artist playing the waitress (refered to as maria) was dressed in a japanese costume. She asked me If i was indeed a hotel staff. I laughed and cracked one of my better PJs intending to flirt with her in between takes. Turns out a good 15 odd 'extras' or as 'junior artistes' as they prefer to call themselves were hired. Since the shoot was going on and I was not "friends" with him, decided to interact with some of the junior artists.
In case you do not know, a junior artist is usually used as one of the 'crowd'. Be the receptionist of the hospital where the hero arrives, the body lying at a bomb site, the people standing in the bus queue along with the heroine, the office staff of the hero etc etc. You get the drift right ? Quentin Tarantino did an Elvis Priesly jig starting out. Clint eastwood and Bruce willis too were 'extras' once. And so was the toast of the season Heath Ledger.
I saw the delecious food on the sets and the sparkling glasses filled with liquor. I was later informed by Maria that the food was 12 hours old …and the drinks were apple juice and was used as 'property' to create an ambience. I stuck back to set ka chai and ciggerettes.
ACTION -
The protaganists said their lines. In the background, I took some mock orders, Maria delivered some 'whisky' and I pretended to talk to other customers etc. The protaginists created a comotion, I went upto them and told them to leave. They left.
CUT ..PRINT….
This was the master shot. Next the camera moved elsewhere and the 'boom mike' was thrust above the four actors.
ACTION -
This time i indulged in some frivolous talk with Maria. Since the mike was far away and we were anyways in the background with our backs to the camera. She told me to keep mum and stay 'in character'. I was surprised.
As soon was CUT was announced she said "Mike chalu hai, awaaz pakad leta hai door ki.. (The boom mike has a good capturing power).
"Kitne saal sey aap yeh kaam kar rahi ho ?" (how long have u been in films ?)
"3 saal sey" (3 years !!!)
"Kitna pictures mein kaam kiya hai ?"
"Bahut saari ..yaad nahi.."
These guys know their stuff. They can spot a good director from a bad one. They know the workings on the sets inside out.
For the next shot, we were not needed. I got intrested more in the 'junior artists' and spoke to an elderly man who was also acting in the scene. He said he used to work in Godrej and for the past 30 years, he was a ghost writer for lyricists. You name it, he has worked with them.
Ghost writer ? you mean assistant writer don't you ?
No. Ghost writer. All the lyricists used to work on 20-30 films simultanously. How can you expect them to churn out lyrics so quickly ? They are not machines. So every lyricist employed 2-3 ghost writers to do the rough lyrics for a song. The ghost writers would be given the song situation and the details. They would come up with a rough song. The lyricist would then pick and choose from the bunch of these rough songs and give the final song to the music director.
The man took some big names of lyric writers from the hindi film industry (of the 70s 80s 90s) and I was shocked to hear some of them.
"Is it not well known ? "
"No. We are bound by law not to reveal the names officially. "
"So what do you do know ? Still a ghost writer for lyricists ? "
"No ..not any more. I work as a junior artist and have my pension from my job. (Junior artistes get paid about 700-800 rps for a shift)"
We reached the sets and realised it was about to be canned. We rushed in. Surya looked at me and said politely in the mike "Sir set ko chod key mat jao ..shot ready ho toh aa jaya karo" (come as soon as the shot is ready).
I mumbled a half apology and went in.
Another take, from another angle.
This time i took the mock orders from another table. I spoke to one of the extras there and he turned out to be an EXCELLENT mimic of nana patekar. As soon as the camera was off, he regaled other extras with his nana impersonations.
These guys know so much !!! They are so TALENTED. Still they continue to work as junior artistes ? Did they not take a shot at being a lyric writer or an actress or a character actor ? What happened to them ? Do they have ambitions at making it big left or not anymore ? Did they have any when they started out or were they always happy being a junior artist ? Who knows ?
Filmaking is soooooooooooo myriad. A myriad set of lives connected together. Sooooooooooo many people employed in a film. Sooooooooo many efforts which we may never even notice. And all it takes these days is a bad actor, bad music, a bad name (for numerology's sake), a bad scene, or a f**kup in any one of the million departments to ruin the film. No one notices the 'good' aspects. Everyone (including me) notices the failings, the nit pickings, the minutiae.
This point was more exemplified by the actual hotel manager who was watching the shooting and present on the sets happy to help.
"Shooting mein kitna time lagta hai…Hum logong ko lagta hai asaan hai…"
More takes from different angles. It was nearing 4 am. The cinematographer Ramani Sir (who was ice cold patient and chilled) was doing a fabolous job in tandem with Surya. When I asked why Ramani Sir Surya had replied that Ramani had shot his short film 00 PM too.
"Wafadar hoon Sir !!!" Surya would guzz in typical RGV accent.
Surya as a director doesn't scream or anything. But if he is unhappy, he will express it. Always in charge and in control, he doesnt need to excercise his authority to be taken seriously. He is taken seriously by everyone by default. You can't fool around. You can offer suggestions and he will pick and choose what he likes.
The last shot to be canned. I was present and had to say my lines and the camera will capture me close. Surya told me to be calm and be polite while saying my lines. We did a rehearsal. Ready for take.
ACTION …
My cue, I said my lines. Scene ended.
CUT..
Surya on mike "Beta tu kyun itna gussa kar raha hai inpey ? They are your customers. Be a little more polite na !!"
The entire unit was watching. "What has surya got us into ?"
Feeling embarassed, I said yes sir …. yes sir …
"Shit !!!!" ….I puffed hurriedly at the ciggerette. "Ready sir"
The second take was better. I was more polite and threw in a bit of a smile somewhere. Surya looked happy. So did everyone. I saw it on the monitor and Surya was happy with the response. I was embarassed to see myself on the monitor. Could've done better.
"Achcha hai…achcha hai" Surya commented and moved onto take some stock shots. After 15 odd minutes, he announced "pack up" to hear a big "aaaaahhhh" from everyone. It was nearing 5 am and they had been shooting since 3 pm the previous day.
All the production stuff, the lights, socket boards, camera etc were being packed. Surya was drinking the wine which was being used in the scene (on the table of the four protaginists). It was a 4 page scene canned today. A crucial one too. 20 shots. Nearly 14 hours…He was exhausted but happy with the result.
Cut to -
Outside KFC at 6 am, me and Surya were guzzling beer.
"With this the film is nearly 95% complete. Only 2-3 days shooting work is left." Surya said.
"You don't get angry or anything on the sets. No screaming and shouting ala Bhansali/Mani Rathnam ?"
"What's the point ? What will you achieve ? The set becomes tense. The atmosphere goes for a toss. It affects everybody. Sriram Sir doesn't yell at anyone on the sets. Nor does RGV."
"Hmmmmmmm…."
Beer continued. So did the conversations. We left early morning at twilight 6.30 am (a cinematographer's delight time since the daylight is just about to break). Dropping him at Vikhroli, I left for home.
The film is up for a Jan release. Do catch it when it releases. If not for apna Surya, then for me in the blink and a miss appearance :)
http://passionforcinema.com/aaja-acting-kar-le-says-surya/
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
