R Balakrishnan better known as Balki, the chairman of Lowe Lintas and the director of Cheeni Kum in his secondmovie Paa, has taken the creative liberty that most filmmakers dare not dream to do. Not only is Mr. Bachchan not in his regular avatar, Balki has also ensured that the film’s marketing campaign has Mr. Bachchan conspicuously missing.
A modest Mr. Bachchan responds, “ The advertising fraternity’s job is a lot more challenging. I’ve always believed that the ad world is filled with professionals and extremely talented people, and they have certain in built qualities which are commensurate with filmmaking The fact that they manage to tell a compelling story in 30 seconds is fascinating, that would just mean for them to extend it to three hours would be a fantastic product.
Part produced by AB Corp, Amitabh Bachchan’s film production company, which was on the brink of bankruptcy some time back, may just finds its fortunes changing with Paa, a project that AB Corp has taken on after three years. Ask why and Mr. Bachchan has lots to say.
“The whole business of owning your creativity has been far too stagnant in our country. If I am giving my creative input, and the product is going to have a certain amount of life, that I should also be beneficiary of that life. I was paid a lakh of rupees to act in Sholay, and 30 years hence, the value of that film has increased multi fold, but I was just paid a lakh. If today there is a value attached to me, and that value and enhanced since the days of Sholay, I should be remunerated accordingly.”
The film was conceptualized in a rather odd way. Balki flashes back, “I was sitting in Amitji’s office one day and Abishek walked in. Amitji was in his element and Abhishek was in of his rare mature moods and a thought just flashed through my mind. If I can in some way reverse the roles of this father son duo, it would make for a compelling film.”
Prod a little more and Balki reveals that after a month of that conversation, he came with a rather light hearted script.. A disallusioned Balki walked out of Mr. Bachchan’s office, when the Bollywood icon failed to show the enthusiasm that Balki felt. “When it comes to a script there are always sensitivities involved. I was in love with my script and was peeved that Mr. Bachchan didn’t share the same emotion. So essentially, I wrote two scripts for Paa, the first was c%#p, the second is this.”
A modest Mr. Bachchan responds, “ The advertising fraternity’s job is a lot more challenging. I’ve always believed that the ad world is filled with professionals and extremely talented people, and they have certain in built qualities which are commensurate with filmmaking The fact that they manage to tell a compelling story in 30 seconds is fascinating, that would just mean for them to extend it to three hours would be a fantastic product.
Part produced by AB Corp, Amitabh Bachchan’s film production company, which was on the brink of bankruptcy some time back, may just finds its fortunes changing with Paa, a project that AB Corp has taken on after three years. Ask why and Mr. Bachchan has lots to say.
“The whole business of owning your creativity has been far too stagnant in our country. If I am giving my creative input, and the product is going to have a certain amount of life, that I should also be beneficiary of that life. I was paid a lakh of rupees to act in Sholay, and 30 years hence, the value of that film has increased multi fold, but I was just paid a lakh. If today there is a value attached to me, and that value and enhanced since the days of Sholay, I should be remunerated accordingly.”
The film was conceptualized in a rather odd way. Balki flashes back, “I was sitting in Amitji’s office one day and Abishek walked in. Amitji was in his element and Abhishek was in of his rare mature moods and a thought just flashed through my mind. If I can in some way reverse the roles of this father son duo, it would make for a compelling film.”
Prod a little more and Balki reveals that after a month of that conversation, he came with a rather light hearted script.. A disallusioned Balki walked out of Mr. Bachchan’s office, when the Bollywood icon failed to show the enthusiasm that Balki felt. “When it comes to a script there are always sensitivities involved. I was in love with my script and was peeved that Mr. Bachchan didn’t share the same emotion. So essentially, I wrote two scripts for Paa, the first was c%#p, the second is this.”
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