Sunday, January 21, 2018

BLACK FRIDAY-How it all began PART-2

Posted by: Anurag Kashyap
Posted on: February 2, 2007 12:46 am

We still didn’t have the script..

Things had not worked out with Ramu..Jhamu Sugandh by now had come on board..Mid-day also realised that they would have to put in most of the money..Tariq was game..but it being a listed company, the forming of a film company had to be passed by the board..Mid-day Multimedia ltd was already in existence making news stuff for TV..Board passed the proposal..we were on but we didn’t have a script..

Script

All this AM thought that i was working on the script..he would ask me “kitna hua” and i would say “ho raha hai”..i had figured out by then what would go into the script and what is to be left out..but i could not find a structure hence no script..then one day we were sitting at China Gate in bandra..AM,CM and me..and AM said:-

“Is it possible to structure the film in a way where it ends at Babri Masjid”

I immediately responded,”why not”

Why not..why fucking not..that was probably the only way it could all come together..i was excited..Then AM dropped a bomb , can we have the script by the weekend..meekly i said..”Yeah”..then he went ahead and booked the conference room at Land’s end..he called Sudhir Mishra and someone else was also to come for the first narration..I panicked..I called Dev..

“Dev, i have to deliver the script in next two days, i need your help..get the typist,i want you and neel to be with me for next 48 hrs”..we went back..i collected all the research material, handed it to Dev and asked him to start making a timeline..i had read the book so many times that i remembered everything..i also had individual episodes figured out..i roughly discussed the structure with Dev and neel and i told them i am going to start writing, by the time i finish one episode ,the next episode timeline should be up on my wall..I started writing..i had worked up a state of mind..i kept writing..neel would take my finished pages and give it to the typist..then he would take the timeline from dev and bunch together all the material on the basis of it and put it next to me..it was chaos..two rooms and the hall of my house was strewn with papers..we kept at it, not eating, not sleeping, phones off.. i never wrote so furiously..ideas were flowing..information was all there..I wrote some 120 pages at a stretch..we finished writing the film in 36 hours..we finished typing it in next ten..i have never felt prouder of myself..i till date don’t know what drove me that day..i don’t want to analyse it..and i have always been scared to say it in public forums or press conferences that i wrote the film in 36 hrs..I wish i can do that again..I do write fast..and Black Friday isn’t the fastest script i have ever written..it was the most difficult and the most technical, when i look back at it..it just happened..may be because there were eighteen preceding months that i lived with it, thought about it..the brilliant research work that my team did and i had read it all..it was beautiful..

The narration went very well..

Later on we did make some changes in it..some while shooting..like the chase which we improvised..some on editing table..a lot of it went out..a lot will go in to the TV series..some after editing..like the opening scene..

After we had a first cut, i showed the film to some people that i trust..N K Sharma..our Panditji of Act-one theatre group in delhi..Act-one was the breeding ground of actors like Manoj Bajpai,Ashish Vidyarthi, Gajraj Rao and most of the cast of Bandit Queen et al.. A group that NK started with Piyush Mishra..Piyush Wrote and composed music..NK directed..Now NK on seeing the film said..

“Film badhiya hai, bas sandwich missing hai”

I didn’t get it..no body did..then he explained..film begins on the day of the blast and ends at Babri but that doesn’t say much..come back to tha blasts..sandwich the film between the blasts..

and we did..

Next, Imtiaz ali, my dearest friend and another Act-one alumni, who also plays Yaqub Memon in the film said..

“Beginning thodi faili hui lag rahi hai”

Now we all were feelin that but nobody ever said it..i sat down with imti and brainstormed..that is when i said what if instead of showing gullu,running away then surrendering and cops asking question i do one long scene..and imti responded very well..like two excited children we started to work on it..i wrote ..he read it..he reacted..we locked it..we had a new opening sequence..AM loved it..shooting was over..we decided to shoot the new opening sequence in the office..Wasiq, aged the two walls ..we put Manoj goyal and the other actor and reshot the opening sequence..the way it is now..


Anyways after the script..we locked in the crew..

_________________________________________________________________

29 Responses to “BLACK FRIDAY-How the cast and crew came together..”
1. RK | February 2nd, 2007 at 5:39 am

Anurag:
you absorbed BF the book for 18 months and then you started making film. Certainly you were having characters live before you, because of the person Arbaaz ali khan who knew many accused personally. As an director whom did you find raised the standard of acting in that film?
Any standar acting memory, which brought you goose
bump because of the thril that scene created while fiming it?

2. kuldeep | February 2nd, 2007 at 6:57 am

hey anurag..when i saw your film at PIFF…i never knew that the actors u casted in your film ever exisited..u have done a great job..
all the best…
kuldeep

3. striker | February 2nd, 2007 at 7:28 am

it’s ridiculous to what detail you’re able to write this, and all from MEMORY.. i find that impressive, to say the least. and on another note, it’s good to see auditions exist in this industry.. even for those that you may think are the right choice and are embarrassed to ask to audition for you.. but for him to like the script to audition..? the realism goes away there.. in this case it was a semi-luxury for pavan since he was already established (or was he?) with “vikrut”.. def not the case for newcomers.. they have to audition for whatever comes their way

4. VC | February 2nd, 2007 at 7:33 am

Wow…Reading this makes it so much more worth it …now that it’s releasing…
AK..Please continue…with your experiences during BF’s making…

5. striker | February 2nd, 2007 at 8:22 am

just came across this on rediff.. chat with anurag LIVE on monday.. i plan to be sitting in on this..!

http://www.rediff.com/movies/2007/feb/02chat.htm

6. striker | February 2nd, 2007 at 8:26 am

and a closer look at the black friday poster..

http://www.rediff.com/movies/2007/feb/01black.htm

7. Raaj Pillai | February 2nd, 2007 at 8:51 am

Hi anurag,

ur story is so inspiring for people like me…..actually i thought only i had these anxiety attacks when u r not supposed to be depressed(i read ur interview in mid-day today)….but then, i think it is a part of the game…frankly i have done some good work while being depressed,,,actually someone told me “just channelise all ur negative energies into ur creativity”…i did not understand what he said at that time …but then it did work when i tried, and imagine my state of mind when the client was showering praises on me but i was least interested in his lecture (he spoke to me for 40-45 minutes on the phone, when i actually wanted to be left alone)…..i hope that ‘black friday’ brings u all the recognition that is due to u.

good luck
Raaj

8. Zaheer | February 2nd, 2007 at 9:42 am

Hello,
Raaj Pillai,
Thank you for your comments on my posters,
I wish I had more time for the tons of concepts i had, but there are no excuses.

you can contact me at zaheersc@hotmail.com
Thanks

9. Aroon | February 2nd, 2007 at 11:32 am

Hi Anurag,

Could you shed some light on the music part of the movie

10. OM | February 2nd, 2007 at 12:02 pm

My My..what a post…mindblowing..i need a sutta before i can get back to normality after reading this post…better comment in the next post :d/

11. Nitin Shitole | February 2nd, 2007 at 12:17 pm

Anurag,
Wanted to ask this question since quite a long, who’s the baldy guy whom Pavan Malhotra meets in Dubai for the first time in the movie? He’s just for that one scene IIRC, and has just 2-3 lines, one of them is to the hotel waiter and then while eating to Pavan Malhotra saying something like - you are in trouble … tu toh gaya …
What dialog delivery ! amazing !!

12. Vasan | February 2nd, 2007 at 12:25 pm

Nattu as J Lo…..hahahha…hhhhaaaa..great stress buster

13. chandan sharma | February 2nd, 2007 at 12:53 pm

that post left be begging for more. AK, can you please throw some light on who did the back ground score and when and how Indian ocean got involved.

i specially enjoyed the Nutty part. great insight into complex human emotions.

14. OM | February 2nd, 2007 at 1:58 pm

AK..how did Zakir Hussain come into the movie? He had such a some role of bomb de-fussion guy…

As i always maintain..Aditya Srivastav nailed this role…never have i seen him in such an intense role…what a performance…so did Kay Kay..scene to watch out for..the bath scene in the Police station…WOW

15. dilip | February 3rd, 2007 at 7:39 am

just lemme know how to get in touch with u

16. hansal | February 4th, 2007 at 2:15 pm

over 50 previews and i wasn’t invited! i saw the film and felt left out… nevertheless a great film anurag… u will have to live up to this film forever… got drunk and argued with a common friend about the commercial possiblities of BF… i told him only one thing… let those who haven’t seen the film see it - that compensates for any commercial success… if salaam-e-ishq makes 3.52 crores in mumbai alone then the barometer for success is definitely flawed! all the best anurag… God Bless…

17. P.R.S.LOKENDRA VARMA | February 5th, 2007 at 12:24 am

troll

Commenter gets the TROLL CAP17. nononsense | February 1st, 2007 at 6:52 am
21. nononsense | February 1st, 2007 at 7:51 am
23. nononsense | February 1st, 2007 at 7:59 am

who is this fucking nononsense

every body who is reading this brothers and sisters. what is his calibre to judge anurag.NO ONE SHOULD HURT ANURAG IF ANY BODY REPEATS MY USKO MAKI GALI DONGA………………I DONT CARE ANY BODY HOW MUCH BIG HE IS ……………….

18. P.R.S.LOKENDRA VARMA | February 5th, 2007 at 12:28 am

ANURAG KASHYAP SORRY
………………BEHALF OF nononsense

19. Vasan | February 5th, 2007 at 6:42 am

was reading ur rediff chat Anurag.

was laughing my gut off…..

some singh typed : are you sleeping…
u say : no i am jerking off on the net
singh says: u are a dog
you: woof…woof..

hahahahahahhahahhaaaaa……

20. striker | February 5th, 2007 at 6:56 am

=)) vasan, i was just about to paste those snippets of the chat myself! great minds think alike ;)

these are great too…

yht asked, hello sir i have seen Black friday it is better than satya do u expect oscar
Anurag Kashyap answers, I expect Angelina Jolie.

KATHAP asked, 6850
Anurag Kashyap answers, ???

21. Pradeep | February 5th, 2007 at 9:07 am

link?:)

22. striker | February 5th, 2007 at 9:16 am

pradeep, here u go.. u’ll have to login with an ID..

http://www.rediff.com/movies/2007/feb/02chat.htm

23. Amit Mishra | February 5th, 2007 at 10:45 am

damn! i missed the chat :(( , and they dont have the transcripts up as of now.:(
hope to catch up with it when the transcripts are up.:-?

24. ashok | February 7th, 2007 at 3:02 am

Hi Anurag,
Great fan of your writing, but something has been bugging me about the movies that are recently made on communalism in India. Somehow most of them look like they follow a set formula. Show India and especially Hindus in bad light. The western media and festival circuit lap it up gleefully and voila, there’s an award and a lot of buzz in the media. I am NOT saying what they show is wrong but enough effort is not put in to give proper perspective to the film, like if it is set in the 40s or 50s, a little emphasis would be nice because a lot of my western friends ask me if that is how India “is” while in reality that’s how India “was”. Again, if its a a film about communal issues, the filmmakers have no problem sowing a Hindu “mob” attacking the crowd. Again, I am NOT saying Hindus don’t attack. I am just saying the fault is always on both sides but I get a feeling that most filmmakers are afraid of showing the minorities in bad light. Maybe they fear the media buzz. Maybe they are afraid of being branded as politically-incorrect/insensitive. The same with Hindu customs. I know most of them are ridiculous and should be exposed. But I never saw something like that about the Muslim community. I mean, Deepa Mehta has no problem “exposing” a lot of Hindu issues to the world and winning accolades for that. but how about a movie about a Muslim girl who doesn’t get justice because of a lack of support from the legal system? I just hope your Black Friday has the guts to show instances in which some Muslims were wrong rather than justifying the bomb blasts because of the babri demolition. At this point, i am a little disillusioned with the critically acclaimed movies about communal issues. They all seem to show only one side of the problem. I don’t blame a Parzania. I haven’t seen it but from what i heard from my friends, it sounds like a sincere attempt to show what happened. I just hope some other filmmaker or the same filmmaker has the guts to show the other side too. And I really hope you and your Black Friday stand up. My hope stems from the fact that you have nothing to lose. I mean, no one can accuse you of any “new” stuff, right? :)

25. Arijit | February 7th, 2007 at 8:56 am

Hi Anurag,
Just wanted to say that I’ll be at the premiere tomorrow at Metro Adlabs, with family no less! Hope I can meet you. Really looking forward to watching the movie on the big screen.
All the best, man.

26. rahul | February 9th, 2007 at 12:56 pm

Hi Mr. Kashyap,
your movie ends on Gandhiji’s famous line “Eye for an Eye, would make whole world blind”. do you really believe in him?Taking into view, about your past films which had justified violence, including BF as means of retalition. A foreigner comes and makes a film on him & wins 8 oscars, but in his own country he’s most hated man.If you speak with common public from Kashmir to Pakistan for all problems he’s considered responsible. How do you react to that?

27. Urmi | February 12th, 2007 at 12:00 am

Hey Anurag,
Don’t know if you remember this… but around 4 years back you came to an XIC class for a talk and screend Paanch there.
I remember, it was almost a rough cut and you had tales to narrate about Paanch. And then some brilliant minds asked you about what’s next.
I still remember how passionately you spoke about BF and its characters then. Your ghar ki murgi had already made its way through as Dawood, if I am not wrong.
(will cal him in a bit and tell him).
Honestly, I wanted to see what becomes of tht great story. You’ve done a great great job Anurag. Be proud of yourself, not just for making this film,
but also for not giving up.
Love your spirit. “Der hai… par andher nahi hai.”
Lovvveeed the dark humour in the most unexpected places. My personal fav. is the chor police chase with a tired chor and worse hawaldar… man! “ruk ja yaar”… :) hilarious.
Looking forward to No smoking now. But all said and done, Paanch still remains my first Fav. I’d love to have a copy… dunno how?

28. Urmi | February 13th, 2007 at 12:49 am

Hey Anurag,
Don’t know if you remember this… but around 4 years back you came to XIC class for a talk and screend Paanch there.
I remember, it was almost a rough cut and you had tales to narrate about Paanch. And then some brilliant minds asked you about what’s next.
I still remember how passionately you spoke about BF and its characters then. Your ghar ki murgi had already made its way through as Dawood, if I am not wrong.
(will cal him in a bit and tell him).
Honestly, I wanted to see what becomes of tht great story. You’ve done a great great job Anurag. Be proud of yourself, not just for making this film,
but also for not giving up.
Love your spirit. “Der hai… par andher nahi hai.”
Lovvveeed the dark humour in the most unexpected places. My personal fav. is the chor police chase with a tired chor and worse hawaldar… man! “ruk ja yaar”… hilarious.
Looking forward to No smoking now. But all said and done, Paanch still remains my first Fav. I’d love to have a copy… dunno how?

29. manjeet singh | February 13th, 2007 at 8:30 am

Anurag, Heard that the uncut version was almost 4 hours long. Did at any point of time there was a thought of possibility of spliting it in 2 parts. The material itself would have been a lot

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