Director’s Cut

Making a movie is all about patience says this director, whose debut was eight years in the making.

As a child, I used to hate my dad for making us wait at railway stations to catch the train. I have often waited at the Chandrapur railway station in Maharashtra to go to Palakkad in Kerala. For a 5.30 pm train, we would be there at 1 pm.

I would spend my time counting the number of coaches of umpteen trains that passed by. I would be shooed away by the Wheeler bookshop owner for trying to read the magazines on display without paying for them. I would look at the dogs sniffing the shit people left behind on the tracks when trains halted. What if the dogs were passing their time guessing shit from Bhatinda or Coimbatore?

I must thank my dad one day. That experience of waiting is what actually helped me make my first feature film. Making a movie is all about waiting. You need to wait till you get a producer. Then you wait for the cast. Often, it is the other way around.

You then have to wait for the dialogues to be finished, if you already have a script. Dialogues over, you then wait for shooting dates from the cast. You have to wait for the shoot to start. For filming to end, so that post-production can commence. You then wait for post-production to finish. And then wait some more months for the film to release. Then you start all over again.

I have been trying to make a movie since 2001. I had been a print, television and internet journalist. I had moved from Delhi to Mumbai and had directed a couple of documentaries. One of them was on Mumbai’s underworld, shot wonderfully by the mercurial Hemant Chaturvedi. He told me he’d showed Ram Gopal Varma the film, before they started work on Company.

One day, a friend arranged a meeting with a dubious film financier in Orchid Hotel, Mumbai. The financier asked me if I had any experience working on a film. I said no. He asked me if I could get any stars. I said no. How can I trust you with a couple of crore then, he asked?

I went home and made a list of three directors who I wanted to work with—Mani Ratnam, Shekhar Kapur and Ram Gopal Varma. After months of hot pursuit (Mani Sir is busy, Mani Sir hasn’t come in, Mani Sir is working on his script, Mani Sir already has his team), I gave up on my Chennai hero.

Through my journo pals, I found out that Shekhar Kapur was busy making Four Feathers. That he would be tied up for at least the next two years.

In 2003, after chasing Ram Gopal Varma for a period of eight months, he finally took me on. I was hired as the Chief Assistant Director for Ek, the Rs 100 crore international project . I was thrilled. So what if I was being paid a measly Rs 15,000 per month? My mother was flabbergasted. Why would such a big director pay so less, she asked? My dad asked with the sarcasm that I have inherited, “Isn’t that what you were paid as a journo ten years ago?” Usually, people’s salaries increase.

Fifteen days later, Ek was put on hold. I was made chief assistant director on the film Naach, which Ramu had taken over to direct from Pravin ‘Vishram’ Sawant (that’s another story). Post Naach, Ramu again revived Ek and asked me to rewrite the screenplay. Percept announced that it would produce the film. Ramu and Shailendra Singh went to Hollywood. When they came back, Ek was shelved again.

I told Ramu I wanted to direct a film. He read my screenplay and liked it. The film was called Breaking New/News. With Ramu’s approval, I met actors. Ajay Devgan said no. Anil Kapoor and Vivek Oberoi said yes, then later no. Finally Ritesh Deshmukh and Arjun Rampal said yes.

I waited for the shoot to start.

And then, Ramu and K Sera Sera’s Factory went bust.

I told Ramu I wanted to hawk News to other producers. He said okay. So there started my journey all over again, meeting producers and actors. I had finally roped in KK, Madhavan and Vinod Khanna. But in 2006, no producer was willing to bank a film on them. I lost my actors dates. I started waiting again.

I then met Ritesh again and narrated him a comedy drama. He loved it and suggested that a producer friend, Ravi Walia (of De Taali), would be interested. I was delighted. Ravi signed me on as writer-director. I pulled in Arshed Syed for dialogues (Arshed wrote the charming Dasvidaniya later).

Ritesh, who is a gem of a guy, and I met often discussing dates. Witty Mushtaq Sheikh (writer of numerous books on Shah Rukh Khan) was a creative consultant. But something would always crop up. Like Sanjay Dutt’s release from jail—Dhamaal had to be shot quickly. Cash was getting delayed. Then Heyy Baby had a long schedule. Meanwhile, The Unforgettable Tour was rescheduled. And then Mushtaq was busy with Om Shanti Om.

Have you heard about the six degrees of separation theory? Story of my life. I can blame the Bachchans and SRK for delaying my film.

Fifteen months after we started, I informed Ravi and Ritesh that it was best we put aside the comedy drama project. We hugged and parted.

In 2007, my friend Anil Sharma Senior (who later directed Dil Kabbadi) recommended my name to Shailesh Singh, who had produced Onir’s Bas Ek Pal. Shailesh wanted to make a small budget film, Katti, which had children as protagonist. Would I direct? He would get Sanjay Suri, Juhi Chawla and Urmila Matondkar. I said yes, of course.

Over two months, we auditioned hundreds of children, finalised them and started the shoot. The locations were real and amazing. Eight days of shoot later, after finishing a sizeable portion with the wonderful kids, we had to finally get the actors. Shailesh said he couldn’t get them. He also said he was not happy with the realistic manner in which the slum portion was shot. He added that there was no market for films with children as protagonists.

Three months later, Tare Zameen Par was released. One year later, Slumdog Millionaire came up.

I waited.

I knew exactly what the dog was doing on the railway track.

In March, I was in Chennai trying my luck with some actors and producers there to make a Tamil film when I got a call from Magna Films. I went to meet Nari Hira, the publishing magnate (Stardust, Savvy, Society). As a journalist, I had heard that he was flamboyant, charming and had a shrewd nose for business. My sources were right.

He said he had a film project called Accident on Hill Road.

Would I direct it?

This time, I got on the train and have completed the journey.

BollywooddirectorMahesh Nair