R Balki recalls harrowing first shot of his filmmaking career
R Balki recalls harrowing first shot of his filmmaking career
‘Amitabh Bachchan got so mad and shouted at me in front of everyone’: R Balki recalls harrowing first shot of his filmmaking career
On the very first day of shooting Cheeni Kum, which marked R Balki’s Bollywood debut, he and Amitabh Bachchan had a creative clash.
R Balki recounts on harrowing first shot of his filmmaking career
It’s a known fact that it’s no small feat to work with Indian Film Industry’s Legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan. It’s also not an easy task to get the legend on board for a film. For filmmaker
R.Balki, it was
wasn’t without its struggles. In fact, on the very first day of shooting Cheeni Kum which marked his Bollywood debut, Balki and Bachchan had a creative clash. Shot entirely in London, the film revolves around an elderly, egocentric restaurant owner-cum-chef who falls for a much younger woman, with Tabu playing the female lead opposite Bachchan.
Recently, Balki shared how he kept requesting retakes while filming the very first shot of the movie, which irked Bachchan and eventually led to him shouting at the director.
However, this initial tension ultimately worked in favour of the film, helping Bachchan refine his portrayal of the character Buddhadev Gupta and better capture the film’s tone.
There was a scene where he fires all the chefs in the kitchen. He shouted at all of them, exactly the way a person is supposed to. He looked and didn’t know how to say it to him. More than a director, he is a fan of Amitabh Bachchan. He I asked him if they could do one more take. He immediately asked him (Balki) ‘but why?’ to which he said, ‘a little less’ (intending to tone down his performance and expressions). He went around and did the same thing once again. He looked at him and said, ‘little down’. He glared at him went back, walked around and did exactly the same thing,” he said amidst a session at MIT World Peace University.
By this point, Balki was just looking at his cameraman. There’s a struggle. Bachchan said, ‘everything’s fine. Let’s go to the next shot.’ And Balki.said, ‘Amit ji, one more.’ He got so mad and shouted at him in front of everyone: ‘What do you want me to do yaar? What the hell are you? You just want me to stand there and say things with no expression, without using my hands? Balki said ‘yeah.’ Then he came, without moving his hand, he fired that guy without one expression on his face. Bang on! He (Bachchan) just looked at him, went in to his trailer and he called him after 10 minutes saying, ‘he got the film.’ This was the very first day of shoot and Balki wanted to say what’s the tone of the film, which is ‘expressionless expressions of emotions.’ It’s about a man who cannot express his emotions,” he added.
Also featuring Paresh Rawal, Zohra Sehgal and Swini Khara in key roles, Cheeni Kum received both critical acclaim and commercial success upon its release. The movie was also premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. While its cinematography was handled by PC Sreeram, Cheeni Kum was edited by Chandan Arora and its music was crafted by Ilaiyaraaja.
News Edit KV Raman
