Dibakar Bannerjee talks about his Bombay Talkies experience
News
oi-Tarneet
By Puri
While
making
Bombay
Talkies
with
three
other
directors,
Dibakar
Bannerjee
has
gone
through
the
most
fun
experience
of
his
life
and
he
dreads
leaving
it
behind.
"When
again
would
I
get
the
chance
to
work
so
closely
with
three
of
my
friends
Anurag
Kashyap,
Zoya
Akhtar
and
Karan
Johar," asked
the
successful
auteur.
Bombay
Talkies
is
an
anthology
film
consisting
of
four
short
films
released
May
3.
"We
were
constantly
in
each
other's
space
enjoying
each
other's
works
more
than
our
own.
Not
only
did
we
make
these
four
films
together
we
also
promoted
and
marketed
the
finished
product
together.
There
was
no
sense
of
competition
,only
deep
kinship,"
Bannerjee
said.
Tell
him
that
his
film
has
been
most
deeply
appreciated
of
the
films
comprising
"Bombay
Talkies"
and
Bannerjee
brushes
off
the
compliment,
saying:
"I
am
too
close
to
my
own
work
to
judge
its
value".
"But
my
favourite
film
of
the
omnibus
is
Karan
Johar's.
Not
only
has
he
yanked
himself
out
of
his
comfort
zone
he
has
made
sure
that
he
hasn't
compromised
on
the
telling
of
his
story.
I've
seen
the
response
to
the
gay
kiss
in
his
film.
There's
pindrop
silence.
The
audiences
are
stunned,"
the
director
said.
About
the
presence
of
an
Emu
as
a
pivotal
character
in
his
film
Bannerjee
laughs
and
says:
"That
was
an
idea
given
to
me
by
two
documentary
filmmakers
who
helped
me
with
the
film."
"You
see,
Emu
farming
was
a
major
enterprise
in
innumerable
households
across
Maharashtra
and
other
states
some
four
to
five
years
ago.
It
ruined
so
many
families.
The
Emu
in
Nawazuddin's
home
is
symbolical
of
his
wasted
life."
Filled
with
praise
for
Nawazuddin's
performance
he
says:
"I
wanted
to
work
with
him
for
the
longest
time.
For
many
years
he
had
made
a
habit
of
doing
brilliant
cameos
in
film
after
film.
For
my
film
the
biggest
compliment
Nawaz
got
came
from
Anurag
Kashyap.
After
seeing
my
film
Anurag
said,
'Yeh
Nawaz
hai?' He
is
just
unrecognisable
in
every
character
he
plays."
Bannerjee
urgently
needed
Ranbir
Kapoor
to
make
a
cameo
appearance
in
"Bombay
Talkies".
"I
needed
him
for
one
shot.
But
it
was
impossible
to
get
his
time.
He
was
shooting
far
away
for
his
film
Besharam.
Ranbir
and
I
both
want
to
work
together.
And
it
will
happen
soon," he
said.
At
the
moment
Bannerjee
is
a
hands-on
producer
for
his
erstwhile
assistant
Kanu
Behl's
film
Titli
which
he
and
Yashraj
films
are
co-producing
together.
"I
am
not
thinking
of
directing
another
film
at
the
moment.I
just
want
the
out-of-the-box
experience
of
Bombay
Talkies
to
get
optimum
viewership," he
says
hopefully.