The world of cinema and how hard it is to break in: a thread

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I have been interacting with a lot writers and directors during the lockdown. Most aspirants are understandably anxious about the given the situation, in a business that even otherwise can cause high anxiety. These conversations nudged me to do this thread

As an aspirant, I had three directors on my wishlist. @RGVzoomin, #ShekharKapur, #ManiRatnam. I got to work with Ram Gopal Varma, 2002-05. I came close to working with the other two, but that’s for another time.

Moral 1 - dreams do come true.

2005. No wishlist. I decided to write only the films that I wanted to direct, only with the producers who would let me direct that specific script. That script was called ‘Hero-Heroine’.

I gave it to two top stars at that point, who had worked in the films that I had written. They met me with kindness. I never heard back. I thought, may be, to convince people of my directorial abilities I needed to direct something.

So, I directed the opening scene of the film, got it edited by Bardroy Barrretto (Nachom-ia Kumpasar). I sent that scene on a DVD, along with the script to @anuragkashyap72 ’s house. I asked him to help me find a producer. He said he would produce it.

When I met @anuragkashyap72 at his house a couple of days later there was another director sitting there, who had had the same predicament with his script and had also sent it to Anurag. The director was @VikramMotwane . His script was ‘Udaan’.

.@anuragkashyap72 introduced us, said that these are the two scripts that he will produce, adding in his style, “even if none of my films ever release, these two films will be my legacy.”

Moral 2 - find your own tribe, those who will be invested in your success.

‘Hero-Heroine’ was a love letter to certain locations in Bombay, along the Harbour and Western line. I wrote it on location, in seediest cafes. The production team was enthusiastic about capturing spaces in Bombay, that hd not been filmed before.

Then it all fell flat when @anuragkashyap72 ’s film Gulaal stopped. ‘Hero-Heroine’ stopped. ‘Udaan’ stopped. I even lost the title to the financier, whom I had signed it over to.

Moral 3 - having a producer is no guarantee to get your film made.

I changed the title to ‘Junction’. Met more producers. @VikramMotwane introduced me to #AbhayDeol. He loved it, met me and the producers, gave us dates. He just had to finish two films that were under production - Oye Lucky Lucky Oye and Dev D. Then he would come to ‘Junction’.

While casting, I saw a play at Prithvi, ‘The Lady with the Lapdog’, and liked the lead actor a lot for one of the antagonists. That actor was #NeerajKabi.

Then producer’s financing collapsed. Since, Abhay Deol was attached, the film was picked up by Percept Picture Company (where I had written one film earlier). Percept ran into trouble with Tasveer, opted out of ‘Junction’ a week before shooting.

I wasn’t going to give up on it. It was my Chunking Express and more, a script with two separate stories, separate set of characters, 1st half fugitives, 2nd half a cop investigating them.

I kept blowing money that I had saved, holding on to ADs. It may start at any moment. With Abhay Deol’s equity rising post the release of Oye Lucky.. and Dev D, prospective producers rang in. But, they were looking for a comedy. A dark film? No. At least get us a dark a comedy.

Moral 4 - having a star and interested producers are no guarantee either.

During all this, Sameer Sharma (Luv Shav Tey Chicken Khurana) asked me to go for a meeting at Yash Raj Films, for their upcoming television department. I ignored the meeting at first. On a reminder, I reluctantly went, pitched them the only TV show idea that I had had.

For 6 or 7 years the TV show pitch was rejected by all the channels. Having written films, I didn’t want to do TV. And, I was sure it will be rejected yet again. When they didn’t, I told them I’ll not direct it. They said we aren’t asking you to, we will find a big name director

I signed up for money. Kept doing ‘Junction’ meetings. It had been three years since I had a movie released in cinemas. By the time I finished writing ‘NCB’, or ‘Powder’ as it would later be called, I fell in love with the material. It had the cinematic scope.

It had emerged from the creative freedom that I was given. I was ready to direct it. I suggested my name. The studio wasn’t willing though.

Moral 5 - Never say never.

. @VikramMotwane directed a short film by then ‘Undisputed’, was cinematographer on another ‘Shanu Taxi’ (dir. Vasant Nath). I wrote a short film, financed it from the writing money I got for ‘Powder’. It got selected for Clermont Ferrand SFF.

YRF studio executive became interested in watching the short, she showed it to her boss, and they hired me to direct ‘Powder’.

Moral 6 - Your scripts don’t set you up as director. What you direct does.

Powder came. Went. Disappeared without trace except for good reviews. The studio, happy with the product, opted to give me a shot at directing a feature film. I wrote a big budget action film. When the studio approached stars, no one wanted to do it.

The director was brand new. And the script didn’t read like a Hindi film, didn’t tick a few boxes. I was asked to write another script.

Moral 8 - having a big studio is no guarantee either.

What box could I tick? A double role. The cherry on the top will allow me to the bake the cake that I wanted to. The film got mixed reviews. Didn’t do what it was meant to do at the box office.

Moral 9 - the cherry that’s meant to disguise your cake from the powers that can make the film happen, that cherry also becomes the identity by which your film is judged. Especially when the cherry is promoted more than the cake. All Trojan horses don’t win wars.

Side note: ‘A Place Beyond The Pines’ released and @anuragkashyap72 saw it at some festival. He tweeted that a script that he had read 8 years ago, uncannily had the same structure. He had remembered Hero-Heroine/Junction.

Money in pocket, I made a documentary film, ‘In Their Shoes’. Not a single festival wanted it. Screeners remained unwatched as I tracked them, despite paying submission fee. I pushed in more chips on the table, self financed the P&A.

That secured a theatrical release with PVR, through their ‘Director’s Rare’ slot. We picked a Friday that was empty. Then ‘NH 10’ got delayed by a week. ‘Badlapur’ was running unstoppable and ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’ arrived. ‘In Their Shoes’ shows went near empty.

What I made back from the theatrical run was negligible.

Moral 10 - don’t try this at home. Or try it by all means if you can really live with the outcome. It’ll make you appreciate the producers who really risk their *own* money and equity to give you a shot.

A directorial and entrepreneurial combo failure is hard. I was desperate to sell ‘In Their Shoes’. Not only did I erode my liquid funds, but also the little equity I had made as director, by not saddling up immediately for a mainstream film after delivering a flop.

I was offered films to write, but turned them down. Two of them would become box office successes, not that I had any doubt about their potential when I said ‘no’. I couldn’t even get a series structured at streaming platforms that were coming in and up.

Moral 11 - When memories of those around you are short, you can choose to be thick skinned.

The only directorial offer that I had was from a producer who had loved my debut feature and wanted to do remake of Korean movie ‘A Dirty Carnival’. They wanted me to do it exactly in the tonality of ‘Aurangzeb’.

To test aligning of visions, I did a sample draft

I didn’t want to do a contemporary film like the original. I shifted the narrative to early/mid 90s, got to a place of excitement with it. But, the IP deal fell apart.

While I was struggling for a break, ‘Powder’ had a breakthrough. Licensed by Netflix. So was ‘In Their Shoes’. The latter got me out of the personal finance hole, the former somewhat restored the little equity I had as director.

Moral 12 - you are not in control of the destiny of your projects, good or bad. You make them, bring them into physical existence. But, sometimes, they come back from the dead and make you, resurrect you.

I can relate to the anxiety of all the aspirants out there. The pandemic and the lockdown has left us all groping in the dark. But, take solace in the fact that not just myself, but some of the other names that I have mentioned here have been through self-inflicted lockdowns.

Then there have been professional exiles, labels of “plagued”, “cursed” or “jinxed.” But, they all met some light at the end of the tunnel, even if they were not walking in its direction. I am sure you would too. Stay healthy, stay safe, save lives if you can as of now.