The starcast and the director had a candid conversation about the film ‘Bhoot Bangla’, in which its idea, shooting experience and the comedy-horror balance were discussed. Director Priyadarshan told that the story was re-written several times to make it a perfect entertainer, while Akshay Kumar emphasized on logic and real approach in the film. Vamika Gabbi said that this film taught her to remain calm and enjoy her work. Interesting stories and pranks also came to light during the shooting. He also gave his opinion on the increasing influence of comedy, OTT, Gen G audience and AI in today’s era. The film claims to give a different treatment and fresh experience. Here are some key excerpts from the conversation with the film’s star cast and director… How did the idea of ’Bhoot Bangla’ come about and what is there in it that will give something new to the audience? Priyadarshan – I got the idea of Bhoot Bangla from the producer. He had sent a storyline, which I found quite interesting. When I heard it, I felt it had a very good plot and could be developed further. After this, we worked on the story again and again, re-wrote it, because our aim was to make this film a complete entertainer. Which has a lot of comedy as well as horror. It is not easy to strike this balance, but we tried to achieve it. Akshay-Ekta narrated this idea to me, then we narrated it to Priyank sir and further developed it together. After this the story was treated in a different way. It combined comedy, horror and most importantly, logic. We especially took care that the logic in the film remained strong. This film was prepared after this process. Did you ever feel scared during shooting, any incident on the set? Akshay – We never felt scared on the set because there were actually no ghosts there. But an interesting incident comes to mind, which I would like to share with you. There is a very big bungalow in Mud Island, where I have shot many times. However, people avoid shooting there at night. I would not like to take the name of the bungalow, but it was famous about it that a ‘ghost’ is seen there at night. Many people claimed to have seen him—even the caretaker there said he had seen him several times. For this reason the shooting there was ended early. Usually the packing would be done by 1 o’clock in the night and after that no one would go out. There was so much fear about that bungalow that even its owner was not able to sell it. That bungalow could not be sold for years but a few years ago the truth came out, which was quite surprising. Actually, the same caretaker himself used to scare people by becoming a ‘ghost’. He did not want the bungalow to be sold, because he himself wanted to live there. Therefore, he used to roam around at night wearing a saree and scare people, due to which the word spread in the area that there was indeed a ghost there. In this way he kept people under illusion for about 26-27 years and did not allow the bungalow to be sold. “Really, it was a very clever plan of his.” Vamika – For me he (Akshay) is the biggest prankster. One day my dad came to the set. I had to give a shot in the harness and as soon as the action happened, Akshay suddenly left me. I hung in the air. I didn’t know this was going to happen so I was very scared. Later it was revealed that dad himself was involved in this prank and was making the video. Is it a big challenge to maintain the timing of both horror and comedy in such films? Priyadarshan – No, it is not at all that we decide in advance how much comedy and how much horror there will be in the film. If you have seen Bhool-Bhulaiyaa, it is also a great combination of horror and comedy. Actually there is no fixed timing that there will be horror for so many minutes and comedy for so many minutes. All this goes naturally with the story. When you sit in a theater and watch a movie, sometimes you laugh, and sometimes suddenly you start feeling tension or fear. This is the specialty of such films that both the things go together and give a different experience to the audience. What is the difference between the comedy of two decades ago and now? Akshay – Talking about comedy, it is of many types. Like physical comedy, situational comedy and sometimes facial comedy done only through expressions – where the audience laughs without saying anything. That means there are many different forms of comedy. I don’t think there has been any major change in the basic form of comedy so far, but yes, the style of humor has definitely changed a bit with time. If you talk about Hera Pheri, it was a very special film. Till that time comedy films did not run much overseas. Generally only romantic films did good business there. But Hera Pheri became the first comedy film to perform well overseas and proved that good comedy can be liked by audiences everywhere. Priyadarshan’s films are situational comedies. Priyadarshan – After Hera Pheri, we do not bring jokes in comedy films, rather our comedy is situational. What changed in the way you worked in your career after ‘Hera Pheri’? Akshay – When I worked with him for the first time, it was a great learning experience for me. I have learned a lot from him in my career, especially in understanding different aspects of comedy. There are many types of comedy and I have learned the nuances of how to present them from him. Apart from this, another very important thing I understood while making a film is that it is very important for a director to have a good understanding of editing. While working with him, I got the opportunity to learn many new things, which have been very useful in my career. Tell us any story related to ‘Bhoot Bangla’ which is different? Priyadarshan – Actually, while making the film, we were not enjoying it as a comedy, as people think. Because our characters are quite serious, but the situations create comedy. We don’t laugh much during shooting, because we completely focus on our character and the situation. We already know that when this scene goes to the theatre, the audience will laugh more because of that situation. That means the comedy of our film depends not only on performance but more on the situation and this is its specialty. Do you guys strictly follow the script during shooting or do you improvise? Akshay – A lot changes on the set. There is a lot of improvisation. I say something, then tell it to Priyadarshan. Try doing this. If it feels right then we do it immediately. Any scene that is written definitely changes. Improvisation happens according to the environment of the set. This writer cannot do sitting down. He will be standing on the set only. You have done many films together. Ever had a scene where you don’t agree with each other? Akshay – No, it is not like that. We have done 8 films together. But we agree with each other on every shot and every dialogue. That’s why we’ve been working together for a long time. Never questioned each other. How do you keep Gen G audiences in mind in the age of shorts and reels? Akshay- Audience likes all types of content. He also watches shorts and the four-hour Dhurandhar is also being liked by the audience. Vamika – I myself also watch reels on Instagram. But I also watch movies. People watch phones but the experience of watching movies is completely different. That’s not reels. There are characters in it, there is a story. That’s why young people are also watching movies and webseries on Netflix, Amazon and in theatres. Akshay- When I am watching comedy films on OTT at home, I do not laugh that much. Because there are less people around. But when people go to the theatre, they enjoy it with 150–200 people. There is a lot of difference between watching a movie in a theater and sitting at home. Today AI is copying the voices of actors. Recreating the scene. How do you see this? Akshay- Recently someone asked me what kind of film I want to do. So I said I want to do a film that has great action, and I want to go back to the 80s–90s era. At that time, actors used to do their own stunts and fight scenes themselves – and not with the help of VFX or AI. Nowadays technology has advanced a lot, but I want to make a film which neither uses AI nor VFX – a completely real and organic film. Let me explain it with an example – say there is a printed painting and a hand-made painting in the house. A printed painting looks very perfect, but the real painting, which has been made by an artist with his own hands, the detailing, hard work and soul that goes into it, is of a different level. In the same way, I want to make a film which has the same authenticity and purity, where everything is real. I will definitely try to make at least one such film in my life, in which AI and VFX are not used at all. Is AI being used a lot in tasks like editing and scripting? Priyadarshan – See, we make limited use of AI in the film. Like creating concept drawings to help us understand what a character or scene might look like. Through AI we can see different options. But it is important to understand one thing that even today AI has limited data and it works completely on the instructions of the creator. It does not do anything on its own, but gives results only on the basis of commands given by humans. Yes, if there ever comes a time when AI itself starts thinking and taking decisions like humans, then that could be a dangerous situation. Vamika, what was your learning with this star cast? Vamika – My biggest learning has been that you should be patient, remain calm and enjoy your work. Initially, I was taking things very seriously and had created a lot of pressure in my mind but then I realized that you can do good work even while being relaxed, and it is very important to enjoy the entire process. What will be seen different from ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ in this? Priyadarshan – This is the biggest difference between ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ and this film. ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ was a psychological thriller, where in the end it is revealed that there is no ghost in reality but the film is a fantasy. The treatment of the story here is different—in the beginning our main character believes that there is no such thing as a ghost, but as the story progresses, he has to face the ghost himself. Asrani ji is no more, any news about him related to this film? Priyadarshan – I shot the last shot of the film with him. That day he completed the shot and then said that he was not feeling well. He died two days later but had completed the shooting of both the films. No shot remained incomplete. His original voice has been used in both the films. Everything is absolutely original. And to be honest, we all miss him very much.
Source link
[ad_3]
भूत बंगला में कॉमेडी-हॉरर का नया अनुभव देंगे अक्षय: प्रियदर्शन बोले- कहानी कई बार लिखी गई; वामिका ने कहा- फिल्म ने शांत रहना और काम एंजॉय करना सिखाया
