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'I loved playing leader on the sets'
Director Anant Mahadevan says his debut directorial film has a happy ending with a suspense
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Vickey Lalwani
Anant Mahadevan seems to be on the threshold of sparking off a new wave of cinema in India.
His directorial debut Dil Vil Pyar Vyar is ready for release. The film stars R Madhavan, Namrata Shirodkar, Sanjay Suri, Sonali Kulkarni, Jimmy Shergill and Hrishita Bhatt in lead roles, along with Rakesh Bapat, Bhavna Pani, Kiran Kumar, Reeta Bhaudri, Gulshan Kumar and Dipannita Sharma (in a special appearance).
At his tastefully decorated Metalight Productions office at Andheri (a Mumbai suburb), Anant starts off on a light note, "Dil Vil Pyaar Vyar has had a normal pregnancy period of nine months. So there is no reason why the delivery should go bust. The shooting took six months, followed by three months of post-production work."
Anant compares his entry to film direction to India's favourite sport, cricket. "Whoever plays Ranji trophy [at the state level], dreams of playing Test Cricket [at the international level]. Same here. I played a lot of Ranji trophy matches --- acting on stage, television serials and films, and directing television serials and telefilms."
"I loved playing leader on the sets! Which cricketer does not want to be the captain of his team? Seriously, one cannot alienate writing, acting, directing, editing and cinematography. Every person worth his salt would like to have a knowledge of all the departments of cinema. I never miss an opportunity to gain an insight into every aspect of this art. At times, I even think like a producer. That helps me put myself into others' shoes, thereby expanding my horizon."
Anant explains how Dil Vil Pyar Vyar was conceived. "I had this uncontrollable itch to direct a film. I was toying with many scripts and negotiating with many producers. I almost ended up making a film for the National Films' Development Corporation [NFDC] and Venus, when [producer] Viveck Vaswani called me and said he has this concept of three love stories coming together on one platform, using R D Burman's music. At first, I thought this would be too demanding for my first venture. Later, I thought let's play Australia rather than Bangladesh. The film is a tribute to Burman. I have included as many as 14 of his chartbusting compositions."
The director then sat with his scriptwriters and wrote the screenplay. Sudesh Iyer and Viveck Vaswani from Metalight Productions stepped in as the financer and creative producer respectively.
Anant admits that though he has directed talented artistes like Farooque Shaikh, Deepak Tijori and Satish Shah on the small screen, he was nervous when he first began directing for Dil Vil Pyar Vyar. "Soon, however, the ball rolled," he states.
Of course, shooting for the big screen was no cake walk for the young director. "Mahima Chaudhry shocked me by walking out a day before her shooting was about to roll. She demanded twice her normal price. The sets were ready at the R K Studios, Chembur [a Mumbai suburb]. However, Viveck roped in Namrata and everything settled down."
Today, music is a decisive factor for most films. Anant felt apprehensive about his film's music, as he projected tunes that had already been heard before. "But I realised that R D Burman is the only music director whose music still does not sound old; his numbers are way ahead of the times. So why not to use his numbers in a new light? I am not projecting them as they were. With due to respect to those who shot those numbers, I feel they did a very tacky job. Even [Hollywood films] Going Steady and Forrest Gump had used old numbers in a young context."
Anant elaborates on the challenges he faced on the music front: "People should not mistake this film's music for a music album or a remixed one. Babloo Chakravarty gave new arrangements for every song by adding his own elements. The idea was: if Panchamda [as R D Burman was fondly called] were alive today, how would he have sounded in these songs --- with so many tracks and Dolby digital sound? Touchwood, we have been vindicated. In the first ten days after the music was released in the market, HMV released seven lakh units which has surpassed all their releases so far."
The singers, whom he approached, were also not comfortable with the idea of singing to Panchamda's compositions. "Kavita Krishnamurthy said she would not be able to sing Kya jaanu saajan kya hoti hai sham (Baharon Ke Sapne), saying, how could she do a Lata Mangeshkar! Ditto for Alka Yagnik when she heard that we wanted her to sing Tere bin zindagi se koi shikva toh nahin (Aandhi). Kavita's husband L Subramaniam opined that we had a beautiful project on hand. Thankfully, later, they were on."
Anant claims he had no hassles with his producers, Metalight Productions. "I would never do a project if I did not control the reins. Keeping the producer's budget in mind, I had a say in the casting, costumes, cameras, songs and fight sequences. What more could I ask for?"
"I have shot some interesting scenes on railway stations and flyovers," continues Anant. "There is a scene at the Andheri railway station, showing Jimmy boarding a crowded local train. There is another at the Bandra (another Mumbai suburb) flyover, where urchins surrounded Jimmy's car --- the police tried chasing them away but I forbade them. I wanted the scene to look real."
Anant delves into the story. Dil Vil Pyar Vyar revolves around three love stories. Krish (Madhavan) and Raksha (Namrata) are newlyweds whose marriage is put to the test. Raksha succeeds as a singer while Krish is still struggling. Rich guy Hrithik (Jimmy) falls in love for the penniless but proud Goan girl Jojo (Hrishita). She is not convinced that Hrithik can make a living by himself.
Dev (Sanjay) is a music company executive who loses his wife Payal (Dipannita) in an accident. He moves to Mumbai from Pune with his sister Rachna (Bhavna), where Gauri (Sonali) lives with her paralytic brother Gaurav (Rakesh).
Sanjay then has to find the money to cure Gauri's brother, which is the only way they can live happily. Then, Rachna falls in love with Gaurav. The three stories merge into the climax --- a "mega singing competition."
Anant adds, "The shades of love are reflected in an unusual blend of colour. Keeping the characters in mind, Madhavan and Namrata's story is told in hues of blue and grey. Sonali and Sanjay have more earthy tones like rust, yellow and green, while Hrishita and Jimmy have bright pastels and sunny colours to depict a vibrant mood. Together, the colours fuse into white for the grand finale."
Suddenly, he does a volte face. "It is a happy ending but there is suspense. Only one man wins the competition. You have to guess who!" he winks.
Besides this, Anant is already busy with his next film, Farida Jalal's first production Yeh Dil Maange More It deals with three girls and a boy (Tusshar Kapoor). "You will be on the edge of your seat wondering who will get Tusshar in the end," claims Anant. Hrishita Bhatt is one of the girls. The others are yet to be finalised. The film will go on the floors in October.