Hrithik puts projects on hold for Paani

It's official now. Hrithik Roshan has agreed to work in Shekhar Kapur's Paani, which will go on the floors in October this year. Hrithik has even put Vishal's next film with him and the remake of Agneepath on hold for Shekhar.

"Shekhar met Hrithik about a couple of months ago and they have been in constant touch after that. Initially Viveik Oberoi was supposed to do Paani, but the film never took off and Shekhar soon got busy with his other assignments. When he was in India recently, he met Hrithik, who loved the script especially since the water problem is rampant in Mumbai right now. The two worked out the schedule and stuff and everything else fell in place. Hrithik is so excited that after the shoot of Zoya Akhtar's next film, which he will start in June, he will start Shekhar's Paani instead of the original plan of finishing the remake of Agneepath and Vishal Bharadwaj's film first," said a source.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/entertainment/hrithik-puts-projects-hold-paani-560

~~~~

I picked the phone and called my agent and said. I want to speak to Christoph Waltz, the amazing actor that won the Oscar for his performance in 'Inglorious Basterds'. I must have sounded passionate, the kind of passion that comes from optimism and belief.And so that evening I spoke to Christoph and pitched him Paani. I told him the story and the world of Paani. I told him about the character I wanted him to play. And he said he loved it. And we decided to meet to see how we can work it out etc.
That evening I wrote the troubled scene in Paani. I had a great actor in mind so it suddenly got easier.

http://shekharkapur.com/blog/2010/04/the-yellow-shirt-and-christoph-waltz/

~~~~

YES, HE'S THIRSTY AGAIN
Thursday , April 22 , 2010

A few years ago, he put up a poster in the Indian pavilion of Paani which hasn't been made yet though he promises it soon will be.

"We have done with the funding now and done with the script," he insists. "The casting is always the last thing that gets done."

Before he gets on to Paani, the film he has been wanting to make for years, he sets out his philosophy and, in particular, why he thinks movies hardly ever present what might be called "the other point of view".

Though the Vietnam War ended 35 years ago, "there has never been a real movie made about the point of view of the Vietcong. Is that because their lives are not important? That is something we need to think about," he asserts.

This isn't just Presidency College or JNU Left-wing politics.

"Do we equate sorrow equally?" he wonders. "I will never forget sitting in a Bentley, driving with a (English) producer friend of mine in the rolling hills of Surrey. 'Gosh Shekhar, can you imagine what the world will be like when every Chinaman has a car?' It was a horrendous idea to him. Are we consistently looking at the world from the point of view of the elite five per cent? The fact we don't consider ourselves the same is reflected in all our films, all our documentaries."

Just may be Paani, which will be shot in Bombay but will not be about Bombay, will redress the balance.

"It is not just about water," says Shekhar. "Paani deals with a city that divides itself into the upper and lower city. In the upper city there is a globalised economy; the lower city is for those left behind. Water is the metaphor for the state of the world now as condensed in one city and told in one great mythic story."

If Shekhar is to be believed — and maybe he will be motivated by serving on the Cannes jury — the time for Paani is now. "I have waited a long time for it to happen."

As illustrated by the disputes between India and her neighbours over this precious commodity, people everywhere — and those who fund movies — understand the seriousness of possible "water wars".

"Mine is an international movie, shot in India," confirms Shekhar. "It will have western people and Indian people because the city is in India, South America or is a city anywhere. If you say it's Slumdog meets Blade Runner, that's what it is."

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100422/jsp/entertainment/story_12365039.jsp

~~~~

Paani

Today another dream was rekindled. Paani. A film that has lived in my consciousness for almost 5 years, when I watched 50 women and children standing in the hot sun in Mumbai. Each carrying a bucket waiting for a tap to start dripping with water.


Paani means Water in Hindi.
I had just come down from a friends place in Pali Hill, one of the more expensive residential areas in Mumbai. My friend had me waiting for half an hour while he showered. He lived on the 30th floor, and the slum where there was no water was just below his apartment building.
This inequity in the most basic resource neccessary for human survival set me thinking and a story developed.
More later…
http://shekharkapur.com/blog/2005/08/paani/

~~~~

The Story of Paani

This came in from Bhaskara :
"Today I was watching a local kannada news channel. There was a news that, people in Bijapur were furious over water supply. The reason was for weeks there was no water supplied to homes. When the public attacked the local water regulation body, they found out that there was water in the tank, but it was being supplied only to influential people like Politicians and Business men. You needed to have political influence to get water in the tap !!"
So this is the story of Paani. 12 years ago when I was trying to get funding for Paani, every one said that I was talking about a fantasy film, that no one would identify with the problem. Today they say I must make the film because it is so relevent.
http://shekharkapur.com/blog/category/paani/

Wow can't wait another movie with a good director. This looks better than the zoya project.

This is the one thats suppose to cast Hrithik and Kristen together right. Ugh, I like Kristen and all I do but I don't wanna see her paired up with Hrithik .. that will definately be one of the oddest couples ever