Abhinav Kashyap’s Besharam ways
The director of blockbuster ‘Dabbang’ believes in carrying forward his legacy of delivering commercial hits
Director
Abhinav Kashyap believes in carrying forward his experiences and
formula that worked while directing the blockbuster film, ‘Dabbang’ and
apply onto his upcoming Ranbir Kapoor starrer ‘Besharam’.“‘Dabbang was a commercial hit. I hope ‘Besharam’ will also be a hit. I have developed an instinct while making ‘Dabbang’ and owing to that I always try to pen down the script which I always feel will work. I discussed the script to many people but they all rejected it reacting — what kind of a script is this? I was thrown out from many offices and many doors were shut on my face,” he says and adds, “Finally, it was Arbaaz Khan who understood my script. But even he had doubts initially and only after he consulted his father Salim Khan who used to write these kinds of subjects for films, did he give a go ahead signal.”
Talking about how rejections are part and parcel of the industry and how one should take it in his stride, he shares, “However, ‘Dabbang’ being rejected by many production houses garnered stupendous success at the box office. Mine was not the only deal that went sour. ‘Son of Sardaar’ producers too ended up selling it to Eros. I have learnt never to take yourself seriously. For me it’s a success that after ‘Dabbang’, every hero grew a moustache and played the role of police in that year.” Adding why ‘Besharam’ too initially faced rejection by producers, he says,“ ‘Besharam’ was rejected by Viacom due to commercial reasons. I had an arrangement with Viacom, which worked until just for a year. When the management changed, the new ones didn’t like the terms and conditions and tried to renegotiate with me. And I didn’t agree to their new terms. In re-negotiation, I would have suffered losses. So, I moved out and got into a deal with Reliance. I am happy to have struck a fair deal with them and they have been very bankable.”
Talking about the title of the film and how it was up for grabs, he shares, “‘Besharam’ title was out there in public domain. It’s just that no one had used it; I thought the title went with my script and when I found that the title was not registered, I said let’s grab it.”
Talking about his choice of lead, he says, “Ranbir was the first actor who came into my mind and even in the process of writing, it was just Ranbir.” Talk about peeing becoming Ranbir’s trademark, he shares, “He did in ‘Barfi!’ it was a hit. He did it in ‘Rockstar’ and ‘Yeh Jawani hai Deewani’. So, peeing has become a mascot. And these are things we do in daily life.”
He shares how he felt intimidated by veteran actor, Rishi Kapoor’s presence on the sets and shares, “When Rishi was there on sets, I used to feel scared. He had this habit of speaking in a high pitch and then he had tantrums as well. But once you get to know him well, you get used to it. Unquestionably then, he is a really sweet and good person.” Sharing more about Rishi’s finicky ways, he adds, “I remember I was not able to meet him. So I went to his place where Ganapati was being celebrated and he was doing the ‘aarti’. Once the ‘aarti’ was done, I touched his feet and then asked him about work and he just threw me out of his house. Later on through SMS he informed me that you should never come to my home at such pious occasions and talk work.”
He shares how the whole idea of having the whole Kapoor clan in the film came about and says, “I pondered over a bit over my character who was to be a male assistant to Rishi. I decided to change it to a female assistant and the idea of bringing all three family members cropped up into my mind. It is thus Neetu was signed.”
Having worked with the father son duo, he feels that Ranbir has inherited a lot of professionalism from his dad and says, “ I feel Ranbir inherits most traits as a person from his mother but his passion for his work comes from his father. He is not a casanova. It’s unlucky that when he started dating Deepika, ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’ got released and then he broke up with her. So people called him a flirt.” And adds, “Yes, Ranbir is already a superstar. Not that Khan’s are down but just that age is not on their side. So, Ranbir with his body of work is a superstar. He should rule the celluloid for the next 15 -20 years.”
Sharing his reasons on his choice of heroine, he shares, “Pallavi came through a series of auditions and she was finally approved by Viacom, myself and Ranbir. I am not dating her. It is just media who creates these stories. I am a happily married man with two daughters.”
If given a chance, the director would love to once again work with Salman Khan and shares,”I will work with Salman if I have a script. I have never met or interacted with him after ‘Dabbang’. During that time, Salman worked with me because he was not a huge star as he is now. And even then it was Arbaaz who brought him into my film.” And adds, “I worked with him on a professional level. And once that was over, I didn’t meet him. I have never had any personal relationship with him. I was never his friend. But that doesn’t mean there is any rivalry between the two. If I have a script for him, I will surely approach him.”
Lipika Varma
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