The story is the
hero of my films: Nagesh Kukunoor
New Delhi, Aug 28, 2005
UNI
He is known in the Mumbai film industry as a maker
of ‘realistic’ films which cast a satiric
look at social mores in India as well as on elements
of popular culture.
Whether it be capturing the dilemmas confronting
an NRI youth on his visit to India in ‘Hyderabad
Blues’ or a Hollywood actor trying to come to
terms with the working of the the Mumbai film industry
in ‘Bollywood Calling’, Nagesh Kukunoor’s
films have always treaded the ‘closer-to-reality’
path rather than indulging in ‘larger-than-life’
portrayals or dishing out escapist fare.
For the US-returned engineer who pioneered the trend
of the English language crossover cinema in India,
maintaining a touch of realism in his films is but
a reflection of his sensibilities as a filmmaker.
‘’There are ‘larger-than-life or escapist’
commercial films, there are thrillers and then there
are realistic films. As a filmmaker I have certain
sensibilities due to which it would not be possible
for me to make hardcore commercial films with conviction.
The reason why most of my films be it ‘Hyderabad
Blues’ or ‘Rockford’ or ‘Bollywood
Calling’ or ‘3 Deewarein’ have had
a closer-to-life’ feel about them is that I am
most comfortable making such films. In any case I
feel there is place under the sun for all kinds of
films to co-exist,’’Nagesh Kukunoor told
UNI in an interview here.
The director of several critically acclaimed films
is now ready with his new offering ‘Iqbal’,
an inspiring tale of a 18 year-old deaf and mute boy’
who dreams of becoming a part of India’s "Men
in Blue".
Lending him support in his endeavour is none other
than Subhash Ghai, who is producing the film, which
released on August 26, under his new banner, Mukta
Searchlight films.
For Nagesh, here in connection with the premiere
of his film at Delhi's PVR Plaza on Thursday night,
the fact that a filmmaker like Subhash Ghai, known
for his hardcore commercial cinema, is financially
backing the film is evidence enough of the increasing
relevance of his kind of films in today’s scenario.
‘’I feel that in the current scenario,
my kind of films, with a certain amount of realism,
can perfectly co-exist with commercial fares like,
say, ‘Bunty aur Babli’ or ‘Dhoom’.
This is evident from the huge success for a film like
‘Black’. A decade ago nobody would
have imagined that a film without five to ten songs
would do well.''
Nagesh Kukunoor
to venture into Hindi films
NOVEMBER 13, 2002
PTI
KOLKATA: Acclaimed Indian diaspora film maker Nagesh
Kukunoor has finally returned to home soil with his
half-Hindi-half-English mystery drama Teen Deewarein
and says his next film might be purely in Hindi.
The maker of Hyderabad Blues , one of the low-budget
Indian film to be distributed in the country,
told a press meet at the Kolkata Film Festival on
Wednesday that he wanted more Indians to see his films
and hence chose a half-Hindi venture.
"With a little more confidence, I would do a
pure Hindi film," Kukunoor, whose Teen Deewarein
premiered in India with rave reviews here last evening,
said.
The chemical engineer, who gave up a lucrative career
as an environmental consultant in Atlanta to venture
into films, said the departure from English was a
conscious decision as he wanted to work for people
in his country of origin.
The director, who divides his time between India and
USA, said meaningful Indian films were already making
inroads into the international market.
"Indian English film makers have already created
a stir in western cinema and a number of new directors
are doing great jobs," he said.
Nagesh Kukunoor
starts his 1st Hindi film
INDIATIMES MOVIES
JUNE 06, 2002
He's the man credited for bringing small-budget English
films to India. The man behind Hyderabad Blues , Rockford
and Bollywood Calling is wielding his megaphone for
the fourth time. But this time it's a full length
Hindi film complete with hardcore Bollywood commercial
actors. "The film is called 3 Deewarein and it
starts Naseerruddin Shah, Jackie Shroff and Nagesh
Kukunoor himself. Juhi Chawla (after her motherhood)
makes a comeback with this film. "It is a mystery
involving three murders that take place on a single
day. The film is about three convicts- Naseeruddin
Shah, Jackie Schoff and Nagesh Kukunoor. Juhi Chawla
plays a documentary filmmaker who comes to make a
film on their lives. And through her eyes we learn
what happened on that day. The film is somewhat on
the lines of Sixth Sense ," says Nagesh. Sounds
like Sixth Sense, Hyderabadi style!
Kukunoor gets his
Blues again
Mumbai , June 13, 2000
The Hindu Business Line
Shyam G Menon
Latha Venkatraman
Nagesh Kukunoor: "I understand the business
well enough to know that second-guessing the film
is the wrong way to go about it. It is the biggest
guessing game out there. I think you have a better
chance in a horse race."
An unknown during his screen debut in July 1998,
distributor Shringar Films arranged a "careful
release," a two week-run at a Goregaon theatre
for Nagesh Kukunoor's first feature film. Slowly,
Hyderabad Blues simmered to a craze, making it to
Delhi by December 1998, finishing its India run by
February 1999.
"Hyderabad Blues will be the fondest memory
of film making I have," Kukunoor who acted as
Naidu, said on Friday. The film's cost, Rs 17 lakh,
"an aberration to the point of being an anomaly
in the field of marketing." He is now ready with
a sequel costing roughly Rs 2 crore.
`Hyderabad Blues-2 Rearranged Marriage' will be distributed
by UTV Motion Pictures and compared to the guarded
market foray of its predecessor, be screened in eight
Indian cities (Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Kolkata, Delhi,
Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Chennai) at start with likely
simultaneous domestic and international release.
Six years since Hyderabad Blues' cautious opening,
Kukunoor is a seasoned filmmaker, with three more
films (Rockford, Bollywood Calling, Teen Deewarein)
now to his credit. With that track record and an original
title synonymous with successful offbeat films, Kukunoor
had no difficulty getting support for the sequel.
He got the entire old cast, save Rajeshri Nair who
played Aswini, wife of the main protagonist, Naidu.
She was replaced by Jyoti Dogra. Further, Hyderabad
Blues-2 is structured for an audience that saw the
1998 offering and those that didn't.
But sequels with the same characters and a story
line carried over from the first film are rare in
Bollywood. Kukunoor's film is Hyderabad Blues re-visited
six years down the line. Naidu now runs a call centre,
and his wife wants to start a family. But he is reluctant
to commit; and has an attraction for his office manager.
In 1998, Naidu-from-US was a character quite real
for many Indian families but as yet unarticulated
for the silver screen. His perception of home and
vice-versa was arguably a theme begging to strike
a chord, which it did. Since then, several Bollywood
and `cross-over' films on similar themes came, travel
abroad became common place in urban India and the
`techie' lost his curio value.
If Naidu's generation became regular by 2004, what
is there anymore to his story?
Kukunoor disagrees with such a simplistic view, arguing
that the original film had appealed for different
reasons to different people. If some found newness
to the NRI angle, there were those who liked it for
questioning arranged marriage. "I have always
kept the market out," he said of the tendency
to work themes favoured by the market into movies.
"I understand the business well enough to know
that second-guessing the film is the wrong way to
go about it. It is the biggest guessing game out there.
I think you have a better chance in a horse race."
Kukunoor concedes that a prime reason preserving his
creative control and ability to discount market compulsions
is "the league I am playing in is small enough."
At two crore rupees, Naidu's second coming next month
is low budget by current standards. Still, one difference
will invite gaze on how the sequel fares. As Kukunoor
himself said, "Hyderabad Blues was a life-changing
event, an experience. Now, this is a film."
For Naidu, the journey may have just begun.
