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Your movie Blood
Friday - in a few words, what is it about?
Blood
Friday
is the story of 5 people driven by a common hatred who
plan a deadly attack on the Muslims in Mumbai. Your
movie's central theme is terrorism. So have you ever personally been
affected by acts of terrorism, and where do you think does justified
resistance end and terrorism begin? Mumbai unfortunately
has had its share of bomb blasts. By the grace of God, no one I know has
been ever killed in a terrorist strike but these incidents leave an impact
on your mind. It makes you think and fear about the safety of your near
and dear ones I remember once that my mother had just alighted off a
train and a few minutes later there was a blast in the very same
compartment.The government has woken up and made stricter rules - there
are now cctv's and policemen with guns patrolling our railway stations and
streets ... all this cannot be ignored. I feel that the whole concept of
remotely planting a bomb and killing innocent people is the act of a
coward. So whatever be a person's circumstances taking the law in your own
hands and killing innocent people can never be justified. How much research
did actually go into writing the script? And when you conceived the whole
thing, did you put more emphasis on the political or the thriller aspects
of your story? I wanted each one of the terrorists to have
a different plausible background and the places mentioned in the film have
actually witnessed terror strikes and communal riots. So yes there was a
considerable amount of research done. I feel that a good movie is one
which keeps a viewer on the edge of his seat. Having said that, the content
also needs to be very appealing and people need to connect to the story
and I worked on both aspects. Of the rag tag team of terrorists in your
movie - who can you relate to the most, who do you think is the most
sincere in his/her motives and why?
I think I can relate
most to the gang leader Rajveer and feel that he is most sincere to the
cause, as he was able to balance a professional and his family life along
with running his gang of terrorists. You've cast yourself
in the lead role. So to what extent could you identify with your character,
and what did you draw upon to bring him to life? I am good
at multitasking and so I could some how relate to the character. I grew a
beard for about 3 months to add more weight to the character. Do talk
about the rest of your cast for a bit, and why exactly these people? When
we started casting, I hardly knew many actors and started placing ads on
social networking sites. Lots of girls wanted to do the lead role but were
not willing to give the required time to my project, and since it was a
pivotal role I wasn't ready to take a chance and as a result the project
got delayed for a few months. Finally one day I saw Agnijita walking
across the street. I stopped her, introduced myself, narrated my script
and she agreed to do it. All my actors were new, but they looked the part,
believed in my script and were ready to do what I wanted them to do. How
would you describe your directorial approach to the story at hand? Once
the story and the locations were locked, I sat down with my DOP and we did
the shot divisions so on the day of the shoot we knew exactly what to do.
Before that we did some rehearsals with some of the actors and I briefed
them on what I was looking for. What
can you tell us about the actual shoot and the on-set atmosphere? I
remember on the first day of the shoot we were going to do the terrace
scene and it was raining really bad, and since it was an outdoor schedule
I was worried that I might have to cancel the whole thing, but it stopped
raining soon. The outdoor locations on the streets were real locations and
not a movie set. Also the religious monument is a an actual structure
called Haji Ali, and all the people you see are real people and not extras.
We were initially worried about this kind of guerrilla shooting, but
thankfully we were able to pull it off.
A
few words about audience and critical reception so far - and where can
your movie be seen to begin with?
The film is the official selection of the My Mumbai Short Film Festival
2013. It has been screened at the Chandigarh Creative Cinema
Circle in
Chandigarh, India. The film has garnered over 33,000 hits on YouTube and
has been viewed by people in over 162 countries worldwide so far.The film
can be viewed in any language by selecting captions and is available at
the following link: http://youtu.be/iI1tcQe67QY
What got you into
filmmaking in the first place, and did you receive any formal training on the
subject? I did an acting and basic filmmaking course from Actor Prepares. I started doing theater as well but
wasn't
really doing anything mainstream. So although I had never written a
script before I wrote Blood Friday,
I went ahead and made the film. Any future projects you'd like to share? I am currently in the process of writing a new
screenplay which will be a crime drama. How would
you describe yourself as an actor, writer and director? This
is my first film and it has been a learning experience for me. As an actor
I like to rehearse and understand the feeling that goes behind the lines.
I like to improvise rather than say the exact memorized words. When I direct
I like to see natural performances rather than acting from my
actors. As a writer I like to refine and constantly evolve my script until
I am satisfied. Filmmakers,
writers, actors, whatever else who inspire you? I am
greatly influenced by the Films of Vijay Anand, Hrishikesh Mukherjee,
Charles Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Akira
Kurosawa, Werner Herzog, Clint Eastwood, Sam Mendes, Christopher Nolan,
Farhan Akhtar, Nagesh Kukunoor, Ben Affleck & Park Chan-wook. Your
favourite movies?
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It is a long list: Jewel Thief, Guide,
Satyakam, Circus, Modern Times, The Great Dictator,
Psycho, Rope, Rebecca, Vertigo, The
Birds, Raging Bull, Taxi
Driver, Gangs of New York,
The Departed, 7 Samurai, Encounters at the End of the World,
Million Dollar Baby, Se7en, Silence of the Lambs, City of
God, American Gangster, Castaway, Children of Heaven,
Casino Royale, The Motorcycle Diaries, Oldboy,
Turtles can Fly, Road to Perdition,The Dark
Knight, The Town, Cinema Paradiso, The
Shining, Pan's Labyrinth and
Schindler's List.
But my most favourite film is Chaplin's The Kid. ... and of course, films you really
deplore? I do not like films inspired, copied. remade or
lifted from other films. Also I can't sit through films which are
predictable. Your/your movie's website, Facebook, YouTube,
whatever else?
My film is available for viewing at:
http://youtu.be/iI1tcQe67QY
Anything else you are dying to mention
and I have merely forgotten to ask? No. Thanks for the
interview!
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