May 14, 2010: ANURAG BASU confesses to JYOTHI VENKATESH that though Kangana Ranaut has always been his lucky mascot right from the time he had made Gangster with her, he did not consider her for Kites, because she has done bigger roles and he did not want to waste her in a small role in a film where already there were bigger roles for bigger stars like Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Mori.

Is Kites the costliest film of yours till date?

I confess that Kites is the costliest film that I have made ever since I had started my career with Saaya. Till date, whether it was Saaya or Murder or for that matter Gangster or Life In A Metro, any of the films that I directed must not have touched more than four or six crores. In fact, meri chaadar mere paironse aaj tak bahut chote the. I always used to plan the budget of my film even when I was writing the subject. When Rakesh Roshan asked me to direct Kites for him, I asked him what the budget of the film ought to be. However, he told me very graciously not to think about the budget when I set out to write the subject of Kites. Mujhe shuruwaat mein hi choot mil gayi thi.

What was your reaction when Rakesh Roshan called you over to his office?

When Rakesh Roshan asked me to come over to his office, I actually thought that he wanted me just as a script writer and I did not even dream that he wanted me to direct his film. It sunk in only later that he wanted me to write as well as direct Kites for his banner. I should confess that I was pampered to the hilt by Rakesh Roshan. Till date, I had never shot for more than 60 days for any of my film. To tell the truth, I was initially scared to tell Rakesh Roshan that I needed 60 to 90 days to shoot for Kites and hence I asked him in how many days we should wrap up the shoot for Kites and he told me to take 120 days. I was very relieved.

How tough was it to weave a story around the actor for the first time?

Till Kites, I have always written the story first and thought of the casting only after the script was ready. However Kites was an exception to my rule. When Rakesh Roshan asked me whether I had a story for Hrithik Roshan, I was game immediately because I thought that I should now cash in on the fact that I had an International star like Hrithik Roshan. A director tends to be greedy when there are a lot of resources at his disposal when he sets out to make a film. I told myself not to let myself get into the flow, because it was very essential for me to maintain my grip on my story and not lose it because of opulence.

What is the reason behind making the English version of Kites?

All other countries in Asia also believe in drama, like us in India. The biggest challenge for a filmmaker in India is to cater to pan India. Now a new challenge has emerged for Indian filmmakers, because they have to cater to the audiences in USA and UK too. We in India have always had the hunger to make the International audiences recognize our talent. I wanted the non Hindi speaking people also to see the film and connect to its emotion. Ideally, I wanted both the Hindi as well as the English version of Kites to have the same length, because the soul of both the versions is the same.

To what extent did Rakesh Roshan interfere with you as a producer?

There was no interference at all from a senior film maker like Rakesh Roshan though he is the producer of Kites. If you remember, I had walked out of my first film as a director when there was interference from Ekta Kapoor and my career could have come to a screeching halt if Mr. Mahesh Bhatt had not come to my rescue at that point of time, and I was on the right track with films like Saaya and Murder. All said and done, I’d state that it is only when there is a lot of discussion between the producer and the director that your script becomes fool proof.

Is it true that you cast Kangana Ranaut in Kites because you consider her your lucky mascot?

Though Kangana Ranaut has always been my lucky mascot right from the time that I had made Gangster with her, I did not consider her at all for Kites, because she has done bigger roles and I did not want to waste her in a small role in a film where already there were bigger roles for bigger stars like Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Mori. However, Kangana kept on calling me up and asking me why I was not casting her in my film. What touched me was the fact that she knew the length of the role and yet wanted to be a part of the film. I am grateful to her because she has done this only because of me. Kangana allotted ten days for the rehearsals for the dance though she is only doing a guest appearance in the film.

Why did you think of zeroing in on Barbara Mori?

We needed a Spanish actress in the romantic lead opposite Hrithik Roshan because it is an international cross culture love story. We could have cast a Russian girl or a Japanese girl too but then I have this weakness for Spanish girls like Salma Hayek. We had auditioned about a hundred and odd girls but decided to zero in on Barbara Mori when we saw Barbara Mori’s pictures on the internet and read all about her. In fact, I made it a point to see her film My Brother’s Wife and was impressed by her performance in it.

Was it easy to convince Barbara to agree to do the film?

Rakesh Roshan and I, with Hrithik Roshan, went from India to Los Angeles, while Barbara Mori came from Mexico to Los Angeles. At that time, she knew just 10% of the English that she knows now and hence my narration of the subject went on for almost four and a half hours. By the time the narration was over, both Rakeshji and I could feel that she could connect with the story. When the narration was over, she just said that she wanted to do the film and asked us to deal the rest with her manager. It was quite daring on the part of Barbara to have immediately accepted our offer to be cast in Kites because she is a huge star in Mexico and Spain. Barbara did not find singing and dancing in Hindi films very attractive. Before I met her, she had seen my film Life In A Metro to know what kind of a director I was and hence her knowledge of Bollywood was restricted to just that. We showed her Jodha Akbar after she was on board, and she found it to be too long.

To what extent could you empathise with Barbara because she too had battled against cancer successfully like you?

I did not cast Barbara Mori just because she had also battled against cancer and emerged victorious like me. (Laughs). I did not know that she had fought against cancer till she confessed to me that she had a tough time managing to prevent her hair from falling because she has had to wage a battle with cancer. I told her that I too had a similar problem and did not have hair on my head till Gangster was being made. Our bonding became stronger after that since we could empathise with one another.

Can you evaluate your growth as a filmmaker from Saaya till Kites?

I am learning with every film of mine. Till date I have made Saaya, Murder, Gangster and Life In A Metro. If every film that I have set out to make till date has been different from one another, the reason is that as a filmmaker I do not want to make films in my comfort zone and want to make films which push the envelope.

What is your approach as a filmmaker?

Filmmaking is not at all a personal act. As a filmmaker, I cannot say that I make a film just to please myself. If you have to please yourself you can go ahead and do a painting, because you have to make money in the business of film making. It is the concept that decides the budget of the film. Just because I have made a big budget film like Kites it does not mean that I will henceforth not set out to make any film on a small budget. There are some subjects, which could be risky when you set out to make the films in big budgets and hence you have to continue to make small budget films too.

Which is your next project after Kites?

My next film tentatively titled Silence will be produced by UTV, will have Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra. It is true that I had talks with Katrina Kaif for the role in then film but things did not materialise. It is difficult to match the dates of the artistes these days and you have got to plan your film well in advance. After Silence I want to try my hand at a comedy because I enjoyed doing the comic scenes in Life In A Metro.

Is it true that you are now all set to replace Shekhar Kapoor in India's Got Talent 2?

It is too early for me to divulge the details but I may take up the offer to be a judge in the show since Shekhar Kapoor is now busy with his work on Paani as well as the sequel to Mr. India.

-- Jyothi Venkatesh / Sampurn