“With Blue we want people to sit back”: Anthony D'Souza
Our first impression: This guy is confident and bright, knows his stuff about films and ain't an old school mentality. We're sure he has thought more about the sharks in the last two years than probably anybody. But that's Anthony D'Souza. He thinks larger than life, he thinks big and he thinks fast. He comes across as a debutant who isn't cliche. "Why do you want to interview me?" he questions, then adds, "Nobody wants to know about me. They only want to know about my film and the actors. I'll be known or not known after Blue releases".
He laughs and you are then left with no option but to join the fun. For a man who is responsible to get the biggest names together on the silver screen for the best and never before seen action scenes, D'Souza is surprisingly soft-spoken and charming, which we're sure he won't agree on. What's more? Well, his film marks the return of two Oscar winning technicians: A.R. Rahman and Resul Pookutty, who've worked on the score and sound of Blue. There's more. The underwater director of photography, Pete, has worked on Hollywood films like The Pirates of the Carribean.
With big names, bigger budget and the biggest canvas ever, Blue seems like a dough making juggernaut. This correspondent meets a mayhem artiste in the crowd pleasing business: Anthony D'Souza, to talk about Bollywood's first underwater action adventure, as he gets ready to wring every bit of bang out of each buck spent on making one of the biggest films Indian cinema has ever witnessed - Blue.
How
risky
a
business
it
is
to
make
a
film
worth
sixty
crore
and
then
bank
on
big
stars
to
recover
it?
To
be
really
honest,
I
don't
know
the
final
budget
of
the
film.
I've
heard
several
budgets
ranging
from
sixty
crores
to
hundred
and
twenty
crores.
My
producer
is
the
right
person
to
speak
to
on
that.
Secondly,
no
producer
in
the
world
will
put
in
an
X
amount
of
money
unless
he
can
recover
his
money
back.
If
he
thinks
that
the
film
can
do
a
business
worth
a
hundred
crores,
he
will
invest
it.
Considering
the
way
our
films
have
done
in
the
last
few
years,
I'm
sure
they
had
something
in
mind
to
put
the
right
amount
of
money.
If
there
is
no
potential
in
the
film,
they
need
not
be
pushing
it.
We
are
still
shooting
a
music
video
of
the
title
track.
That
says
it
all.
Why
go
for
an
actor
who
hasn't
had
a
very
successful
run
in
Bollywood
-
Zayed
Khan?
How
important
is
his
fame
going
to
cost
you?
Zayed
has
done
a
great
job
in
Main
Hoon
Na.
And
then
there
was
Dus.
I
liked
him
in
that
too.
One,
I
wanted
somebody
who
came
across
as
a
brat,
some
attitude
when
he
comes
on
screen,
someone
who
can
ride
a
bike,
someone
who
could
do
a
scuba.
Somebody
who
didn't
care
a
damn
about
the
world.
I
met
Zayed
and
that's
exactly
how
he
is.
You
tell
him,
"Zayed,
f***
you" and
he'll
reply
back,
"F***
you
too."
That's
the
attitude
I
was
looking
for
and
I
got
it.
He
is
a
very
nice
guy,
very
warm
and
very
friendly.
This
is
the
first
ever
time
A.R.
Rahman
has
composed
for
an
all
out
action
adventure
film
in
Bollywood.
Yes
he
has.
From
day
one
I
wanted
A.R.
Rahman
to
score
for
my
film.
But
more
importantly,
I
wanted
him
for
the
background
score.
In
an
action
film,
the
music
and
the
sound
can
make
or
break
a
film.
I
can
shoot
the
best
of
visuals,
but
without
a
good
sound
quality,
the
visuals
will
fall
flat.
For
me,
Rahman
is
the
only
person,
or
if
there
are
others
I'm
unaware
of
them,
who
understand
the
importance
of
a
background
score.
For
me,
a
background
score
is
more
important
than
the
soundtrack
of
the
film.
Blue
is
a
pure
commercial
entertainer.
Rahman
has
done
all
kinds
of
film
earlier
so
why
not
an
action
film
too.
It
doesn't
mean
that
there
is
no
scope
of
music
in
an
action
film.
Popular
music
is
what
sells
and
Rahman's
music
is
popular.
Why
do
an
additional
music
video
and
shoot
the
title
track
one
more
time?
In
all
honesty,
I
didn't
want
to
this
video.
I
think
'Fiqrana'
is
the
best
song.
My
producers
and
choreographer,
Ahmed
Khan
loved
the
title
track,
the
Blue
theme.
It's
already
been
used
in
the
film
in
a
different
situation.
But
they
felt
that
it'll
work
well
with
lip
sync.
So
I'm
sitting
back
and
watching
them
shoot
the
song.
How
important
for
you
is
your
overseas
release
and
success?
Every
director's
first
goal
in
life
is
that
his
film
should
recover
the
money
and
do
well.
If
my
film
doesn't
recover
the
money,
I'm
a
flop
director.
Every
person
connected
to
the
business
wants
the
film
to
do
well.
The
better
the
film,
the
more
money
you
earn.
For
me,
it's
very
important
that
the
film
should
do
well
everywhere
including
overseas.
Overseas
is
considered
to
be
the
biggest
market
for
Bollywood
films
today.
It
keeps
growing
day
by
day.
Over
the
years,
so
much
has
changed.
They
love
the
song
and
dance
because
it
doesn't
happen
at
their
end.
Some
day
you
might
have
a
cross
over
film
where
it'll
happen
both
ways.
Everyone
aspires
to
make
their
kind
of
cinema.
What
kind
of
films
have
you
grown
up
watching
and
wanted
to
make?
If
you
take
my
all
time
favourite
film,
it'll
be
Scent
Of
A
Woman.
Now
there
is
no
way
I
can
aspire
to
make
such
a
kind
of
cinema
because
I
don't
think
I
have
the
maturity
yet
or
sensibilities
to
make
a
movie
as
delicate
as
that.
I've
grown
up
watching
summer
blockbusters
like
Sholay,
Deewar,
Kaagaz
Ke
Phool,
etc.
Filmmaking
has
always
been
an
adventure
for
me.
It
should
entertain
the
audience.
It
has
to
be
larger
than
life
because
for
me
it
has
to
be
money
worth
spent.
I
do
enjoy
watching
smaller
films
but
I
don't
think
I
can
make
them.
So
you
can
make
big
films
but
no
small
film?
If
you
make
a
film
like
Dev
D,
your
script
has
to
be
so
precise.
You
have
to
focus
a
lot
on
emotions
and
acting.
When
you
make
a
larger
than
life
film
and
if
something
goes
wrong
somewhere,
like
you
blow
up
a
car
in
the
background,
have
some
other
stuff
happening
in
a
good
location,
it
takes
care
of
lot
of
other
stuff.
I
always
knew
that
my
forte
in
life
was
visuals.
So
why
not
use
that
as
your
strength
rather
than
use
stuff
that
I'm
not
good
at.
If
I
had
to
make
a
Hum
Aapke
Hain
Kaun,
I'd
do
a
horrendous
job
simply
because
I'm
not
Indian
by
heart
when
it
comes
to
filmmaking.
My
sensibilities
are
very
western.
I've
grown
up
watching
more
of
western
flicks
and
that'll
obviously
come
out
in
my
films.
From
the
clothes,
to
their
styling,
the
way
people
behave,
their
relationships,
etc.
Thanks
to
the
cable
networks,
the
influx
of
the
American
way
of
life
is
influencing
us
day
by
day
so
we
can
accept
all
that.
I'm
in
a
right
time
to
make
a
film
like
Blue.
Will
Blue
break
into
world
cinema?
World
cinema
films
are
the
ones
like
Amelie,
Life
is
Beautiful,
Slumdog
Millionaire,
etc.
We
call
them
art
house
cinema.
Slumdog
was
never
intended
to
be
a
commercial
film.
These
films
are
accepted
around
the
world
because
it
has
a
certain
soul.
An
action
film
is
something
that
you
can
see
quite
often.
Like,
I
can
see
a
Broken
Arrow,
Die
Hard,
Bad
Boys,
etc.
You
don't
watch
such
films
for
the
acting
potential
nor
for
the
script.
You
watch
them
because
they
look
nice
and
it
entertains
you.
With
Blue,
we
want
people
to
sit
back,
be
entertained
and
walk
out.
Any
new
breed
of
filmmakers
you
look
up
to
and
are
you
ready
for
the
October
16?
My
three
favourites
are
Imtiaz
Ali,
Sriram
Raghavan
and
Anurag
Kashyap.
I
think
the
trio
is
absolutely
brilliant.
Today's
times
are
such
that
I
know
the
people
from
the
industry
who
want
others
films
to
flop.
I
still
don't
get
the
reason
why
because
when
I
sit
with
a
few
people
from
the
trade,
they
say,
"Uski
picture
toh
pitegi".
They
don't
understand
a
simple
formula.
The
more
the
films
work,
the
better
for
us.
We
can
make
more
films,
more
directors
will
come
in
the
business,
more
actors
will
get
work.
With
Blue,
I
want
more
people
to
make
larger
than
life
kind
of
cinema.
I
just
hope
people
open
up
and
wish
well
for
the
entire
film
industry
than
just
their
own
films.