Being a Sofa
During the voluble promotion(s) of Dil Dhadakne Do, there was something very subtle going on as well. In an interview conducted by Anupama Chopra, the great Shefali Shah gave her cinematic gyaan/life-lesson in just three words. Amidst the noise created by Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh and Anil Chopra, her words sharply and succinctly put forth what she thought of all this ‘Shor in the City.’
She was talking to actors when she said that ‘we’ should be fine being a sofa when the scene requires it. Her calmness transformed the tone of the interview, and for good. Ranveer made a joke about how he is wearing a shirt with chairs printed on it, but even he knows that he is loud, most of the time. Luckily for him, he has worked with directors like Vikramaditya Motwane and Sanjay Leela Bhansali who know well to tap the right side of him — the side that appreciates nuance.
In terms of casting and collaborations, Indian Cinema is at a wonderful juncture. Now when I say indian cinema, know that I am not limiting myself to only major production houses. I’ve been in the scene long enough to know how a Court is different from a Manjhi: The Mountain Man, in terms of scale. And how a Mary Kom is different from a Paan Singh Tomar; both of the same sports biopic genre but movies received differently.
One should look at Dharma Productions for some clarity about what is happening in Bollywood right now. This is a production house that subtly pushes the envelope(s) around it. They’ll put a lengthy disclaimer in front of a beautiful movie (Wake Up Sid), and then some years later come out with a brilliantly cast Hannah and Her Sisters inspired Kapoor and Sons. Why Ayan Mukerji derailed into the pomp and show YJHD is a different open-letter altogether.
From Dharma’s ‘Calculated Nepotism’ (with Alia, Siddharth and Varun) to Dharma joining hands with the producers of Baahubali, there are visible changes in the way Indian Cinema works now. Why I am interested in only the front-runners is an issue I am working on, but the thing to note here is that movie-makers like Gandhi, Kiran Rao, Harshavardhan Kulkarni have made good movies, and their channels of inspiration are also all too visible now.
I wonder if Band Baaja Baaraat would have come out the way it did if Ranveer Singh had met Shefali’s calm earlier, or if Shanoo Sharma just hadn’t noticed him. This is why Luck By Chance is a brilliant depiction of what goes around behind the curtains.
And what was the exact effect of Anil Kapoor’s Oscar front page picture?
I like ending with rhetorical questions, so I end this here. Until then, keep it subtle. Being a sofa isn’t hard.
