Jaideep Sahni on <i>Khosla Ka Ghosla</i>
Courtesy:
IndiaFM
Tuesday,
September
19,
2006
After
writing
Ram
Gopal
Varma's
Company,
he
had
a
quite
a
few
offers
from
big
producers
but
he
stuck
to
his
guns
and
went
onto
write
a
project
he
believed
in.
Khosla
Ka
Ghosla
was
two
years
in
the
making
but
he
didn't
give
up.
Despite
not
being
able
to
pay
his
telephone
bills,
he
backed
this
project
100%
and
turned
creative
producer
apart
from
being
the
story,
screenplay,
dialogue
writer
and
the
lyricist
of
the
film
as
well.
Khosla Ka Ghosla took about 2 years to make. There was a lot of trouble in the middle as well. You being the writer believed in the project and turned creative producer. Tell us the whole story. I think independent films always have their own fate line, that's why they are independent. I fervently loved and believed in the idea, it was personal in many ways for me, as it was for Dibakar (director) and Savita (producer), and we had a great team. We had chosen to make the film we wanted to make, the way we wanted to make it, so we always knew it wouldn't exactly be a cakewalk.
It all started one day when my friend Savita told me she was going to start a film production house and she wanted me to be the creative head for at least her first project. She was clear she wanted to make films that were very entertaining but also very new. It was an opportunity to do something different and since you and me and all of us hate cynical the film formula, I said yes. Dibakar was the next to join and that made us a charged team raring to break some rules and do so successfully.
The reason I became the Creative Producer was that I was the only one in the team with actual feature film experience, so it made sense for me to take on more responsibility when we divided the labor. The idea was that I would chart the roadmap and run the process since I knew it-to free Dibakar to direct and Savita to handle production, finance and marketing, which are their specializations, so the film turns out great-and it worked pretty well. Also as a writer, taking on additional responsibility is sometimes better than cribbing when the film is not made your way. I hate to crib and complain as a writer and would rather do something about a situation rather than sit and moan.
The reason the film took more time to release than we anticipated was that the structuring of the financing altered a few times along the way, for extraneous reasons like some corporate realignments, etc., which we really couldn't do anything about, but independent films always have a funny journey.
A writer taking on some additional responsibility is sometimes better than cribbing when the film is not made your way.
Was
the
casting
of
Boman
Irani
and
Anupam
Kher
your
idea?
Boman
was
my
idea.
Much
before
the
first
Munnabhai
released,
I
had
seen
Boman's
fantastic
performance
in
Let's
talk,
and
a
scene
where
he
scares
the
daylights
out
of
his
wife's
character
by
just
twiddling
a
spoon
on
the
dining
table
convinced
me
that
only
this
man's
talent
would
inject
flesh
and
blood
in
the
land
mafia
Khurana's
character
I
had
written.
In fact the funny thing is that when I told Dibakar about him and he went to meet Boman, for some weird reason they both didn't really take to each other so well. I forced another meeting between the two, but with the same result. So I picked up the phone and spoke to Boman two nights in a row and talked about the character and why we felt only he could play the part as we saw it, and he got excited about it. Then our team went and met some land shark characters in Delhi and recorded our conversations with them and sent them to Boman for him to get an idea of these guys who he had never met in Bombay. He kept listening to the recordings for days in his car, and the day he landed up on the set, he had completely transformed himself into the devious devil Khurana was written as-that is his power as an actor. And now to imagine both these guys who were so suspicious of each other in the beginning ended up doing such great work together on the set and are greatest of friends now always cracks me up.
Anupam Kher was somebody who Dibakar, Savita and myself were great fans of for years and unanimously wanted from day for Khosla, and it was just a great day when we went to narrate him the script. He believed in what we wanted to make, and said yes with only one condition that we would make the film exactly as we narrated it - and I think we haven't let him down. It's at times like these that you realize that without established talents like him choosing to believe in new teams, our films would never move a step ahead.
At times you realize that without established talents like Anupam Kher choosing to believe in new teams, our films would never move a step ahead.
Tell
us
a
little
about
this
nest.
A
strangely
hypnotizing
event
had
happened
in
my
family
many
years
back
when
I
was
little.
On
the
eve
of
my
cousin
sister's
wedding,
my
uncle
and
aunt
learnt
that
somebody
very
evil
had
taken
over
a
plot
they
had
invested
their
life's
earnings
in,
and
had
built
a
wall
around
it.
For
some
time
after
that
we
went
through
a
very
surreal
period
of
trying
to
approach
the
usual
pillars
of
law
and
order
in
our
democracy,
the
cops,
the
lawyers,
the
politicians,
and
as
a
family
realized
how
the
real
world
worked.
At
that
time
I
was
very
little
and
couldn't
do
much
about
the
way
that
story
went,
but
in
this
film,
I
wrote
my
own
version
of
I
would've
liked
the
story
to
go-which
is
emotional,
touching
and
very
funny.
What
we
can't
do
in
life,
we
do
in
movies.
What we can't do in life, we do in movies. But the great thing was that it wasn't the story that just I wanted to tell.
Savita really wanted Tandav Film's first film to be a real, emotional, funny middle class film which showed the world as it is but gave a lot of hope and happiness, because that's how she is.
Dibakar knew the middle-class world very well having grown up in it and he was very passionate about portraying it on the screen. So we all just magically ended up being on the same wavelength.
Then we had this big stroke of luck in finding fantastic actors one after another who passionately believed in what we were trying to do-Anupam Kher, Boman, Parveen, Tara, Ranvir, Vinay, Navin Nischol, Kiran Joneja, Vinod Nagpal, and so many others-each of whom brought their own reality and experiences to the way they played their parts-because at one point of time, they were all middle class and wanted to celebrate it-and we ended up with a nest that will remind you of your own family, neighbors, colleagues and friends in a very real, emotional yet funny way.
So if you think you have a problem with your family, neighbors or friends, this is the film to see-you'll come out feeling like having a big laugh and hugging them. And if you feel some tears in your eyes on the way, never mind, you'll still be smiling.
How
was
Dibakar
Banerjee
as
a
debutant
director?
When
my
friend
Savita
came
to
first
and
said
she
was
starting
a
feature
film
production
house
and
wanted
me
to
be
the
creative
head
of
the
first
movie,
one
of
the
earliest
things
I
did
was
to
introduce
her
to
Dibakar
to
bring
him
on
board.
He
knew
Delhi
and
the
world
we
wanted
to
create
better
than
anybody
here
in
Bombay
and
I
knew
it
would
be
a
big
strength
for
the
film.
He
had
made
many
ad
films
but
not
a
feature
film,
but
I
knew
he
was
a
film
buff,
I
had
worked
with
him
many
years
in
advertising
and
I
always
felt
he
would
make
a
great
film
one
day.
And
he
proved
our
faith
more
than
right
by
getting
the
performances
he
has
got
from
a
team
of
extremely
talented
actors,
just
whose
presence
may
have
intimidated
any
other
first
time
director.
Did
he
crack
under
pressure
since
his
film
was
delayed
so
much?
Not
really.
He
worried
like
the
rest
of
us,
but
like
I
said
before,
when
you
choose
to
do
what
you
want,
and
the
way
you
want
it,
the
journey
is
going
to
be
funny.
He
knew
it,
I
knew
it,
Savita
knew
it,
and
we
were
okay
with
it.
How
did
UTV
take
over
the
project?
UTV
saw
the
film's
rough
print
and
they
loved
it,
they
had
a
meeting
amongst
themselves
and
decided
they
believed
in
the
film
as
much
as
we
did,
and
offered
to
come
on
board
as
co-presenters,
distributors
and
marketers,
and
we
said
yes.
It's
a
rare
thing
in
the
entertainment
business
to
find
partners
who
bring
strengths
to
the
table
that
you
may
not
have,
yet
believe
in
an
idea
as
much
as
you
do,
and
we
were
very
happy
to
find
them.
From
RGV
to
Yash
Chopra,
you
have
worked
with
the
most
diverse
people
in
Bollywood.
Tell
us
how
has
the
experience
been
so
far?
I
came
to
the
film
business
purely
as
a
tourist,
and
stayed
on.
That's
largely
because
I
kept
meeting
people
who
believed
in
me,
taught
me
more
about
the
craft,
shared
their
knowledge
with
me,
made
me
a
part
of
their
world
and
became
a
part
of
my
world.
As
subjects,
scripts
and
films,
Company,
Bunty
Aur
Babli,
Khosla
Ka
Ghosla
and
now
our
new
sports
film,
have
been
very
far
apart
from
each
other,
and
that
has
always
given
me
the
most
pleasure,
satisfaction,
pride
and
enjoyment
as
a
screenwriter.
It's
been
pretty
much
the
same
for
my
lyrics,
so
it's
been
really
great.