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After a three year sabbatical, Anurag Basu will be returning to direction with the greatly anticipated film, Kites. The romantic action packed thriller filled with twists and turns aplenty features the scorching on-screen couple of Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Mori. We caught up with Anurag exclusively to talk Kites.
Q) The release of Kites is nearing rapidly – the scale of the film is massive and the expectations from it mammoth – how are you feeling as the release date nears?
I'm feeling a lot of emotions; it's a mix of a lot of things. I'm excited and nervous. The only way for me to evade this tension is to work on my next script which is what I'm doing now.
I've made the film with complete honesty and soon it will be released. I am going to await for the reaction of the audiences especially those overseas. It will help me decide the course I'll take with my future films.
Q) Your films have always consciously pushed the envelope. Is Kites a film within a safety zone of commercial cinema or does it also go against the wind?
The safe films are the most unsafe ones. Most of the time in Bollywood, we take the safe route which ends up nowhere.
We are far from being global; mainstream audiences are not coming in and watching our films. Our global audiences are the NRI audiences. It's an uphill task to satisfy the big Indian audience at home and abroad. We should be recognized and our work should be seen by everybody in the world.
Kites defies Bollywood norms and doesn't take the safe route. It is a universal film and an attempt to push the envelope towards a global audience. I'm eagerly awaiting the reaction of the audience especially the non-Indian segment.
Q) You said recently, your family is the best critic. Have they seen the film and what has their response been?
I remember watching my first film Saaya, which I am really proud of with my family. They came out after watching it and told me it's not going to work and it didn't. For Murder, they said it was going to be a hit and it went onto become a huge commercial success.
I'm really nervous when they're watching a film of mine. Because they're blunt and truthful, which is what I expect from them.
My wife liked the film. I was closely watching her reactions, she laughed and cried at the right moments. I was delighted with her positive reaction to the film.
Q) Tell us a bit about the ladies in the film, Barbara and Kangana.
When I met with Barbara to narrate the story of the film to her, it was a long four and a half narration with my strong accent and her limited fluency of English. But as I was narrating the script to her, I could see the moisture in her eyes and she was smiling. That's when I realized there could be no one better than her to play the character. Her limited understanding of English and Hindi became a strength for her character.
Kangana came to my mind when I was writing the script. She's a dear friend and a very versatile actress. I was skeptical to approach her as the role was not for the lead actress. I'm glad she's part of this film, she's my lucky mascot. Kangana plays the daughter of rich Casino owner in Vegas and a student in Hrithik's dance class. She has a special appearance in the film and plays an important character.
Q) You've worked with renowned producers and established production houses. How was it working with the FilmKraft banner and Rakesh Roshan?
Rakesh Roshan has made huge films in the past and his experience was very helpful when making Kites.
When he asked me how long will it take to shoot this film, I was nervous to tell him it would take 80 days. He said take 110 days. He always gave more than what I asked for and completely pampered me.
There's a lot of speculation in the media that we did not get along on the sets. The reality is that he gave me lots of freedom and space.
Q) Out of Hrithik's past films, which did you most like his work in? And how would describe his performance in Kites?
I loved Hrithik in Jodhaa Akbar and quite liked his performance in Lakshya.
Kites is completely different from all the characters he's played before. He's playing a real person. You start identifying with the character that's the magic he's bought to it.
Q) You said at a recent event, that Hrithik's avatar in the film is unmissable. What according to you makes Hrithik in Kites unmissable?
(Laughs) I cannot pinpoint one thing. Everything – his acting, his performance.
He has really rediscovered himself in the film. We all have - Hrithik has not done anything like this before, I've not done anything like this before, Barbara has never been a part of a Bollywood film before.
We all were having this adventure while making of this film and had a great time. We relieve all those great moments on set now when we watch the film.
Q) For the first time, we'll see the leading man in your film break out into song. Why this so important?
A leading man singing in someone else's voice is fake and not real to me. Similarly, Kites in the Sky isn't part of a traditional song sequence. I was contemplating having the song as background.
One night Hrithik, Suzanne, me and my wife were having dinner and he started singing a song and he was singing it really well.
Music is in his genes. Initially when I approached him with the idea he said no, but I convinced him. He took one month to prepare and train for the song. Kites in the Sky is not an easy song like Aati Kya Khandala, it's a difficult song to sing and he did it as a professional would completely in tune. The result is for all to hear.
We were all surprised and blown away, he even surprised himself. He has a great career ahead as a singer in the industry.
Q) Kites is...?
It's a beautiful film about lovers from two different parts of the world, one from India and one from Mexico falling in love with each other. They're both in America with big dreams of getting rich but they both fall in love and face much difficulty only to sacrifice their dream.
It's a strange love story. Both the characters have their weaknesses and how they overcome their weaknesses and frailties is Kites.
Q) One thing you hope people walk out with when they leave the theatre after watching Kites?
Kites is more mushier than a mushed up bowl of peas. That's how audiences will leave theaters feeling.
http://filmicafe.com/celebrity_interview_detail.php?interview_id=866
Q) The release of Kites is nearing rapidly – the scale of the film is massive and the expectations from it mammoth – how are you feeling as the release date nears?
I'm feeling a lot of emotions; it's a mix of a lot of things. I'm excited and nervous. The only way for me to evade this tension is to work on my next script which is what I'm doing now.
I've made the film with complete honesty and soon it will be released. I am going to await for the reaction of the audiences especially those overseas. It will help me decide the course I'll take with my future films.
Q) Your films have always consciously pushed the envelope. Is Kites a film within a safety zone of commercial cinema or does it also go against the wind?
The safe films are the most unsafe ones. Most of the time in Bollywood, we take the safe route which ends up nowhere.
We are far from being global; mainstream audiences are not coming in and watching our films. Our global audiences are the NRI audiences. It's an uphill task to satisfy the big Indian audience at home and abroad. We should be recognized and our work should be seen by everybody in the world.
Kites defies Bollywood norms and doesn't take the safe route. It is a universal film and an attempt to push the envelope towards a global audience. I'm eagerly awaiting the reaction of the audience especially the non-Indian segment.
Q) You said recently, your family is the best critic. Have they seen the film and what has their response been?
I remember watching my first film Saaya, which I am really proud of with my family. They came out after watching it and told me it's not going to work and it didn't. For Murder, they said it was going to be a hit and it went onto become a huge commercial success.
I'm really nervous when they're watching a film of mine. Because they're blunt and truthful, which is what I expect from them.
My wife liked the film. I was closely watching her reactions, she laughed and cried at the right moments. I was delighted with her positive reaction to the film.
Q) Tell us a bit about the ladies in the film, Barbara and Kangana.
When I met with Barbara to narrate the story of the film to her, it was a long four and a half narration with my strong accent and her limited fluency of English. But as I was narrating the script to her, I could see the moisture in her eyes and she was smiling. That's when I realized there could be no one better than her to play the character. Her limited understanding of English and Hindi became a strength for her character.
Kangana came to my mind when I was writing the script. She's a dear friend and a very versatile actress. I was skeptical to approach her as the role was not for the lead actress. I'm glad she's part of this film, she's my lucky mascot. Kangana plays the daughter of rich Casino owner in Vegas and a student in Hrithik's dance class. She has a special appearance in the film and plays an important character.
Q) You've worked with renowned producers and established production houses. How was it working with the FilmKraft banner and Rakesh Roshan?
Rakesh Roshan has made huge films in the past and his experience was very helpful when making Kites.
When he asked me how long will it take to shoot this film, I was nervous to tell him it would take 80 days. He said take 110 days. He always gave more than what I asked for and completely pampered me.
There's a lot of speculation in the media that we did not get along on the sets. The reality is that he gave me lots of freedom and space.
Q) Out of Hrithik's past films, which did you most like his work in? And how would describe his performance in Kites?
I loved Hrithik in Jodhaa Akbar and quite liked his performance in Lakshya.
Kites is completely different from all the characters he's played before. He's playing a real person. You start identifying with the character that's the magic he's bought to it.
Q) You said at a recent event, that Hrithik's avatar in the film is unmissable. What according to you makes Hrithik in Kites unmissable?
(Laughs) I cannot pinpoint one thing. Everything – his acting, his performance.
He has really rediscovered himself in the film. We all have - Hrithik has not done anything like this before, I've not done anything like this before, Barbara has never been a part of a Bollywood film before.
We all were having this adventure while making of this film and had a great time. We relieve all those great moments on set now when we watch the film.
Q) For the first time, we'll see the leading man in your film break out into song. Why this so important?
A leading man singing in someone else's voice is fake and not real to me. Similarly, Kites in the Sky isn't part of a traditional song sequence. I was contemplating having the song as background.
One night Hrithik, Suzanne, me and my wife were having dinner and he started singing a song and he was singing it really well.
Music is in his genes. Initially when I approached him with the idea he said no, but I convinced him. He took one month to prepare and train for the song. Kites in the Sky is not an easy song like Aati Kya Khandala, it's a difficult song to sing and he did it as a professional would completely in tune. The result is for all to hear.
We were all surprised and blown away, he even surprised himself. He has a great career ahead as a singer in the industry.
Q) Kites is...?
It's a beautiful film about lovers from two different parts of the world, one from India and one from Mexico falling in love with each other. They're both in America with big dreams of getting rich but they both fall in love and face much difficulty only to sacrifice their dream.
It's a strange love story. Both the characters have their weaknesses and how they overcome their weaknesses and frailties is Kites.
Q) One thing you hope people walk out with when they leave the theatre after watching Kites?
Kites is more mushier than a mushed up bowl of peas. That's how audiences will leave theaters feeling.
http://filmicafe.com/celebrity_interview_detail.php?interview_id=866
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