Just weeks after the gunfire stopped, some Bollywood producers have already registered film titles about the Mumbai attacks -- suggesting that the bloody events could soon be depicted on screen.
Many of the proposed names focus on the city's Taj Mahal hotel, where a tense 60-hour standoff erupted into fierce gun battles between militants who had stormed the building on November 26 and crack commandos outside.
"We've had about 20 to 25 titles registered so far," Sushma Shiromanee, vice-president of the Indian Motion Pictures and Producers' Association told AFP.
Titles include "The Taj Encounter", "Taj Terror", "Terrorist Attack on the Taj", "Operation Five Star Mumbai" and "Taj to Oberoi", the last referring to the Oberoi/Trident hotel that was also seized.
Each title has been registered for 250 rupees (five dollars). Producers retain the title for 12 months and can renew the copyright for up to three years. If the film is not made, another producer can use the name, Shiromanee said.
The response to disaster is nothing new: a similar flood of applications followed the 2006 Mumbai commuter train blasts that killed more than 180 people.
Four films on those attacks came out to critical acclaim this year alone -- "Black and White", "Aamir", "Mumbai Meri Jaan" (Mumbai My Life) and "A Wednesday" -- all emphasising the Bollywood trend towards contemporary events.
In Hollywood, real-life terror has long been used as source material.
Recent examples include director Steven Spielberg's 2005 film "Munich", recounting the events of the 1972 Olympic Games when 11 Israeli athletes were taken hostage and killed by the Black September group.
"Flight 93", a 2006 made-for-television film, dramatised the doomed attempts of passengers on board a United Airlines flight to overpower hijackers on September 11, 2001.
But with the families of the 163 people who died in the Mumbai attacks still grieving, and tensions running high, not everyone believes it is a good idea to put the events on celluloid so soon.
"It's a bad script. It's an episode of defeat. Who would want to watch it as everything ended on a sad note?" Bollywood film producer-director Vikram Bhatt told the Indo-Asian News Service earlier this month.
Speculation that a Bollywood movie was on the cards began the day after the siege ended at the Taj hotel, when filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma toured the building with the then chief minister of Maharashtra state and his son.
That provoked a storm of complaints, although Varma -- whose credits include "Satya", a well-received film about the Mumbai underworld, and "Company", about exiled mafia don Dawood Ibrahim -- insisted he was not looking to make a movie.
Indu Mirani, the entertainment editor of the Mumbai Mirror newspaper, was sceptical that any of the titles registered on the Mumbai attacks would ever see the light of day.
"Any time anything happens you get people registering titles. But they very rarely get made," she told AFP.
Yet she conceded that films about the three days of terror will eventually be produced, probably focusing on the individual stories of heroes caught up in the violence.
"Tragedies have always been used. But you have to give it time for people to get past it. Then you can make your film. I think tragedy plus time is what's needed," she added.
"Immediately after the tragedy? It's like cashing in on somebody else's loss."
Showing posts with label Ram Gopal Varma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ram Gopal Varma. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Bollywood reacts to Ram Gopal Varma's Taj tour
Bollywood has reacted with horror that one of their own toured the Mumbai terror sites in the immediate wake of a seige that has left the whole world gasping, condemning his intentions, if any, to make a movie on the carnage. Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has now said he did not go to the Taj and Trident with this intention; that his being inside the hotel was a “mere coincidence”.
News channels have turned the focus on RGV’s visit with Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, his film actor son Ritiesh and, allegedly, with his (Varma’s) assistant director. The CM has resigned.
“What was he (Varma) thinking?” said actor Aashish Chaudhary, who lost his sister and brother-in-law in the terror attack at The Trident. “It is not a tourist site or an exhibition.” Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who started his career with RGV, didn’t spare his mentor and said, “No one knows his intention behind taking a tour of Taj. But knowing RGV, one can suspect that he might be interested in making a film on it. If that is so, it’s extremely insensitive of him.” An insider from RGV’s unit said the director was glued to the TV screen like millions of Indians during the dramatic 59 hours of the seige, and had discussed making a film.
The fraternity feels it’s a bit too soon and “immature” to be seen trying to cash in on the tragedy. Actress Simi Garewal said, “Ramu’s act can put the entire film fraternity in question. He should have considered the implications. It is also completely mindless and uncharitable on the CM’s part to take them (RGV and Ritiesh) along.”
Some say he should get the benefit of doubt. “I am not aware of his motives. One should let RGV be. The biggest concern is everyone’s security — that is much more significant than any Ramu paying visit to the Taj,” says director Imtiaz Ali. Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha said, “Ram Gopal Varma seems to have gone a little too far in his attempt to bring realism to the screen. It’s bizarre and shameful.” Rahul Dholakia, who made Parzania, a film based on the Godhra incident, said, “If at all he is planning to make a film, he better be sensitive and have his facts right.”
Ashok Pandit, filmmaker, said, “He has clearly put us to shame. Filmmakers are often accused of capitalising on human tragedies. Being a part of this industry, I find such accusations extremely demeaning. But what can one do when we have people like RGV who just refuse to improve and show any sort of solidarity.”
News channels have turned the focus on RGV’s visit with Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, his film actor son Ritiesh and, allegedly, with his (Varma’s) assistant director. The CM has resigned.
“What was he (Varma) thinking?” said actor Aashish Chaudhary, who lost his sister and brother-in-law in the terror attack at The Trident. “It is not a tourist site or an exhibition.” Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who started his career with RGV, didn’t spare his mentor and said, “No one knows his intention behind taking a tour of Taj. But knowing RGV, one can suspect that he might be interested in making a film on it. If that is so, it’s extremely insensitive of him.” An insider from RGV’s unit said the director was glued to the TV screen like millions of Indians during the dramatic 59 hours of the seige, and had discussed making a film.
The fraternity feels it’s a bit too soon and “immature” to be seen trying to cash in on the tragedy. Actress Simi Garewal said, “Ramu’s act can put the entire film fraternity in question. He should have considered the implications. It is also completely mindless and uncharitable on the CM’s part to take them (RGV and Ritiesh) along.”
Some say he should get the benefit of doubt. “I am not aware of his motives. One should let RGV be. The biggest concern is everyone’s security — that is much more significant than any Ramu paying visit to the Taj,” says director Imtiaz Ali. Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha said, “Ram Gopal Varma seems to have gone a little too far in his attempt to bring realism to the screen. It’s bizarre and shameful.” Rahul Dholakia, who made Parzania, a film based on the Godhra incident, said, “If at all he is planning to make a film, he better be sensitive and have his facts right.”
Ashok Pandit, filmmaker, said, “He has clearly put us to shame. Filmmakers are often accused of capitalising on human tragedies. Being a part of this industry, I find such accusations extremely demeaning. But what can one do when we have people like RGV who just refuse to improve and show any sort of solidarity.”
Monday, December 1, 2008
Did Ram Gopal Varma go too far?
When Mahrashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh was called upon to do a post-attack recee of the Taj Mahal Hotel (Mumbai), which was a target of terrorism only recently, people were shocked that he brought with him son Riteish Deshmukh and filmmaker-friend Ram Gopal Varma.
“What has happened is major. It is sad and disturbing. By taking along son-actor Riteish and director Ramu, our CM has trivialized the whole issue,” opined locals. Other filmmakers like Ashok Pandit, too, didn’t approve of this act. A filmmaker, on conditions of anonymity, reacted, “I don’t believe that Ramu could go to this extent of trying to bring realism to cinema. It was insensitive of him to do such a thing!”
Varma on the other hand thinks he has done no wrong. “I didn’t say a word, I just walked along with a group of men. And no, I’m not planning to make a film on this terrible incident of terrorism,” he told the media. If news is to be believed, RGV went to the ‘site’ as a ‘research mission’ for his film Rann , which has the war of the media as its subject matter.
“What has happened is major. It is sad and disturbing. By taking along son-actor Riteish and director Ramu, our CM has trivialized the whole issue,” opined locals. Other filmmakers like Ashok Pandit, too, didn’t approve of this act. A filmmaker, on conditions of anonymity, reacted, “I don’t believe that Ramu could go to this extent of trying to bring realism to cinema. It was insensitive of him to do such a thing!”
Varma on the other hand thinks he has done no wrong. “I didn’t say a word, I just walked along with a group of men. And no, I’m not planning to make a film on this terrible incident of terrorism,” he told the media. If news is to be believed, RGV went to the ‘site’ as a ‘research mission’ for his film Rann , which has the war of the media as its subject matter.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Check out what Ram Gopal varma’s Agyaat is all about
Ram Gopal Varma was all set to begin his ambitious venture Rann starring Amitabh Bachchan, Ritesh Deshmukh, Gul Panag and Manisha Koirala in early January 2009 but it seems he has decided to put aside this film which was meant to be his take on the Indian media and now concentrate on making a thriller! Titled, Agyaat, Ramu intends to start the film in December and finish the principal photography by January 1st week. There are going to be a lot of Special EFX work after that which will take as long as is required to get the intended effect. The movie will be ready for release in May/June 2009.
The plot of Agyaat according to Ramu, -
A film unit on a shoot in a far away land and in a certain situation gets trapped deep in a forest and one by one the members start getting killed. They all are terrified not knowing whether it is a man or an animal or a creature or what?
Why I selected a film unit to be the protagonists for this story is because a film unit is literally like a walking office in terms of its various hierarchical elements.
A star who is obsessed with himself, a leading lady who bears with him because of his stardom, a director who thinks he will be the next Steven Spielberg, a producer who thinks that the director is screwing up his film, an assistant director who has a crush on the heroine, a script girl who has quite a few things for the assistant director, a frustrated action director who has a hidden maniacal streak in him, a highly subservient spot boy with a very perverted agenda, are just a few of the assorted characters in this story.
Whatever the entity is as it hunts them down, their suppressed passions come forth and they realize that it is not only their lives they are fighting for but it is also for their loves. As they are killed one after the other the remaining desperate characters struggle to survive the entity which is not visible to them, faster than them, smarter than them and hell bent on destroying them.
The film will be very near to a reality show in a certain sense as in putting a set of people in a certain situation and to see what happens to them.
It will have a cast of unknown or little known actors based on the complete suitability of the way the characters are written in the script.
The entity in the film is really a premise and what really is exciting for me in the story is the human drama of how in a given situation the whole film unit’s hierarchical differences get erased and all of them become as human as anybody else when faced with death.
To capture how their attitudes, personalities and inter-relationships change rapidly in the face of the impending danger is what for me is the most exciting and challenging part.
The plot of Agyaat according to Ramu, -
A film unit on a shoot in a far away land and in a certain situation gets trapped deep in a forest and one by one the members start getting killed. They all are terrified not knowing whether it is a man or an animal or a creature or what?
Why I selected a film unit to be the protagonists for this story is because a film unit is literally like a walking office in terms of its various hierarchical elements.
A star who is obsessed with himself, a leading lady who bears with him because of his stardom, a director who thinks he will be the next Steven Spielberg, a producer who thinks that the director is screwing up his film, an assistant director who has a crush on the heroine, a script girl who has quite a few things for the assistant director, a frustrated action director who has a hidden maniacal streak in him, a highly subservient spot boy with a very perverted agenda, are just a few of the assorted characters in this story.
Whatever the entity is as it hunts them down, their suppressed passions come forth and they realize that it is not only their lives they are fighting for but it is also for their loves. As they are killed one after the other the remaining desperate characters struggle to survive the entity which is not visible to them, faster than them, smarter than them and hell bent on destroying them.
The film will be very near to a reality show in a certain sense as in putting a set of people in a certain situation and to see what happens to them.
It will have a cast of unknown or little known actors based on the complete suitability of the way the characters are written in the script.
The entity in the film is really a premise and what really is exciting for me in the story is the human drama of how in a given situation the whole film unit’s hierarchical differences get erased and all of them become as human as anybody else when faced with death.
To capture how their attitudes, personalities and inter-relationships change rapidly in the face of the impending danger is what for me is the most exciting and challenging part.
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