निराश करती हैं गुलजार से अपनी बातचीत में नसरीन मुन्‍नी कबीर

(इन द कंपनी ऑफ ए पोएट गुलजार इन कंवर्सेशन विद नसरीन मुन्नी कबीर) पढऩे के बाद...
-अजय ब्रह्मात्मज
    भारतीय मूल की नसरीन मुन्नी कबीर लंदन में रहती हैं। हिंदी फिल्मों में उनकी गहरी रुचि है। पिछले कई सालों से वह हिंदी फिल्मों का अध्ययन कर रही हैं। लंदन के चैनल 4 टीवी के लिए उन्होंने हिंदी सिनेमा पर कई कार्यक्रम बनाए। 46 कडिय़ों की मूवी महल उनका उल्लेखनीय काम है। गुरुदत्त को उन्होंने नए सिरे से स्थापित किया। शुरू के मौलिक और उल्लेखनीय कार्यो के बाद वह इधर जिस तेजी से पुस्तकें लिख और संपादित कर रही हैं, उस से केवल पुस्तकों की संख्या बढ़ रही है। अध्ययन और विश्लेषण के लिहाज से इधर की पुस्तकें बौद्धिक खुराक नहीं दे पातीं। चूंकि हिंदी फिल्मों पर लेखन का घोर अभाव है, इसलिए अंग्रेजी में उनके औसत लेखन को भी उल्लेखनीय सराहना मिल जाती है।
    हिंदी फिल्मों के स्टार, डायरेक्टर और अन्य महत्वपूर्ण लोगों को अंग्रेजी में बात करना जरूरी लगता है। अंग्रेजी के पत्रकारों और लेखकों के लिए उनके दरवाजे हमेशा खुले रहते हैं, जबकि हिंदी का कोई अध्येता उनकी चौखट पर सिर भी फोड़ दे तो वे नजर न डालें। जी हां, यह कड़वी सच्चाई है। इस सच्चाई के कुछ अपवाद हो सकते हैं, लेकिन उनसे भी आप बात करें तो पाएंगे कि उन्हें इस स्थिति तक पहुंचने में अपमान और अवमानना से गुजरना पड़ा है। एक जनरल टिप्पणी कर दी जाती है कि हिंदी वाले तो ढंग के सवाल ही नहीं पूछते। सच यह है कि अगर सवाल मनमाफिक न हो तो बेढंगा हो जाता है।
    दरअसल, हिंदी फिल्मों पर लेखन, अध्ययन और शोध में तेजी आई है, लेकिन अफसोस की बात है कि ज्यादातर लेखन और शोध अंग्रेजी में ही हो रहा है। हिंदी के शिक्षण संस्थान और प्रकाशक फिल्मों के शोध और प्रकाशन पर अधिक ध्यान नहीं दे रहे हैं। हिंदी माध्यम से पढ़ाने और बताने वालों की संख्या कम है। इधर थोड़े लेखक और आलोचक उभरे हैं तो उनसे भी ज्यादातर वार्षिकी और फौरी समीक्षा की उम्मीद की जाती है। किसी को इतनी आर्थिक मदद या सुरक्षा नहीं मिलती कि वह किसी विषय, ट्रेंड, दशक या स्टार पर गहन अध्ययन और शोध कर सके। फिल्म निदेशालय, फिल्म प्रभाग और एनएफडीसी की भी अध्ययन-शोध में रुचि नहीं है।
    बहरहाल, इस पृष्ठभूमि में नसरीन मुन्नी कबीर का लेखन महत्वपूर्ण हो जाता है। हमें यह देखने और सोचने की जरूरत है कि वह मिले अवसर का कैसा उपयोग कर रही हैं और क्या सचमुच उनके अध्ययन, इंटरव्यू और संपादन में श्रेष्ठ निकल कर आ रहा है? लता मंगेशकर और गुलजार से की गई बातचीत की बानगी लें तो निराशा होती है। लता मंगेशकर और गुलजार दोनों ही हिंदी फिल्मों की श्रेष्ठ प्रतिभाएं हैं। उनकी रचना और सृजन प्रक्रिया से भविष्य की पीढिय़ों को लाभ हो सकता है। नसरीन मुन्नी कबीर की बातचीत ज्यादातर सतह पर रहती है। वह उनकी सृजन प्रक्रिया में पैठ नहीं पाती हैं। कई बार यह भी लगता है कि संगीत और गीत की फिल्मी परंपरा का उन्हें पर्याप्त ज्ञान नहीं है। तला मंगेशकर और गुलजार जब कुछ बता भी रहे होते हैं तो सुसंगत सवालों से उन्हें कुरेदने के बजाए नसरीन अगला सवाल कर बैठती हैं। वह अपने सवालों से प्रतिभाओं को विमर्श और विश्लेषण तक नहीं ला पातीं। सूचनाएं जरूर मिल जाती हैं और कुछ भावुक पहलू भी उद्घाटित होते हैं, लेकिन फिल्मों के विधागत अध्ययन के लिए यह सब नाकाफी है। हम जानते हैं कि लता मंगेशकर और गुलजार को पकड़ पाना और उनसे इंटरव्यू ले पाना बहुत मुश्किल काम है। नसरीन कबीर को यह मौका मिला, लेकिन उन्होंने इन मौकों को एक प्रकार से गंवा दिया।
    गुलजार से नसरीन मुन्नी कबीर की बातचीत ‘इन द कंपनी ऑफ ए पोएट’ नामक किताब में आई है। इस बातचीत में गुलजार के बचपन और स्कूल के दिनों के प्रसंग निश्चित ही जानकारीपूर्ण है। आगे बढऩे पर जब कवि, गीतकार और साहित्यकार गुलजार तक हम पहुंचते हैं तो केवल प्रसंग, पर्सनैलिटी और फिल्मों के तथ्य मिलते हैं। बातचीत में अंतर्दृष्टि का अभाव है। गुलजार से ऐसे सवाल ही नहीं पूछे गए हैं कि उनका समय उद्घाटित हो। उनके साथ की प्रतिभाओं के बारे में कुछ ज्यादा जानकारी मिले। नसरीन मुन्नी कबीर अपनी बातचीत से निराश करती हैं। उन्हें बातचीत के पहले थोड़ी और तैयारी करनी चाहिए।

on stage speeches and backstage interviews of oscar award winners 2

ONSTAGE SPEECH
CATEGORY: Costume Design
SPEECH BY: Jacqueline Durran
FILM: "ANNA KARENINA"

Thank you to the Academy. This is absolutely overwhelming. And I’d like to accept it on behalf of the great team that worked with me on Anna Karenina. A wonderful director—Joe Wright. And fantastic producers at Working Title and my children for bearing with me. They’re completely oblivious to this. They’re fast asleep in England.

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW
CATEGORY: Costume Design
INTERVIEW WITH: Jacqueline Durran
FILM: "ANNA KARENINA"

Q.Congratulations to you.  This is your first Oscar win tonight?
A.Yes.

Q.How do you feel?  How are we feeling?
A.Totally overwhelmed.  But absolutely delighted.

Q.The costume design inside ANNA KARENINA, you    I haven't really seen a film go so much into the psyche of each character, and the costumes are so much more outwardly indicative of what the characters are going through.  How did you    how were you able to figure out what each character was going through at the time and show that through what they were wearing?
A.The brief that the director gave me was to concentrate always on the silhouette and the color.  So I think that he always had a plan, and quite often what happens is you design the costumes according to the director's plan, and then he uses them in a way that you didn't imagine or didn't know.  But there was always a color plan and a silhouette plan.

Q.Hi.
A.Hello.

Q.Congratulations.
A.Thank you very much.

Q.On winning the award, I mean, do you have a sense this is as much to do with the actors who wore your costumes, people like Keira Knightley?  And how important was    because you worked with her before, haven't you?  Since she was a little girl, essentially.
A.Yes.  I think that the actors have a lot to do with the costumes, because they're the ones that really make the look live.  And because it was quite a stylized look, I think they had to really be on board with it and really inhabit the costumes, and Keira particularly, is a dream to dress and will make anything you can give her look the best it can possibly look.

Q.I'm from Russia.
A.Hello.

Q.I love you guys very much.  Was you surprised?
A.What?

Q.Did it surprise [inaudible] you when you prepared for this?
A.The Russian research, we tried very hard to research Russian ethnic costumes for the Levin household, for the sides and everyone who was related to Levin in the story.  Everyone    all the other characters wore things which were really Western European are Parisian inspired, the military uniforms, and the Levin household, we really looked at a lot of Russian records and it was very new to me, and I enjoyed that part of the job very much.

Q.Hi.  Congratulations.
A.Thank you very much.

Q.I just wondered if you were a big fan of the book before you came on board with this film?
A.I read the book when I was at university and I    I thought    I wasn't a huge fan of it, but as returning to it now at my current age, I was absolutely amazed by it, and I thought that Tolstoy was the most incredible writer because he seemed to be able to describe every condition, every human condition and I thought he was amazing.  His descriptions of Dolly, of Levin and of everyone, he seems to be able to capture everything.

ONSTAGE SPEECH
CATEGORY: Visual Effects
SPEECH BY: Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott
FILM: "Life of Pi"

The irony is not lost on any of us up here that in a film whose central premise is to ask the audience what they believe is real or not real, most of what you see is, well, it’s fake. That’s the magic of visual effects.  I want to thank Gil Netter and Elizabeth Gabler and all those at Fox and Fox 2000 for realizing that sometimes it takes a risk to make something special. And LIFE OF PI was a risk worth taking. To our director, Ang Lee, you were an inspiration and you made it an incredible journey for all of us. To David Womark, Mike Malone and Tommy Fisher for making a wave tank that kept us from having to go out to the real ocean and John Kilkenny for inviting all of us to the party in the first place. to my family for all the sacrifices they made, Gabrielle I love you so  much, to my children: Christopher, Thomas, Alexander and Samantha, thank you for inspiring me every day,  my mom and  dad thank you for telling me to do any  crazy career choice I wanted. Finally, I want to thank all the artists who worked on this film for over a year, including Rhythm & Hues. Sadly Rhythm & Hues is suffering severe financial difficulties right now. I urge you all to remember….

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW
CATEGORY: Visual Effects
INTERVIEW WITH: Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott
FILM: "LIFE OF PI"

Q.What does your win mean in light of the state of the industry with VFX, the folks protesting outside, and the Rhythm & Hues bankruptcy?
A.(Bill Westenhofer) What I was trying to say up there is that it's at a time when visual effects movies are dominating the box office, that visual effects companies are struggling.  And I wanted to point out that we aren't technicians.  Visual effects is not just a commodity that's being done by people pushing buttons.  We're artists, and if we don't find a way to fix the business model, we start to loses the artistry.  If anything, LIFE OF PI shows that we're artists and not just technicians.

Q.Congratulations, gentlemen.  Can I ask a question to you?
A.(Guillaume Rocheron) Sure.

Q.I'll ask the question in English and then in French, if possible.  Thank you so much.  I appreciate it.  We talked a lot about the French nominees, you know, Emmanuelle Riva and Alexandre Desplat, and we forgot to talk about you.
A.[Speaks in French]

Q.Congratulations, Bill, and everybody else.
A.(Bill Westenhofer) Thank you, Bill.

Q.Bill, in light of what's happened with Rhythm & Hues, are you hopeful that whatever happens that you'll be able to keep the same culture?  And for the other visual effects supervisors, talk about what this means for you being able to work on a project where the visual effects are very much a part of the aesthetic of the movie.
A.(Bill Westenhofer) So the first part of your question about Rhythm & Hues, it really was something special, experience funded by John, Pauline and Keith, and it was a place that really catered to the artist and supported them really well.  It is a concern.  We're hopeful that we can pull through the bankruptcy, but it's a concern in all of our minds that the culture is preserved.  As long as the key people are maintained in that environment, I think it will carry on.  You guys can talk about the second part of the question.
A.(Guillaume Rocheron) Well, I think LIFE OF PI, as you mentioned, is a perfect example of visual effects contributing to the look of a film.  And I think with everything we're talking about now is it really shows that visual effects is part of filmmaking.  And that we're here, and we contribute to telling stories, making images and, over the years, develop relationships with filmmakers and really trying to be integrated in the filmmaking process as early as possible to give as much as we can to the director and try to make sure he can have his vision on screen.  So I think it's really important thing for me that LIFE OF PI kind of shows, it's a turning point where we're not only supplying a service, we're here to actually tell stories and put them on screen.
A.(Bill Westenhofer) One more thing on that point.  If you look at the nominees that we shared the award with, we got to the point where you can almost do anything in visual effects.  And now going forward, it's not going to be a question of what you've done do.  It's how you use the tools to make something special.  Just like any facet of filmmaking that's matured, visual effects, it's got to the point where it's really about the artistry going forward.

Q.We've seen you a lot for this month.  So the question is, congratulations to everybody for winning the award.  The thing is talking about LIFE OF PI, everybody said it was to make the impossible possible, and you guys did a fantastic job.  The thing is with you guys coming together, Ang Lee and you make the special effects, but you also tell the story for the tiger.  How is that a working process, and the second one is you being in Taiwan for half a year, how much do you like Taiwan?
A.(Bill Westenhofer) I'm going to start with the first half.  Taiwan was great.  We had a great time, and when you follow Ang Lee around, you're going to be taken to the best possible restaurants, and he shows you a good time.  So we had a great time in Taiwan.  As far as working with Ang Lee, what's so great about him is that he's a director who knows what he wants, and he communicates it very well, but he lets the people who work for him, visual effects being one of them, he lets us bring our own sensibilities to the table.  Talking about the sky, I want this to be liquid gold, and we have to go back and figure out what the heck that means.  And so it's our interpretation of liquid gold that we bring to the table, and that makes it a really rewarding process.

Q.I don't know whether you guys have Smartphones and have been checking Twitter, but when they played you off to the theme of Jaws and Bonanza, I had a visual effects artist tweeting, "I'm signing a registration card for my union right now."  I'm wondering if you had any reaction to how you were treated on stage.
A.(Bill Westenhofer) There were some things that I did want to say that got cut off.  I mentioned them right here, the visual effects are definitely in a challenging position right now, and we've got to figure out how to make this business model work, because there are artists that are struggling right now.  It is not just something being done by anyone pushing buttons.  There's artistry involved, and we've got to make sure we maintain that, because we start to lose some of the quality we see on stage, if we're not careful.

ONSTAGE SPEECH
CATEGORY: Makeup and Hairstyling
SPEECH BY: Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell
FILM: "Les Misérables"

LISA WESTCOTT: Whoa, thank you so much to the Academy. I don’t know. It’s quite overwhelming. I must pay a huge tribute to the team who worked so incredibly hard and were so talented. And I feel that I own only a little bit of this and the rest goes to them. Thank you very much.

JULIE DARTNELL: Thank you very much, it’s an incredible honor. Thank you so much, and I just want to give love to my family, my mum, my dad, Tom, Holly and Dave.

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW
CATEGORY: Makeup and Hairstyling
INTERVIEW WITH: Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell
FILM: "LES MISÉRABLES"

Q.I just wanted to ask, I know you obviously won the Baftas, as well.  How does that feel in comparison?
A.(Lisa Westcott)  Well, it's like    I'm sorry, I'm a bit overwhelmed.  I'm still shaking.  It's just extraordinary when you think of the competition, particularly the Baftas, it was like five other films against us, something like that.  I really    [inaudible].  It's just so amazing.  But the film is tough and hard and we had a wonderful team, so maybe there's a God.

Q.Hello.  Congratulations.
A.(Julie Dartnell) Thank you.
A.(Lisa Westcott) Thank you.

Q.I want to ask, in a musical where the performance is being recorded live as they're being recorded as production's going on, is there anything different or difficult    more difficult when doing hairstyles and makeup for the cast?
A.(Lisa Westcott) Yeah.  Well, it was different because all the songs were done in their entirety, usually with about eight cameras.  So from start to finish, your work is there.  So if anything happens within that long run, sometimes you'll sit there watching thinking, oh, no, that's done, that's not done.  You can't go and rectify it.  So, for that reason for us, you know, it was very important to make sure that everything was spot on before the cameras turned.  So, yeah, it was different in that way.

Q.Congratulations, girls.  I saw your smile    [inaudible].
A.(Lisa Westcott) Yes, you did.
A.(Julie Dartnell) Hi.

Q.So, I just want to know how working with Michael and Cameron they're going to entertain you tonight?
A.(Julie Dartnell) We can't possibly say.
A.(Lisa Westcott) I think we're going to dance, don't you?

Q.Champagne for you or tea?
A.(Julie Dartnell) Oh, well, I think it's got to be champagne.

Q.Thank you.
A.(Julie Dartnell)  This boy needs a bed wetting.

Q.Congratulations, ladies.
A.(Lisa Westcott) Thank you.
A.(Julie Dartnell) Thank you.

Q.This is the first time, I gather, that the two categories are now together and so it really does put the spotlight on how you work together.  And in this particular case, you had a lot of characters and the period to work with.  Talk a little bit about that cohesiveness of vision in formulating your characters.
A.(Lisa Westcott) Well, the hair and makeup thing in England is not an unusual mix.  And we are ex BBC so we are always trained to do both.  And so, for me, I would never ever even accept a job that would separate the two because the very nature of the job and the very essence of the job is to create characters, and to create the character you need all the tools in the box.  For me, you need the hair and the makeup, which are really powerful bedfellows.  And, for me, I would never do just one or the other.  They very much go together.  It's like walking around with one shoe it seems, to me, weird not to have those two elements that completely chime with each other.  To make the characters, my God, there were so many characters in LES MIS, I tell you.  And lots and lots of wigs and prosthetics.  It was massive.  Four and a half thousand extras and 250 principals, I think.  It was a bit huge.
A.(Julie Dartnell) But challenging, we think.
A.(Lisa Westcott) Hey, we got that.

Q.What was your reaction when Anne Hathaway insisted on having her hair cut for real in the movie?
A.(Lisa Westcott) It was completely her decision.  It was her decision before I was even a twinkle in the eye of the producers.  So when I joined, and my prep, the decision was made.  She was absolutely clear that she wanted to do this thing.  And good for her, you know, hair grows back, it's no big deal and it's a wonderful part and opportunity for her.  So good for her.  My goodness.  She's got so much publicity from it.  We could have easily done it with wigs and full cap and basically a bald cap and a very, very fine wig on the top and it would have been easy to do but she really wanted to do it for real.
A.(Julie Dartnell) And it was very effective.  It was a very emotional moment, as well, being on the set.  I think the whole crew were all emotional.
A.(Lisa Westcott) It really helped her performance too.
A.(Julie Dartnell) Yeah.

Q.Thank you so much, and congratulations.
A.(Lisa Westcott) Thank you.
A.(Julie Dartnell) Thank you.  

ONSTAGE SPEECH
CATEGORY: Documentary Short Subject
SPEECH BY: Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
FILM: "Inocente"

Andrea Nix Fine: Thank you so much for this. We just want to thank, quickly, our amazing producer, Albie Hecht, who went the distance for this and Susan and Yael and Ryan and Jeff Consiglio our incredible editor who was with us on all our, like, artistic exploits.

Sean Fine: And most of all, we want to thank this young lady who was homeless just a year ago and now she’s standing in front of all of you and she’s an artist and all of you are artists and we feel like we need to start supporting the arts. They’re dying in our communities. And all of us artists, we need to stand up and help girls like her be seen and heard. It’s so important. Thank you.

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW
CATEGORY: Documentary (Short Subject)
INTERVIEW WITH: Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
FILM: "INOCENTE"

Q.Tell us, if you would, about what your expectations were coming into the evening and then what went through your head when they called your name.
A.(Sean Fine) We were nominated once in 2008 for a documentary award, so I think we were in a very relaxed state, but as it got closer to the award, the butterflies started.  I'm lucky because we're married, so Andrea and I are squeezing our hands really tight, I have nail marks from her squeezing my hand, and when they called our names, it just seemed really surreal.  But at the same time, we were really excited that Inocente, who was with us, our guest tonight, a young homeless girl, can stand on the stage in front of a billion people and show the world that homeless kids have a voice.  And so that's an amazing, amazing thing.  The Academy can make that happen.

Q.Hi there.  You still live in Washington, right?
A.(Andrea Nix Fine) That's our town.  You've got to see his socks.  Can you show the socks?
A.(Sean Fine) [Lifts pant leg, shows Redskins socks.]  Do I live in Washington?  Yes.

Q.Something about the Redskins, right?
A.(Andrea Nix Fine) "No pressure, no diamonds."
A.(Sean Fine) "No pressure, no diamonds, RG3."

Q.Can you talk to me a little bit about making films from the Washington base and the challenges, and the good things and the bad things there.
A.(Andrea Nix Fine) I think what's really great about Washington is it's the seat of a lot of power, and just like two weeks ago Inocente was in the House of the Congress and talking to the senators and congresswomen and men.  These are huge issues.  She's really giving a face to what's an invisible population.  One in 45 kids in this country are homeless and that doesn't make sense.  That's like you take two classes in school and one kid in each classroom is homeless, and when you add that up, that's a hell of a lot of kids.  So I think we feel very connected to Washington as being able to say, "Look, maybe we can do something about this."  Also, everyone is expecting you to be from New York or L.A., and we're third generation Washingtonians, and that doesn't happen very often.  We love being from D.C.
A.(Sean Fine) It's a great community.

Q.Can you talk about the role of Kickstarter in making your film and going on to win an Oscar?
A.(Sean Fine) Kickstarter was    you know, we were kind of three quarters done with the film, and we were trying to find more money to make the film, and we decided to do something with Kickstarter with our producers, and it really helped.  It really helped galvanize the community and get the word out about the film, and it helped fund a bunch of the film and kept us going basically through the post production process.  So it's a great new outlet for films, especially documentary films.
A.(Andrea Nix Fine) I think had you tried to get the amount of funding that came through Kickstarter and sort of approached an individual entity, that's a huge ask, it's a hard ask.  It feels really good because not only are you raising funds for your film but you're building a community and an audience and people that care about the film.  They're watching tonight, and you know they flipped out when the film won.  So that feels great.

Q.Thank you so much and congratulations.

ONSTAGE SPEECH
CATEGORY: Documentary Feature
SPEECH BY: Malik Bendjelloul and Simon Chinn
FILM: "Searching for Sugar Man"

SIMON CHINN: Oh boy! Thank you so much, thanks to the Academy, very, very kind. Thanks to one  of the greatest singers ever, Rodriguez, Stephen “Sugar” Segerman, Craig  Bartholomew, Camilla Skagerström, SVT, SFI, all my friends and family and Sony  Classics, the best distributor on this planet. Thank you.

MALIK BENDJELLOUL: I also want to thank Sony Classics, Tom and Michael. I want to thank John Battsek, Andrew Ruhemann, the team of Passion Pictures, Josh Braun at Submarine, and my dear wife Lara, without whom I wouldn’t be able to do any of this. Rodriguez isn’t here tonight because he didn’t want to take any of the credit himself and that just about says everything about that man and his story that  you’d want to know. Thank you.

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW
CATEGORY: Documentary (Feature)
INTERVIEW WITH: Malik Bendjelloul and Simon Chinn
FILM: "SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN"

Q.What was going through your mind when you heard your name and you went up on stage?
A.It's great.  It's like the whole world goes in slow motion and you say, I should not fall right now, but it's kind of slippery steps.

Q.Hello.  Over here.  I just wanted to know how are you going to celebrate tonight?
A.I think we are going to go to the Vanity Fair party and celebrate with some friends, some are here and some are waiting outside right now.

Q.Congratulations.  I am from Israel.  And so I wanted to ask you about the international aspect of this category this year and if you've seen the other two Israeli/Palestinian movies nominated?
A.(Malik Bendjelloul)  I think they are great films.  Very, very important films.
A.(Simon Chinn)  I agree.  I think they're great films.  I actually particularly liked THE GATEKEEPERS, which I always thought was going to win, but it's nice to    nice to be proven wrong.

Q.You talk about Rodriguez not be being here, and not many people know him.  I mean, the movie is great and shows like a    the guy's so mysterious and so shy, too.  So, I don't know if he    he is not here because he wants to be, you know, like a mystery?  Too shy?  I mean, do you think this movie is going to do something for him or is he still going to be like underground, the guy?
A.(Malik Bendjelloul)  If you ask me why he's not here, that's    the other question is, there's a few different stuff, he's been touring in South Africa for two weeks with 50,000 people.  So he's kind of tired.
A.(Simon Chinn)  And also, I mean, I said it on stage.  He doesn't want to    he genuinely doesn't want to take the credit for this film.  He doesn't regard it as his film.  He regards it as Malik's film.  You know, he, you know, and you know, he's genuinely a humble man, and he wanted to stay at home in Detroit watching television.

Q.Congratulations on your Oscar.  The film was a very emotional film, and I was wondering if, because of the response from the film, if Rodriguez, himself, has gotten any offers for record deals today or to resume his career in the record industry?
A.(Malik Bendjelloul)  Oh, yes.  Oh, yes.  At this very moment, as we speak, he has three albums on Billboard, which never happened before.  And he's talking about recording a new album, which might happen [inaudible].
A.(Simon Chinn)  And the soundtrack album came out with the film SUGAR MAN released by Sony Legacy.
A.(Malik Bendjelloul)  Oh, yes.  

ONSTAGE SPEECH
CATEGORY: Cinematography
SPEECH BY: Claudio Miranda
FILM: "Life of Pi"

Oh, gee, wow. This movie was quite a beast to make. We did it, and the thing what I had, was so much, was so great that everyone was just really, totally there and supportive. I mean, I was really into Ang and the beautiful world that we created. It was like one challenge, when you’re a cinematographer and there’s one thing, when you have your eyes and just kind of go up and up and up and you just kind reach this thing. They get really excited, there’s exciting scenes for me that I love, like the candles and the things that we did that was nuts. But it was really great. And I’d like to thank everyone that made this thing totally possible, the Academy, Fox, and oh my God I can’t even speak – I know wrap up now. I’d like to thank my wife, my daughters up there. Everyone, thank you so much.

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW
CATEGORY: Cinematography
INTERVIEW WITH: Claudio Miranda
FILM: "LIFE OF PI"

Q.Hello.  Congratulations on your Oscar.  When you are given a project that's considered unmakeable, what is the first thing that comes to your mind and how do you make that a makeable film come to life?
A.We were  we shot in Taichung, and we kind of took this abandoned airport, and we just kind of created what we needed to make, and I really thought this movie was going to be smaller than it was.  It just was not.  We were given a lot of help from the studio and that helped to make this movie because it was, I really feel    I just feel this movie I was really supported on.  So, anything that I said, we made, and it was all handled really well.

Q.I know that you were born in Chile, and that Chile is now tonight celebrating your victory.  What does this mean to you?
A.My father was dancing last night.  He is sending me good vibes, so that's worked pretty well.  Chile, I mean, you know, I left Chile when I was one years old just to be kind of clear, and my mother is half Danish.  She'd be a little upset if I didn't mention the Danish side as well.  But she's    it's, you know, it's great to be for Chile as well.  It's a fantastic thing.  I am glad my father is down there and he's celebrating.  So I'm really happy for him.

Q.Hi, Claudio.
A.Oh, yes.

Q.I'm Fernando from Chile actually.
A.Oh, great.

Q.And we actually take a lot of pride that you won tonight.
A.I spoke to Pablo last night    saw him today.  He does great work.

Q.I have to ask you, given that we have a movie nominated actually, and we have pretty good filmmaking happening right now, are you interested in perhaps working there?
A.I am.  I'm on two projects that are kind of going right now, and they kind of end in 2015 right now.  So, I might be a little    but I truly would love to go down to Chile and do something kind of small and just a little more intimate.  So that is a goal I do intend for myself.

Q.Congratulations on your first award.
A.Oh, great.

Q.The thing is you are talking about in the speech, you said Ang Lee has been like pushing you through all the process and then push you    go through all kind of challenge.  So, how does that feel to work on those challenges and how does that feel to work with Ang Lee?
A.It's great, I mean, because you work with the director through that, you know, and this is my favorite thing is to get involved with a director that you both get    kind of push each other up.  And he goes this far and I go this far, and this far.  And you go just even further and further.  That to me is just a good sign of a cinematographer to have that kind of reaction to a director.  And that's    and it's not that common sometimes.  Sometimes it's you just don't feel that.  But for me and Ang, I felt like we both created something, and I think I saw what he was going for, and I think we delivered that.

Q.Claudio.
A.Yes.

Q.After the controversy of Rhythm & Hues today and the [inaudible] going on, could you talk about the state of the visual effects, and in particular the people that you were working with, the LIFE OF PI people?
A.It is really hard.  I work with also Digital Domain who is also going through hard times as well.  And Digital Domain did the CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, which I was nominated for as well.  And then they go through hard times at Rhythm & Hues.  I mean, I would hope that we could really support our VFX companies so they are not just right on the hairy edge of profit.  Because these guys did an amazing job on PI; that tiger looks amazing and I really feel we should support those people a little bit more if we can.

Q.When you came through the line, on the sign that mentioned your name was your daughter and your wife.
A.Yes.

Q.And also they came with you.  What do you think this means to them, and what are you going to say to your daughter?
A.Oh, my daughter, she's awesome.  She's probably jumping around right now.  I wish I could give her a big hug right now, but, you know, she's    I have to kind of restrain myself because I don't really try to get too excited.  Because I think it would just make me nervous and just a little bit of a problem, so I just try to kind of keep calm and don't really [inaudible] on thinking about what's going to happen or don't, but they just take it off to a crazy land.  They just go nuts.  They are dancing on chairs, kicking me.  So, they're a lot of fun, actually.  So, they are    their initial reaction was a lot more excited than I was.  I'm just like, okay, here we go here.

Q.Quite often the ASC award is a pre [inaudible] win for the cinematography award for the Oscars.  Roger Deakins won and tonight you are winning.  You seemed completely caught off guard when you went up to the podium.  What was going through your mind?  Were you very surprised?
A.You might    yeah.  You probably get that from me.  I am always a little bit when I make speeches, probably a little bit caught off guard anyway.  I don't know how to really    I am not a great speaker so I kind of just    I go from the heart.  I have kind of    I can't    I tried to read a speech the other night, and I actually couldn't get through the words so I just threw it away.  A lot of what comes at me is just what I feel at the time.  So, I was caught off guard.  I did think Roger was probably the next in line.  And I actually kind of thought he would have got it, but, you know, I did get the BAFTA so there's always a little bit of chance it's possible, maybe, it's just a different movie, you know.

on stage speeches and backstage interviews of oscar award winners

Onstage Speech Transcript | 85th Academy Awards
Actor in a Supporting Role

ONSTAGE SPEECH
CATEGORY: Performance by an actor in a supporting role
SPEECH BY: Christoph Waltz
FILM: "Django Unchained"

Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. De Niro, Mr. Arkin, Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Jones, my respect. My… my unlimited gratitude goes to Dr. King Schultz. That is, of course, to the creator and the creator of his awe-inspiring world – Quentin Tarentino.

And I thank Jamie Foxx and Leo DiCaprio. Sam Jackson and Kerry Washington. I thank Harvey Weinstein and Amy Pascal. Stacey Sher. Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone. I thank Adam Schweitzer and Lisa Kasteler. And I thank my friends Jeff Dashnaw and Bill Clark who saved my neck.

We participated in a hero’s journey – the hero here being Quentin. And you scale the mountain because you’re not afraid of it. You slay the dragon because you’re not afraid of it and you cross through fire because it’s worth it. I borrowed my character’s words so sorry… couldn’t resist. Thank you.

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW
CATEGORY: Supporting Actor
INTERVIEW WITH: Christoph Waltz
FILM: "Django Unchained"

Q.Two Oscars out of the last three years, how does that make you feel?
A.Guess.  It was, I think, like five minutes ago, I got this, or seven.  I was on a list with greatest actors around, with Robert De Niro, with Alan Arkin, with Tommy Lee Jones with Philip Seymour Hoffman.  How do you think someone feels when all of a sudden his name is called in that context?  I can't tell you.  I'm sorry.

Q.So, this is the second, Best Supporting Actor Oscar that you've gotten for work by Quentin Tarantino.  Has he talked to you about a third role in his revisionist history trilogy?
A.No.  As I said, this is about seven minutes old.  Somehow I failed to catch the moment to remind Quentin that I'm around.

Q.Hello, Mr. Waltz.  It would be great if you can answer, maybe, in German.
A.No.  I answer in English for everybody.

Q.Okay.  Mr. Waltz, one Oscar could be a coincidence.  A second, not.  What does it mean for you personally now, this award?
A.This    well, it really has so much to do with the other actors who were nominated with me, or rather, and I insist on that difference, the fact that I was nominated with them.  It means    actually, I don't know what it can mean more, but if it can, then that's what it does.

Q.Hello, Christopher [sic].  Congratulations.
A.Thank you.

Q.Your second Oscar.  I've been acting 23 years and I've never won an Academy Award.
A.I did it 38, so...

Q.I'm 41.  But you are an incredible actor.  In light of the subject matter of your film, are you excited about the possibility of a black pope?  That's an actual thing.  He's from Ghana.
A.Yeah, well, I have to tell you one thing.  It would be an exciting thing.  I am a very adamant non racist.  I don't care whether the pope is black or white or whatever color.  If we are non racist, then we have to stay non racist all the way.

Q.Over here, Christoph.  Hello, how are you?  Congratulations. Okay.  Here you are, European guy.  You just won an Oscar for the highest grossing western in history.  How does that make you feel?  Western?
A.I'm just an actor, I am not an accountant.  I love this movie, not for being the highest grossing one.  I love this movie because it's a fabulous, exciting piece of entertainment with a really deep message.  So, I'm glad that it's popular because this is what the box office reflects.  But the money, sorry, I do something else.

Q.Hi, Christoph.  Congratulations.  Over here.  And can you talk some more about why Quentin Tarantino brings out the best in you?  What about Quentin made you win another Oscar?
A.I said it just now, and I hope you don't mind my repeating it.  Quentin writes poetry, and I like poetry.

Q.Hi, Christoph.  Congratulations.  I just wondered if you were shocked to win tonight, given    [inaudible].
A.Totally.  I still am.  Literally.  That's why my answers are somewhat incoherent, but I don't care.

Q.Did you prepare a speech?
A.Well, I thought about what one could say in case because, you know, as Seth MacFarlane said in the beginning about a million people are watching.  You don't want to be    you know, you're nominated, there is an off chance that you might have to, you know    I didn't prepare speech, but I thought of something.

Q.Hi, back here.  During the filming of DJANGO UNCHAINED, when did you realize, or did you realize, that there was something special about this film?
A.When I read the script for the first time, I realized that there was something special about this film.  I know Quentin, and I read the pages more or less as they came out of the printer.  Page by page I realized that something special is in the making.

Q.Congratulations.  When those names were read, one of yours, of course, it took here for us like a teeny tiny eternity until they called your name.  How did you feel that, and if you could explain that additionally also in German besides English.
A.You know, I have experience with this.  We did that last time and it doesn't work.  How it feels, I say that before.  The list of names is    and I know there is a terrible inflation about this word, but I mean it in the literal sense, "awesome."  It is    I am in awe of the people who work or are in my category.  So, the very fact that I am one of them would have been, you know, would have meant the world, and that's why I keep mentioning them because Robert De Niro, Alan Arkin are role models for me since I started in this profession.

Q.Thank you very much.  Congratulations.  Thank you.  Thanks, very much.  

Onstage Speech Transcript | 85th Academy Awards
Animated Short Film

ONSTAGE SPEECH
CATEGORY: Animated Short Film
SPEECH BY: John Kahrs
FILM: "Paperman"

Thanks to the Academy, especially this year they got the shorts out to all the nominees. To everyone at Disney, particularly John Lasseter, Ed Catmull and Andrew Millstein who have just been great at revitalizing the studio. To Kristina Reed my producer, the cast and crew, everyone who helped on it. They made it so much better than I could ever have hoped. To my wife, the amazing Gennie Rim. And to my kids, Ben and Johnny, I’ll see you tonight. Bye.

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW
CATEGORY: Short Film (Animated)
INTERVIEW WITH: John Kahrs
FILM: "PAPERMAN"

Q.Congratulations.
A.Hi.

Q.You got extraordinary distribution, of course, going out on the Disney print, but what is the life for theatrical animated shorts now as far as the average audience viewer?  Where do they   
A.It's a bit tough, but I mean the Shorts International has been distributing them and that's been gaining steam over the years, but I think John's idea of putting the shorts in front of the features is really, it's the best placement for it, for me personally.  I mean, I feel very lucky to have been riding on the coattails of WRECK IT RALPH.

Q.I want to know, was this a very emotional short?  And also, it has a lot of inspiration of old cartoons and all that, so where is your inspiration in your life to make you do this?
A.Yeah.  My inspiration for PAPERMAN is basically as a commuter, and it's kind of chance connections you make with strangers and wonder who they are and, you know, I just had this idea of like a urban fairytale about people that were perfect for each other but lost their connection.  But someone asked me, how is this short different than other Disney shorts, and I was tongue tied but now I realize it's the same as all other Disney...I mean, it has magic in it, it has appealing characters, it has the plausible impossible; it has all those great things, so sure.

Q.And with all of that, it's a silent film?
A.Right.

Q.So how did you    what was some of the challenges you faced with getting all of those plausible and the implausible and the elements of the film into such a compact time?
A.That is tough, but, yeah, I mean for me the idea of it having no words in it makes it extremely portable, that you can show it all around the world and it communicates.  And the idea there is that it's visual storytelling, and I think the best films to me are the ones that you can understand where the sound is turned off.  But, yeah, it's a tall order to make the audience believe that these two people are a perfect couple from the very first shot.  But I have a few tricks up my sleeve and I have a few    I have amazing people at Disney on my team, especially from a design standpoint and an animation standpoint that do fantastic work.

Q.Congratulations.
A.Okay, it's official.

Q.You just said you have a few more tricks up your sleeve.  You have an opportunity to continue what you started with embracing the legacy and extending it further with the hybrid approach.  Could you talk a little bit about the challenges and the opportunities ahead for you and the studio?
A.Well, Bill is an animation guy, so he's talking about what we did is we took the kind of old 2D animation and the newer CG animation and put them together in a way that I think hasn't been seen before.  But I think, you know, what we did is take the drawn line and the expressiveness and the hand of the artist and bring it into the 21st century.  So I'm really gratified by this and the acceptance of the audience to really look at that technique and that way of seeing animation and just letting the story kind of wash over them.  So, yeah, I do believe that there are different ways that animation can look, and this is one of those ways.

Q.Hi.
A.Hi.

Q.You talked in your speech about working for Disney and how that company has been revitalized.  Could you sort of talk about what it's been like with John Lasseter and Ed Catmull where that studio has come?
A.Sure.  When I had to move to L.A. and I was at Pixar for ten years, and I thought, you know, the deal had just happened with Disney buying Pixar and I thought this is going to become a great studio with this new leadership.  And I was the supervising animator on TANGLED and really swept up in what I said earlier about the revitalization of the studio, what they're doing there is great, and they're really pushing for depth and stories that are going to last generations, you know, films for families that are going to last the test of time.

Q.Congratulations.  I loved your film.
A.Thank you.

Q.I'm an actor, David Arquette.
A.I recognized you.

Q.I do lots of voices.  I can do a low voice.  I can do a high voice.
A.This is my next step, actually, because I didn't use any words so this is the thing I'm terrified of is actually putting voices in the animations.

Q.So put nice actors but, you know, because you have to stay in the room with them.  But what are you most excited about in your Oscar gift basket?
A.Actually, the Oscar gift basket was very modest.

Q.But there were condoms in there.  If you don't use them, I can use them, bro.

Q.Hi.
A.Hi.

Q.I know there was a sort of a groundswell for this movie, but is it still a surprise when they call your name and can you tell me what that moment is like?
A.Yes.  Yes, it is.  I mean, I've been managing my expectations all evening so, yeah, I forgot to thank my parents.  What can I say?  So mom and dad, thank you.  This is the place to do it?  I've been trying to call them, but they have a busy signal.  When is the last time someone got a busy signal?  They live way out in Vermont and there's more cows than people up there.

Q.Congratulations on your award.
A.Thank you very much.

Q.Just to congratulate you for using old school animation in the short.  And I just want to ask you, why did you incorporate older animation in it, because I think it's best that new computers, that you have to get into it?
A.Okay, yeah.  The reason that I drew that hand drawn line back into the animation, it really comes from    I mean, I'm a computer animation guy, I'm actually not very good at 2D animation.  I can't really draw that well.  But when I was working with Glen Keane on TANGLED I think I was really transfixed by the drawings he was doing every day and it felt like such a shame to leave those drawings behind when we go to the final image when that line has a history of being so expressive, and I think there's something universal about the hand drawn line being a way    still a relevant way of telling stories.  So I thought, can't there be a way that we can bring these two things together again but in a 21st century way that uses new technology.

ONSTAGE SPEECH
CATEGORY: Animated Feature Film
SPEECH BY: Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
FILM: "Brave"

MARK ANDREWS: I just happened to be wearing the kilt; I didn’t plan any of this. I’d like to thank the Academy for this incredible honor. Making a movie has its own story. I’d like to thank John Lasseter, Ed Catmull, Jim Morris, Andrew Stanton, Pete  Docter, Brenda Chapman, Katherine Sarafian for making the making of Brave an exceptional story. My wife and my four kids: Maeve, Jack, Hayden and Ford.

BRENDA CHAPMAN:  I’d like to give a shout-out to my wonderful, brave, strong daughter Emma, who inspired Brave into being. So thank you to her and my husband, and our incredible cast and crew. Thank you.

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW
CATEGORY: Animated Feature Film
INTERVIEW WITH: Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
FILM: "BRAVE"

Q.You wrote in the New York Times earlier this year that you were devastated when you were taken off of this film, and I was wondering if this win now makes good for everything you've been through?
A.(Brenda Chapman) Absolutely.  Yeah.  It just really is.  It says a lot for me.  So, thank you.

Q.Brenda, it didn't end up the way it started out, but it was very ambitious and complicated and wonderful and brave story, and, Mark, you came in and helped out, and the two of you created a synergy that maybe is unexpected.  Talk about that.
A.(Mark Andrews) Wow.  That's interesting.  I think a magic in animation and filmmaking is how much of a collaborative process it is, where either if you're working side by side together the whole time or if it was like BRAVE where there was one director and then another director, you know.  The thing that I loved about Brenda's story was the thing that everybody loved about Brenda's story, and I wanted to honor that when I came on board for my part of it, so.
A.(Brenda Chapman) Which I feel very much he did.  And, you know, I told Mark when he    when he, you know, stepped in that I was very happy that it was him who took my place because I know he has a daughter with two sons and I  
A.(Mark Andrews) Three.
A.(Brenda Chapman) Three sons.
A.(Mark Andrews) Three.
A.(Brenda Chapman) And I knew he would understand, but also he has a love of Scotland, as well.  I wasn't sure about his fairytale sensibility, but it's not a real fairytale anyway.

Q.Congratulations.
A.(Mark Andrews) Thank you.

Q.I see you're wearing your lucky kilt.
A.(Mark Andrews) that's it, Dun Broch Tartan.

Q.Yeah, can you talk about this journey were you expecting this?
A.(Mark Andrews) absolutely not.  Getting the nominations for BRAVE has been a very exciting ride and I think has paid off for the both of us, just that journey of making a movie.  I mean making these things is a struggle.  You know, it's a battle.  It's a war.  So to have the recognition not just from the Academy but from all the different organizations for your work on BRAVE has just been a remarkable and thrilling surprise.  So, we're evened out.
A.(Brenda Chapman) Yeah.

Q.Hey, Mark, congratulations.  So what's next for you?  What are you working on?  Any current projects or coming projects?
A.(Mark Andrews) Yes.

Q.And?
A.(Mark Andrews) Yes.  I'm in development working on the next thing, and like Brenda, we want to stay busy making films because we're story tellers, and that's what we've got to be doing.  So the more the better, the sooner the better.  So just staying busy.  I can't tell you what it is.  It's a secret.

Q.Wonderful movie.  I loved it.  My daughter did, as well.
A.(Brenda Chapman) Thank you.

Q.Who are you most excited about seeing tonight?
A.(Brenda Chapman) George Clooney.
A.(Mark Andrews) George Clooney.  No, no, not really.  No, George is cool.  Anybody.  I mean, I know Russell Crowe's in the house, and he's a very intimidating fellow.  So I like to stand up face to face with Russell Crowe.

Q.Hey, congratulations.  Linda with the Red Carpet Record.  Could you talk about your creative process and how long it took to create BRAVE?
A.(Mark Andrews) Good one.
A.(Brenda Chapman) Well, the firm took actually eight years from begin to go end, and I can talk about the beginning of it.  Mark can talk about the end of it.  But it took a lot.  I was a year in a room all by myself writing and coming up with the basic story plot, but then you start bringing on the people who start looking at the look of the picture and help with the story, and you keep working and re working the story, but you start bringing on people who start being able to build it.  And then Mark.
A.(Mark Andrews) So once everything's kind of built you put it all together, and you start shooting it, and you've got your voice talent and then your other actors, your animators, putting together these performances, and, I mean, it's this huge organic process.  And it's a fragile, delicate process on every step of the way.  And there's a lot of plates to spin, and by the end if you just stick with it and you're passionate about it, hopefully, by the end you have something that's really special, and I think in BRAVE's case I think we managed to pull that off.  

ONSTAGE SPEECH
CATEGORY: Live Action Short Film
SPEECH BY: Shawn Christensen
FILM: "Curfew"

A big thank you to the Academy for supporting short films. This has been wonderful and I only have T-minus 2 seconds to do this so I’m just going to go for it. My producer in crime, Damon Russell, I love you man, we would not be here without you, brother. My co-star, 12-year-old co-star, Fatima Ptacek, her performance was so incredible. Nobody even remembers I’m in the film because of you, you are incredible. Mara Kassin, Andrew Napier, thank you so much. The incredible cinematography from Daniel Katz and putting together that wonderful crew, thank you so much. All of our friends, family, crew in New York and in France. Ouat Media, Caliber Media, Verve Talent, my beautiful mother, my devilishly handsome father, and the center of my universe, my dearest Nina. Thank you. I love you all.

BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW
CATEGORY: Short Film (Live Action)
INTERVIEW WITH: Shawn Christensen
FILM: "CURFEW"

A.All right.  You can scream it.

Q.So, we often hear that the Oscars is a life changing experience but for some people it's not.  What are you hoping to get out of having this Oscar, and what did the nomination mean for you in terms of career and new opportunities?
A.Well, I would love to get a job.  That would be the first thing that would be nice to get, and I think it would be nice to get into feature films and stay in short films because there's something amazing about the pressure in short films that I kind of enjoy on a torturous level.

Q.Congratulations.
A.Thank you.

Q.I saw your film.
A.Oh, in Short Shorts?

Q.Yes.
A.Oh.

Q.And did you go through the particular experience?  It was very, kind of, dark, but funny.
A.Can I just say that that awards ceremony was so daunting for that festival.  I literally was shaking in my boots on that one.  It was an incredible festival you guys put on over there.

Q.It's not Academy big, but...
A.Yes.  This is also on that, yeah.  What was the question?  Sorry.

Q.No.  I said, like, was that particularly your experience that    because the film was pretty dark.
A.Yes.

Q.You know, it was like a suicidal man, but it was funny, as well.  Is that like something based on your own experience to a certain extent?
A.Well, I'll plead the Fifth a little bit on that one, but I will say that I just tried to find the sense of humor in the darkest moments.

Q.Hi, Shawn.  Congratulations.
A.Thank you.

Q.The Academy has really embraced the short films this year more so than any year before.  How do you feel about that and also what kind of hope does it give you for the short films categories in the future?
A.One thing that's incredible about what the Academy is doing for short films is even though we have all these avenues, VOD, Internet and everything, what's incredible is they release the films theatrically for an audience to enjoy all over the world internationally, and that, I have to really give them a big thank you for because to watch these films, these short films in theaters, there's nothing    there's nothing like it.

Q.Congratulations.
A.Thank you.

Q.How does it feel now finally to be there at these Awards?  I saw five of them altogether.  What are you going through right now in your head, and is this all that you ever wanted since you were little?
A.I'm thinking about all my friends and family right now, you know.  I'm thinking about hugging them and giving them a call after this thing and saying thank you for your support.

Q.Thank you and congratulations.
A.Thank you.

naman ramchandran on anurag kashyap

नमन रामचंद्रन का यह लेख अनुराग कश्‍यप के निर्देशन और उनकी फिल्‍म गैंग्‍स ऑफ वासेपुर को समझने की नई दृष्टि देता है। यह लेख पत्रिका के sight and sound मार्च अंक में छपा है। अनुराग के आलोचकों और प्रशंसकों दोनों के निमित्‍त है यह लेख्‍ा...

Naman Ramachandran

Friday, 22 February 2013

from our March 2013 issue
Keeping Bollywood routines at ironic distance, Anurag Kashyap’s sprawling, scintillating gangster saga could be the international breakout that Indian cinema has been waiting for.

Anurag Kashyap first came to prominence in filmmaking circles for writing Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya (1998), one of Indian cinema’s best examples of the gangster genre. However, his feature-directing debut, the visceral abduction drama Paanch (2003), went unreleased; his next film, Black Friday (2004), a procedural about the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, was initially banned in India and released only after a long court process; and 2007’s No Smoking divided critics and failed to find favour with audiences.

India 2010 Certificate 15 (Part I)  160m 12s / Cert 18 (Part II)  159m 35s Crew Director: Anurag Kashyap Produced by Guneet Monga, Sunil Bohra, Anurag Kashyap Story Zeishan Qadri Written by Zeishan Qadri, Akhilesh Jaiswal, Sachin Ladia, Anurag Kashyap Cinematography Rajeev Ravi Editor Shweta Venkat Matthew Production Designer Wasiq Khan Music Sneha Khanwalkar Lyrics Varun Grover, Piyush Mishra Background Score G.V. Prakash Kumar Sound Design Kunal Sharma Costume Designer Subodh Srivastava Action Sham Kaushal Cast Sardar Khan Manoj Bajpayee Nagma Khatoon Richa Chadda Durga Khan Reemaa Sen Nasir Piyush Mishra Faisal Khan Nawazuddin Siddiqui Shahid Khan Jaideep Ahlawat Danish Khan Vineet Kumar Singh Sultan Qureshi Pankaj Tripathi Ehsan Qureshi Vipin Sharma Asgar Khan Jameel Khan JP Singh Satya Anand Sharif Qureshi/Sultana Daku/Badoor Qureshi Pramod Pathak “Salaam-e-ishq” singer Yashpal Sharma Mohsina Khan Huma Qureshi Shama Parveen Anurita Jha Ramadhir Singh Tigmanshu Dhulia Guddu Murari Kumar Iqlakh/boy 1 in jeep Gaurav Sharma Inspector Gopal Singh Faisal Malik Tangent Sankalp Achrekar Nawab, Shamshad partner Mukesh Chhabra Definite Khan Zeishan Quadri Perpendicular/Nawab Khan/Babua Aditya Kumar Shamsad Alam Rajkumar Yadav Dolby Digital In Colour [2.35:1] Subtitles Distributor Mara Pictures

All this while, Kashyap was earning a living writing mediocre Bollywood movies, but he was also beginning to acquire a cult following among discerning audiences and the country’s independent film community. Then in 2009 came his first box-office success: Dev D, an edgy, drug-fuelled adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s tragic 1917 novel Devdas. At the same time, Gulaal, his hard-hitting take on small-town student politics, won festival acclaim, as did its 2010 follow-up, That Girl in Yellow Boots.
Thanks to changing audience tastes in India, driven by a largely young population, his films are now perceived to be cool. He acts as creative producer on pictures made by some of the country’s brightest independent talents, and although he dislikes the term, he has been dubbed the ‘Godfather of Indian independent cinema’.
It is perhaps then wholly appropriate that Kashyap’s latest film and his most ambitious to date, Gangs of Wasseypur, released in two parts, is in many ways a homage to The Godfather movies. Kashyap set out to make, in his own words, a commercial film, and simply to have fun.
The result is a sprawling, giddy, hyperviolent ride through the badlands of northern India, spanning 68 years from 1941 to 2009, breaking stride whenever Kashyap finds something that holds his attention, and going off on hugely enjoyable tangents. These range, to give just a few examples, from a disquisition on north India’s erstwhile coalmining mafia to an examination of the illegal gun-making process and languid, highly erotic seductions.
The Godfather, so to speak, of the film’s first part is Sardar Khan, played by Manoj Bajpayee (who was one of the lead gangsters in Satya). As written by Kashyap and his team, Sardar is on the one hand a gangster seeking revenge on his nemeses, the Qureshi clan and mine-owner turned politician Ramadhir Singh. On the other, Sardar is often helpless before his rampant libido and has to contend with both his wife and his mistress, two equally feisty women.
Sardar is just one of the well-etched characters in a film teeming with them. Ramadhir, played magisterially in his first feature-length role by Tigmanshu Dhulia, a director in his own right, is another, as is Sardar’s second son Faisal, the Michael Corleone character, a pot-smoker who is reluctantly thrust into a decades-long gang war; the part is interpreted magnificently by Nawazuddin Siddiqui, an actor who is fast becoming the face of Indian independent cinema.
Though the film is undoubtedly Kashyap’s most accessible and hence commercial to date, it doesn’t bear any resemblance to the routine Bollywood fare churned out by Mumbai’s dream factories. Bollywood is, though, a living, breathing presence in Gangs of Wasseypur: several characters are hugely influenced by Bollywood movies and style themselves in the manner of its popular stars; the film is punctuated by hit Bollywood songs, which also serve to denote the passage of time; and the mobile ringtones of practically any character with a phone is a Bollywood song. Cleverly, Kashyap and his writers have made the main antagonist, Ramadhir, resolutely anti-Bollywood. In a memorable monologue, he explains that the reason for his longevity is that he doesn’t watch the movies; his opponents’ relatively short lives, he believes, can be attributed to their desire to emulate the lifestyles of Bollywood stars.

Another area where Kashyap scores is his choice of locations rarely seen in mainstream Bollywood films, with Rajeev Ravi’s restless camera capturing both the beauty and the shabbiness of small-town northern India. Wasiq Khan’s production design is meticulous, subtly delineating the changing periods with the introduction of film posters or household products. The locations mark a return to his roots for Kashyap, who was born in the area and grew up there. Setting films in authentic small-town India is a practice that’s been popularised recently by Tamil filmmakers Bala, Ameer Sultan and M. Sasikumar, and Gangs duly carries a dedication to them in the opening credits.
Gangs of Wasseypur is, then, an adrenalin shot of a film, powered along by an inventive score by Sneha Khanwalkar that’s a grab-bag of diverse genres including north Indian folk, electronica and even Indo-Caribbean reggae. However, fatigue sets in during the second part, when the relentless eye-for-an-eye revenge-taking becomes repetitive. This is partly redeemed by a bloodsoaked bullet ballet of a shootout set in a hospital, comparable to similar sequences in John Woo’s Hard Boiled (1992).
The five-hour-plus running time and the plethora of characters might be daunting for some, but overall the sheer pace and drive of Kashyap’s bravura approach ensure that once the film hits its straps it barely pauses for breath. Like Olivier Assayas’ Carlos (2010) and Jean-Francois Richet’s Mesrine films (2008), this is a movie where the two parts are best watched back to back with a short break, all the better to inhabit the noisy and colourful world of Wasseypur.

Indian cinema has long been trying to produce a breakout film that will appeal to international audiences in the manner of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) or City of God (2002). Unfortunately, most of the resulting films have been an uneasy mix of Western filmmaking techniques and predominantly English-language dialogue, set in milieux that international audiences are supposedly comfortable with. Unsurprisingly, these crossover films have appealed neither to Indian audiences nor global ones.
The late great Satyajit Ray maintained that he made films primarily for his native Bengali audience – any global recognition that followed was a bonus. Kashyap seems to have embraced this philosophy and created a film that’s uniquely Indian, despite having some Western influences. Festival acclaim has duly followed, with packed screenings at Cannes, Sydney, Toronto and Sundance among others, leading to commercial release in France and now the UK.
Perhaps Gangs of Wasseypur and other breakout Indian films from 2012, including Cannes selections Miss Lovely and Peddlers (produced by Kashyap), are a harbinger of things to come. The fact that independent productions Wasseypur and Peddlers were co-funded by mainstream Bollywood studios is also a welcome indication that the Bollywood machine is no longer wary of risking its coin on differently themed films.

निर्देशक की सामन्ती कुर्सी और लेखक का समाजवादी लैपटॉप (part 2) - दीपांकर गिरि

(continued from previous post)

दीपांकर गिरि

लोग “बायसिकल थीव्स ” की बात करते हैं ..”मालेगांव के  सुपरमैन” की बात करते हैं और फिल्मो के जुनून में पगलाए रहते हैं ….सिनेमा को बदलने की बातें करते हैं पर ब्लू फिल्म की बातें कोई नहीं करता ….अभी 10 साल तक जो भी फिल्म शुरू होता था उससे पहले किसी देवी देवता की पूजा करते हुए दिखाई देते थे और सिनेमा के  परदे संस्कार बांटा करते थे  ……ज़ाहिर हैं ब्लू  फिल्में संस्कार नहीं फैलाती  तो सिनेमाई  पैशन से ही कौन सा समाज बदल रहा है .?..कौन सा नया आर्ट डिस्कवर हो रहा है  …न “दो बीघा ज़मीन” बदल सका छोटे  किसानो की हालत न “पीपली लाइव” ….फिर सिनेमा बनाने का purpose   क्या है  ? इससे अच्छा तो पंकज उधास का गाया  “चिट्ठी  आई है ” गाना था जिसे सुनने के बाद विदेशों में बसे कई हिंदुस्तानी डॉक्टर्स अपनी मिटटी……. अपने वतन लौट आये थे ….

फिर सिनेमा का ये स्वांग क्यों ?…क्या इतनी बेहतरीन फिल्मो के बावजूद ईरान  में रह रही औरतों के सामाजिक अस्तित्व में कोई सुधार आया है … और ये बहस बहुत पुरानी हो चुकी है की हम कुछ बदलने के लिए सिनेमा नहीं बना रहे ….हम सिर्फ दर्शकों के दिमागी नसों में थोड़ी हलचल पैदा करना चाह रहे  बस इससे ज्यादा सिनेमा कुछ कर नहीं सकता ..चश्मा साफ़ करें तो दिख जाएगा की लोग सिनेमा के नाम पर क्या बना रहे हैं .

“स्लमडॉग”  की रुबीना की झोपडी उजाड़ दी गयी किसी “प्रतीक्षा’ या “मन्नत” से न कोई हिंदी का शब्द निकला न कोई उर्दू का ….Progressive aur realistic  फिल्मो का हम कितना  भी  दावा करें  लेकिन ये हकीक़त है कि सिनेमा बांद्रा ईस्ट  की बस्तियों में जाकर  ख़त्म हो जाता है …..और काला  सच ये भी की ज़फर पनाही जैसे लोग अन्दर होते हैं …मलयालम फ़िल्मकार जॉन अब्राहम ख़ुदकुशी कर लेता है …..लेकिन रामगोपाल वर्मा और महेश भट्ट (समकालीन परिदृश्य में )जैसे लोग फिल्मे बनाते रहते हैं। कुल मिलाकर बात सिर्फ इतनी है की सिनेमा को बदलने की कोशिश न की जाये उसकी जगह पर  नंगे होने के जतन किये जाएँ  …

मैंने भी “राजू पेंटर” बनाने की कोशिश नहीं की , बस अपने ऊपर थोपे गए सभ्यता की खाल उतारने की कोशिश की है ….”राजू पेंटर” जैसी कहानी का जन्म उन गंदे नाले के पुलों के ऊपर लिखे “नामर्द रोगी तुरंत मिले ” हकीम उस्मानी से …या “यहाँ पेशाब करना मना है ” जैसे सस्ते और हिकारत की दृष्टि से देखे जाने वाले  इबारतों को देखकर हुआ …मैं अक्सर सोचता था कि  इसे लिखने वाला आदमी कौन होगा ?……

मैं उसे ढूंढता रहा  और जिस दिन मैंने उसे देखा  उस दिन एक और अजीब बात हुई।  उस पेंटर ने दीवार पर लिखा और काम ख़तम कर अपनी ही लिखी हुई पेंटिंग के नीचे पेशाब कर के  चल दिया ……मैंने सोचा कि  ये कैसा काम है जिसमे लिटरली “अपने किये धरे पर मूतना है” ….ऐसे लोग किस मिटटी के बने होते हैं ……..पखाने से लबलबाते पखाने घरों  में इन्हें हगते हुए इन्हें कोई घिन नहीं आती ?

इस मामले में ये लोग उन  सिद्ध ऋषियों की तरह लगते हैं जो जीवन के जंजालों  से ऊपर उठ चुके हैं ……. ऐसे किरदार क्या किसी फिल्म का मुख्य पात्र यानी प्रोटागोनिस्ट हो सकता है ?…मैंने सोचा कि “Ameros Perros ” का वो मार्क्स की याद दिलाता कुत्तों के साथ रहने वाला कचरा उठाने वाला आदमी जब  फिल्म की धुरी बन सकता है (बाद में भले ही वो मध्य वर्ग का नागरिक निकले ) तो ऐसा दीवार रंगने वाला आदमी एक फिल्म का नायक क्यों नहीं हो सकता … और यहीं से शुरू हुआ उस किरदार को रचने का सिलसिला और उसके पास की कहानियों का  समेटने और समझने के बाद बन गयी कहानी “राजू पेंटर ” की।
तो कहानी का नायक एक माइग्रेंट लेबर है जो बिहार के मधुबनी से है और जिसकी हड्डियों में मिथिला की लोक कला बसती है लेकिन पेट हर कला को पीछे छोड़ देती है और अब इसका रोना बेवकूफी है कि लोक कलाएं कहाँ और किसने हथिया ली है ?

 शहर कला की मंडी लगाता है  ……मुंबई भी कला का तारणहार बनने की कोशिश करती है  जहाँ ग्राफिटी एक आर्ट में कूल है लेकिन वारली पेंटिंग्स या मिथिला की पेंटिंग्स उस तरह से “कूल” नहीं बन पाती ……मछलियों , राजाओं , सोहर और बिदाई  गीत की संरक्षक जनक की धरती मिथला की पेंटिंग्स दिल्ली हाटों और हस्तशिल्प में हज़ारों  में  हैं लेकिन आम जनता से दूर हैं  ….और इसलिए ये पेंटिंग्स किसी  बढही के या किसी स्वीपर के घर पर नहीं दिखती  ..ये कला बंगलों में जाकर क़ैद हो गयी है ….अब किसने क़ैद किया क्यों किया ..ये एक राजनीतिक  बहस है जिसका   भोली जनता और  दलालों के इस देश   में कोई मतलब नहीं।  बहरहाल कहानी आगे बढी।

एक लेखक कभी भी कुछ लिखता नहीं है …वो सिर्फ रियेक्ट करता है  …पाठकों के लिए लिखता है तब भी और प्रोडूसर के फीडबैक के बाद भी दरअसल वो रिएक्ट  ही कर रहा होता है …

“गोदान’ और “राग दरबारी” या “आधा गाँव”  अपने अपने समय और समाज पर कमेन्ट  है ..इन कहानियों को आप उनके समय से अलग नहीं कर सकते ….मंटो इसके  सबसे धारदार उदाहरण है .मंटो ने वही लिखा जो नंग सच उसने देखा। उसने भी दर असल रिएक्ट  ही किया था …विभूतिभूषण बदोपध्याय की कहानियों को ही सत्यजीत रे क्यों उठाते रहे ..क्योंकि वो सबसे ज्यादा प्रतिक्रियात्मक थे  ….मार्टिन स्कोर्सिसी  भी “टैक्सी ड्राईवर” के माध्यम  से नीयन रौशनी से जगमगाते न्यूयार्क की खाल उतारते रहे …. …किम की दुक की कहानियां किसी फंतासी दुनिया में रची जाती है लेकिन वो दरअसल वो रिएक्शन इसी भौगोलिक दुनिया पर है  ..

एक निर्देशक उस रिएक्शन को  कई .गांठों में बाँध देता है और सब कुछ रहस्यमयी लगता है ..दर्शक उन गांठों को एक एक कर खोलते रहते हैं और सिनेमा का जादू असर करने लगता है …..

“राजू पेंटर” लिखते हुए मैं  भी  रिएक्ट ही कर रहा था … वादों पर रिएक्ट कर रहा था ….सपनो पर रिएक्ट कर रहा था ..विचारधाराओं पर रिएक्ट कर रहा था …….वो कौन थे जो बराबरी का सपना दिखाते रहे  और अपने गमलो में फूल सजाते रहे और खर  पतवारों को सडकों …दुर्गन्ध मारती गलियों और  बीमारियाँ पालते गंदे नालों में उठाकर  फेंकते रहे…….

एक लेखक और निर्देशक होने के कारण “राजू पेंटर” के कई गाँठ मैंने खुद लगाये हैं और कुछ  खुले छोड़ दिए हैं …
आगे की बातें अगले पोस्ट में जहाँ हम बातें करेंगे शूटिंग की और हमारे कलाकारों और टेक्नीशियन्स की

फिल्‍म समीक्षा : काय पो छे

-अजय ब्रह्मात्मज

गुजराती भाषा का 'काय पो छे' एक्सप्रेशन हिंदी इलाकों में प्रचलित 'वो काटा' का मानी रखता है। पतंगबाजी में दूसरे की पतंग काटने पर जोश में निकला यह एक्सप्रेशन जीत की खुशी जाहिर करता है।

'काय पो चे' तीन दोस्तों की कहानी है। तीनों की दोस्ती का यह आलम है कि वे सोई तकदीरों को जगाने और अंबर को झुकाने का जोश रखते हैं। उनकी दोस्ती के जज्बे को स्वानंद किरकिरे के शब्दों ने मुखर कर दिया है। रूठे ख्वाबों को मना लेने का उनका आत्मविश्वास फिल्म के दृश्यों में बार-बार झलकता है। हारी सी बाजी को भी वे अपनी हिम्मत से पलट देते हैं।

तीन दोस्तों की कहानी हिंदी फिल्मों में खूब पसंद की जा रही है। सभी इसका क्रेडिट फरहान अख्तर की फिल्म 'दिल चाहता है' को देते हैं। थोड़ा पीछे चलें तो 1981 की 'चश्मेबद्दूर' में भी तीन दोस्त मिलते हैं। सिद्धार्थ, ओमी और जय। 'काय पो चे' में भी एक ओमी है। हिंदी फिल्मों में रेफरेंस पाइंट खोजने निकलें तो आज की हर फिल्म के सूत्र किसी पुरानी फिल्म में मिल जाएंगे। बहरहाल, 'काय पो छे' चेतन भगत के बेस्ट सेलर 'द 3 मिस्टेक्स ऑफ माई लाइफ' पर आधारित है। साहित्यप्रेमी जानते हैं कि तमाम लोकप्रियता के बावजूद चेतन भगत के उपन्यासों को साहित्यिक महत्व का नहीं माना जाता। यह भी अध्ययन का विषय हो सकता है कि साधारण साहित्यिक और लोकप्रिय कृतियों पर रोचक, मनोरंजक और सार्थक फिल्में बनती रही हैं। गुलशन नंदा से लेकर चेतन भगत तक के उदाहरण साक्षात हैं। खोजने पर और भी मिल जाएंगे। ऐसी बेहतर फिल्मों पर लिखते समय यह खतरा रहता है कि कहीं साहित्य के फिल्म रुपांतरण का तिलिस्म न टूट जाए।

ईशान (सुशांत सिंह राजपूत), ओमी (अमित साध) और गोविंद (राज कुमार यादव) गहरे दोस्त हैं। एक-दूसरे के साथ समय बिताने और सपने देखते तीनों युवकों का समाज पारंपरिक और गैरउद्यमी है। इस समाज में पढ़ाई के बाद कुछ कर लेने का मतलब सिर्फ आजीविका के बेसिक साधन जुटा लेना होता है। तीनों देश में आए आर्थिक उदारीकरण के बाद के युवक हैं। उनके पास उद्यमी बनने के सपने हैं और वे खुद भी मेहनती और समझदार हैं। तीनों के साझा सपनों की पतंग का मांझा परिस्थितियों के कारण उलझता है। विवश और लाचार होने के बाद भी उनके जज्बे और जोश में कमी नहीं आती। उनके मतभेद और मनमुटाव क्षणिक हैं। प्रतिकूल परिस्थितियों में भी उनकी दोस्ती का धागा नहीं टूटता। तीनों मिलकर बिट्टू मामा की मदद से खेल के सामानों की दुकान खोलते हैं। ईशान क्रिकेटर है। वह क्रिकेट की कोचिंग भी देता है। उसकी नजर (दिग्विजय देशमुख) गोटीबाज अली हाशमी पर पड़ती है। अली को निखारने की कोशिश में वह उसके परिवार के करीब आता है। साथ काम करते हुए तीनों दोस्तों की प्राथमिकताएं बदलती हैं। राजनीति का भगवा उभार रेंगता हुआ उनकी दोस्ती में घुसता है। यहां हम देखते हैं कि गुजरात के गोधरा कांड की सतह के नीचे कैसी सच्चाइयां तैर रही थीं। भूकंप से कैसे सपनों में दरार पड़े और गोधरा कांड ने कैसे मानवता पर धर्माधों को हावी होने दिया।

इस फिल्म का अघोषित नायक अली हाशमी है। वह इन युवकों की संगत में पल्लवित होता है। वह खुद के लिए उनकी संजीदगी देखता है। लगन और प्रतिभा से वह देश की नेशनल क्रिकेट टीम में शामिल होता है। उसकी उपलब्धियों के सफर में तीनों दोस्तों का जोश भी है। अली हाशमी के बहाने हम सेक्युलर हिंदुस्तान को करीब से देखते हैं, जहां बंटवारे की भगवा कोशिशों के बावजूद कैसे एकजुटता से समान सपने साकार होते हैं। लेखक-निर्देशक ने अली हाशमी पर अधिक जोर नहीं दिया है। उन्हें तो तीनों युवकों की कहानी पेश करनी थी।

निस्संदेह अनय गोस्वामी के फिल्मांकन, हितेश सोनिक के पा‌र्श्व संगीत, दीपा भाटिया के संपादन के सहयोग से अभिषेक कपूर ने 'काय पो चे' जैसी उत्कृष्ट और मनोरंजक फिल्म पेश की है। स्वानंद किरकिरे के गीत और अमित त्रिवेदी का संगीत फिल्म की अंतर्धारा है। 'काय पो चे' गुजरात की पृष्ठभूमि में एक खास समय की ईमानदार कथा है, जब प्राकृतिक और राजनीतिक रूप से सब कुछ तहस-नहस हो रहा था। फिल्म का परिवेश और उसका फिल्मांकन स्वाभाविक है। कुछ भी लार्जर दैन लाइफ दिखाने या रचने की कोशिश नहीं की गई है।

मुकेश छाबड़ा की कास्टिंग और अभिषेक कपूर का निर्देशन उल्लेखनीय है। सभी किरदारों में उपयुक्त कलाकार चुने गए हैं। मुख्य कलाकारों के रूप में सुशांत सिंह राजपूत, अमित साध, राज कुमार यादव, अमृता पुरी और मानव कौल अपनी भूमिकाओं में रचे-बसे नजर आते हैं। सभी कलाकारों की अपनी विशेषताएं हैं, जो उनके चरित्र को प्रभावशाली और विश्वसनीय बनाती हैं। पहली फिल्म होने के बावजूद सुशांत सिंह राजपूत की सहजता आकर्षित करती है। अमित साध में एक ठहराव है। वे दृश्यों में रमते हैं और टिके रहते हैं। राज कुमार यादव ज्यादा सधे अभिनेता हैं। वे किरदार के सभी भावों को दृश्यों की मांग के मुताबिक व्यक्त करते हैं। प्रेम दृश्यों और गरबा डांस में उनकी घबराहट की भिन्नता देखते ही बनती है। दोस्तों से उनकी झल्लाहट और इरादों के प्रति उत्कट अभिलाषा का मूक प्रदर्शन भी उल्लेखनीय है। मानव कौल ने अभिनय कौशल से दिखाया है कि दुष्ट और खल चरित्र के लिए किसी प्रकार के मैनरिज्म या दिखावे की आवश्यकता नहीं है।

'काय पो छे' 2013 में आई उत्कृष्ट फिल्म है। यह मनोरंजक होने के साथ प्रेरक है। देश में करवट ले रही सदी के समय की प्रादेशिक सच्चाई होकर भी यह देश की युवाकांक्षा जाहिर करती है।

-चार स्टार

फिल्‍म समीक्षा : जिला गाजियाबाद

-अजय ब्रह्मात्मज

इसी हफ्ते रिलीज हुई 'काय पो चे' से ठीक उलट है 'जिला गाजियाबाद'। सब कुछ बासी, इतना बासी की अब न तो उसमें स्वाद रहा और न उबाल आता है। हाल-फिलहाल में हिट हुई सभी मसाला फिल्मों के मसाले लेकर बनाई गई एक बेस्वाद फिल्म ़ ़ ़ कोई टेस्ट नहीं, कोई एस्थेटिक नहीं। बस धूम-धड़ाका और गोलियों की बौछार। बीच-बीच में गालियां भी।

निर्माता विनोद बच्चन और निर्देशक आनंद कुमार ने मानो तय कर लिया था कि अधपकी कहानी की इस फिल्म में वे हाल-फिलहाल में पॉपुलर हुई फिल्मों के सारे मसाले डाल देंगे। दर्शकों को कुछ तो भा जाए। एक्शन, आयटम नंबर, गाली-गलौज, बेड सीन, गोलीबारी, एक्शन दृश्यों में हवा में ठहरते और कुलांचे मारते लोग, मोटरसायकिल की छलांग, एक बुजुर्ग एक्टर का एक्शन, कॉलर डांस ़ ़ ़ 'जिला गाजियाबाद' में निर्माता-निर्देशक ने कुछ भी नहीं छोड़ा है। हालांकि उनके पास तीन उम्दा एक्टर थे - विवेक ओबेराय, अरशद वारसी और रवि किशन, लेकिन तीनों के किरदार को उन्होंने एक्शन में ऐसा लपेटा है कि उनके टैलेंट का कचूमर निकल गया है। तीनों ही कलाकार कुछ दृश्यों में शानदार परफारमेंस देते हैं, फिर भी वे फिल्म में कुछ भी जोड़ नहीं पाते। यह उनकी सीमा नहीं है। पटकथा ऐसी बेतरतीब है कि वह न तो कहीं से चलती है और न कहीं पहुंचती है। इस कथ्यहीन फिल्म में संजय दत्त की कद्दावर मौजूदगी भी फिसड्डी रही है। संजय दत्त का आकर्षण ऐसी फिल्मों की वजह से तेजी से खत्म हो रहा है। इस फिल्म में अरशद वारसी और रवि किशन ने संजीदगी से अपने किरदारों को चरित्र दिया है। उनकी मेहनत पर पानी फिर गया है।

निर्माता-निर्देशक को लगता है कि उनकी फिल्म देश के आम दर्शक पसंद करेंगे। ऐसा नहीं है। आम दर्शकों के पापुलर टेस्ट का भी एक सलीका है। 'जिला गाजियाबाद' उनमें अरुचि ही पैदा करेगी।

-डेढ़ स्टार