Posts Tagged ‘onir’
SUBHASH K JHA Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; December 7, 2009)
Feeling the pain
Posted on: November 11, 2009
Playing a child abuser in Onir’s My Name Is Abhimanyu was the hardest thing that Anurag Kashyap has done. “And not only because I’ve been a victim of child abuse for 11 long years,” confesses Anurag, “But because the child whom I had to abuse on screen was blissfully innocent and oblivious of what I was doing.
By entering the mind of a child abuser, I realised what I had been through as a child,” Anurag blurts out.
Toughest was the part where Anurag, playing the child’s stepfather, had to bathe the little boy. “The child actor doesn’t have a father in real life. He was completely taken up by the act of his screen father, me, bathing him. After the shot, he ran to his mother to ask why he didn’t have a father to bathe him in this way. That’s when I realised how easy and how sinful it is for a man to sexually abuse a child. A simple routine exercise like a father bathing a child could be entirely stripped of its innocence by the man perpetrating the act,” says a distressed Anurag.
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| Anurag Kashyap |
Anurag chose to play the abuser because the story had to be told. He says, “No actor was willing to play the child abuser. Having gone through the ordeal for 11 years, I realised it was very important for the victim and for the attacker to be played properly. I hated myself for playing the perpetrator of such a crime. But someone had to do the job or the story would remain untold.”
Anurag says he has forgiven the man who abused him. He says, “I met him after many years. He wasn’t some dirty old man. He was 22 when he abused me. He was guilt-ridden when we met. I decided to put the whole nightmare behind me and move on. But it wasn’t easy. I came to Mumbai brimming with angst, bitterness and a sense of violation and isolation. Thanks to the love of my life, Kalki Koechlin, I am completely cured of my acrimony.”
Let’s talk about Sex baby!
Posted on: September 30, 2009
BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL: (From top) Stills from Luck By Chance, Kaminey, Love Aaj Kal
DEEPALI DHINGRA Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; September 29, 2009)
Did you cringe with discomfort when a seemingly innocent child woman Isha Sherwani seduced Farhan Akhtar into bed in Luck By Chance? Or, more recently, when a salwar kameez-clad Priyanka Chopra managed to convince a reluctant Shahid Kapoor to have sex with her in Kaminey, by telling him that she knows ‘homescience’ and that it’s ‘safe to do it’? More likely than not, you smiled at their boldness and prepared for more to come. Seduction was a game played by vamps in Bollywood in the 70s and 80s. Much later, lead actresses like Bipasha Basu and Priyanka Chopra were sexually charged in Jism and Aitraaz respectively. But even then, they were the ‘bad girls’. Well, times have changed — even the ‘good’ girls are taking a turn for the ‘bad’ and the audiences are lapping it up!
Watch newcomer Mahie Gill throwing herself in full abandon at Abhay Deol in a mustard field in Dev. D and you’ll know what we’re talking about. Trade analyst Komal Nahta says he isn’t surprised at this change. “Films, after all, are a reflection of today. Girls are proposing to guys, they are using seduction as a tool even in real life. The major composition of the audience comprises youth, so they have to show what the young generation identifies with,” he says. So Kareena Kapoor playfully hands Akshay Kumar her bra in Tashan and Konkona SenSharma suggests a quick bout of love-making to Rahul Bose in Dil Kabaddi before they turn in for the night and Deepika Padukone has no qualms with Saif Ali Khan kissing her full on the mouth in the car in Love Aaj Kal. Agrees Mahie, “Reel life follows real life. Women today are more vocal about their sexual desires than what they were about a decade back. The audience today wants to see characters they can identify with. That’s why the boldness depicted by the newer lot of actresses has been accepted.”
According to film director Onir, a growing section of audiences in urban centres are accepting this change. “Independent working women watch these films with their male friends and colleagues who treat them as equals and therefore, accept their portrayal on screen as well,” he says. Also, the younger generation of filmmakers who have grown up seeing women as friends and colleagues, are showing female characters as they are, says Onir.
deepali.dhingra@timesgroup.com
SUBHASH K JHA (Mid-Day; August 7, 2009)
Unable to gather sufficient funds for five different films, filmmaker Onir has decided to merge the five films and release it as one. The film’s budget is approximately Rs 1.5 crore. He made My Brother Nikhil four years ago at the same budget.
Own your film
The filmmaker is using unconventional funding to make this film. He announced on Facebook that anyone could own their new film called I Am. There was an avalanche of volunteer producers. At last count, they had 300-350 producers. The entire crew will be paid only when the film gets sold.
Says Onir, “It started with my determination to make a film called You & I on child abuse. No producer or corporate house was willing to back the project. They didn’t find it a ‘safe’ project. Sanjay Suri came up with the idea of doing five different films in one, all financed by different people.
I decided to go for an unusual form of funding and extend the ideas of identity and the fear of sustaining that identity in a world of cynicism and intolerance. Five different stories will be released as one film in India.”
The most interesting part of this cinematic experiment is that they’re all based on the brutalisation of true characters who will make an appearance at the end of each segment. Each film will be shot in a different city Mumbai, Delhi, Srinagar and Kolkata. Each character is culture-specific to the city. Every story has a contemporary resonance.”
Hum 5!
1. I Am Omar
Starring: Rahul Bose, Abhimanyu Singh, Saahil Saigal, it’s about article 377, the nexus between sex workers and cops. To be shot in Mumbai from August 15
2. I Am Afia
Starring: Kalki and possibly Arjun Mathur. About misappropriation of NGO funds. To be shot in Delhi
3. I Am Abhimanyu
Starring: Sanjay Suri, Radhika Apte, Anurag Kashyap, Rahul Bose, Pooja Gandhi. About child sexual abuse already shot in Bangalore
4. I Am Megha
Starring: Juhi Chawla and Sanjay Suri. Story of two women in Kashmir, one a Kashmiri Pundit, the other Muslim. To be shot in Srinagar from Oct 1
4. I Am Rudra
Starring: Purab Kohli. About the Maoist movement. To be shot in Kolkata
Fenil and Bollywood 