Mudslinging turns Chikni Chachi into Stree 420
Venkatesh Jagadeeshwara
Taken From Indian Express
M S M Desai and Deepa Deosthalee
MUMBAI, June 16: The Kamal Hassan vs Shantanu Sheorey battle over Stree
420 nee Chikni Chachi is now well and truly under way with the producer
of
the film, John Saab, calling Sheorey ``incompetent'' among other
things.
In a fax from Chennai, Saab--with a clear backing from Kamal Hassan --
has
claimed that the entire film was virtually re-shot under Kamal's
supervision
after they found glaring `technical mistakes' in the portions directed
by
Sheorey.
``After watching the rushes of the first few days' work, Kamal Haasan,
cinematographer Jahangir Choudhary and some of the crew members
concluded
that there were several technical errors in the film. These were things
that
are quite basic to filmmaking. So, the differences (with Shantanu) were
not
on aesthetics, as he claims, but on quality feature filmmaking.''
`Saab says Kamal had explained the situation to Sheorey in the presence
of
chief technicians of the unit almost a month back. ``Instead of walking
out of the
project at that time, Sheorey allowed Kamal to re-shoot several scenes.
This
was the time Kamal took over from Shantanu. Then on, it was quite clear
to
Sheorey, and the rest of the crew also, as to who was directing the
film.''
Sheorey, however rejects this claim. He says that he had shot almost 95
per
cent of the movie and believes that it was technically far more superior
than
even Avvai Shanmughi on which Stree 420 is based. ``Compare my film to
Avvai Shanmughi and you will see the difference. He (Kamal) himself had
accepted that it was much better than the original.''
After his high-profile walk-out from the film, Sheorey is now claiming
that a Rs
5 lakh cheque issued by Kamal's company has bounced and that he may
initiate
legal proceedings against him for this lapse. Reacting to the charges
against
him, Sheorey claims that it's only the pressure of performance that's
provoking
Kamal to make wild allegations against him.
``The bottomline really is the pressure of performance. When you are
talking
comedy, you need the fluency of language which he obviously doesn't
have.
He's not a fool, he noticed it while watching the rushes. Paresh Rawal,
who has
just seven or eight scenes in the film, has absolutely chewed him up and
so
have Om and Amrish Puri.''
The ad-man has a comment or two about the superstar's professionalism
also.
He alleges there was excessive interference from Sarika, Kamal's wife.
``Every
night Sarika would re-write the dialogues and give it to my assistant,
who had
to work on it through the night. And I would get the revised script just
half an
hour before the shoot,'' he claims bitterly.``Towards the end I did what
I was
asked to do. But all through I was more comfortable with the other
actors and if
you see the scenes where he's not in the frame, you'll see the
difference.''
Saab, however begs to differ. In fact, he paints Shantanu as an isolated
figure.
``The fact that most of Sheorey's crew decided to stay back and assist
Kamal in
directing the film is self-explanatory,'' he says, adding that ``in my
capacity as
an on-line producer of the film, I on the behalf of my unit can assure
you that if
there were any goof-ups they were from Sheorey's side.'' Shantanu,
however
says that he himself asked his crew to continue with the film.
When contacted, Kamal Haasan refused to be personally dragged into the
controversy. He said he could not comment on whether Shantanu's name
will
remain in the credits. ``I don't want to add anything to the fax already
sent to
you,'' he said.
However, when the production office was contacted in Chennai a unit
member
stated that Kamal has just completed 30 days of shooting in Chennai
featuring
Tabu and Ayesha Jhulka and that no footage shot by Sheorey had been
retained
in the film. Saab John is quite satisfied with what has been shot so
far. ``Now,
we can proudly present this film to our distributors.''
They better rush. Aunty No.1, a Govinda starrer, based on the Hollywood
hit
Ms Doubtfire just like Stree 420, is also nearing completion. Which ever
film
hits the theatres first will have a definite edge over the other.
Controversy or no
controversy.
Raj Narayanaswamy
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When friends fall out
Sharmila Taliculam
The film easily grabbed the headlines.
It was a remake of the Hollywood
blockbuster, Mrs
Doubtfire. It featured the national
award winning actor,
Kamal Hasan. And would feature as the
debut
directorial venture for ace fashion
photographer and ad
film-maker, Shantanu Sheorey.
Three months later, two of the main players are washing
dirty linen in public.
'Pals' Shantanu and Kamal, have fallen foul and the
director, along with
actress Ashwini Bhave, has walked out of the film.
Kamal had spoken to Shantanu about directing a film
five years ago, but did
not have a proper story. Mrs Doubtfire solved that
problem and Shantanu
got his chance to direct Kamal. It was also the
beginning of the clash
between the director and the star.
The partnership eventually split over certain songs
Shantanu wanted to shoot
in his style, with no flowers or extras dancing in the
background. "Kamal is a
south Indian and that could be why he had to have that
sambhar flavour in
the songs. But he has no idea of aesthetics and didn't
understand what I was
trying to say. I was not poking fun at him. My name is
associated with this
film and I had to put my foot down somewhere," says
Shantanu.
Today, he seems more hurt than angry. Also, with the
former friends now
accusing each other of jeopardising the film, it is not
clear as to who the real
victim is.
Shantanu was also irked by Kamal's high-handedness.
Kamal, apparently,
would behave badly with his co-stars and technicians.
The atmosphere too,
was very chaotic and disorganised.
A fact that is confirmed by Ashwini Bhave who claims
that, after her dates were not utilised properly, she
was
expected to accomodate them at the cost of other
producers. "The behaviour (with reference to Kamal) was
bad, but not as drastic as it sounds. There were other
reasons that compelled me to walk out of the film.
There
was utter chaos and disorganisation on the sets. Once,
I
was even made to wait at the hotel for half a day. When
I
went to the sets in the evening to find out what had
happened, they informed
me that they needed me then. They were not courteous
enough to utilise the
dates which I had allotted them in advance."
When told that she had been accused of reporting late
on the sets, she flared,
"I come from a Marathi theatre background. I don't need
to go to Madras to
learn discipline. I get it all from the theatre here.
See, I am a sensitive person.
When somebody behaves badly, I get a bit worked up. In
this case, it
reached a point where I had no choice but to walk out
of the film."
Shantanu, on the other hand, says that Ashwini walked
out of the film
because Kamal behaved badly with her during a shot. "If
I was in Bombay, I
would have hit him. In Madras, you can't touch him;
you'll get hammered by
the people. But that was no way to behave with a lady.
You don't behave
like a moron and fly off the handle like he did. I
could do nothing but hang
my head in shame." Ashwini has now been replaced by
Ayesha Jhulka.
Meanwhile, Saab John, a long time
associate of Kamal
Hasan and the executive producer of the
film, claimed
that the first half of the film was
appalling and would
have to be reshot. Which Shantanu
ridicules as an
impossible task. He even accuses Kamal
of forcing this
statement down Saab's throat. "Kamal has
this habit of
lying all the time and, to cover up one
lie, he uses
another. But he's contradicting his own
statements.
Initially, he said that I shot only for three days,
then what extensive
reshooting they are talking about?"
Shantanu revealed that the make-up man, who was
specially flown in from
Los Angeles, has gone back. Also, the stars' dates were
no longer available.
"Why only Ashwini, even Tabu's dates were not used
completely! We used
only 22 of the 42 dates she allotted us; the rest were
wasted."
All this happened, claims Sheorey, because shoots would
be held up for
flimsy excuses like clothes. Or Kamal would be talking
to some south Indian
star, ignoring the others who were waiting for his
shot. "My assistant would
repeatedly remind him of a shot and he would be
jabbering away to
somebody about himself. It was always I, Me, Mine. He
is on a wierd,
self-destructive ego trip. Probably, he's playing the
star," says Shantanu.
Everyone in the industry knows that Kamal interferes in
the making of his
films. In fact, he ghost-directs the film. But
Shantanu, who was his friend and
had known him for a long time, claims that he was not
aware of this trait in
Kamal. "I had never attended any of Kamal's shootings,"
he says, "so I did
not know of this fact even when the film was being
planned."
When the film was announced, many well-wishers,
including journalists,
warned him about Kamal. "I just thought," says
Shantanu, "that journalists
always say these things. So I didn't pay much
attention. Now I realise that I
was in bed with a ghost all these years."
Shantanu claims that he continued directing the film
because he did not want his friend to face losses right
at the beginning. So, if he had a problem, he would
either sort it out or ignore it. Shantanu even went to
the
extent of telling one of Kamal's assistants that he
might
quit, hoping he would pass the information to Kamal.
"I thought he would come and ask me what was wrong. But
he didn't bother
and I was completely disillusioned. But I continued
with the film because I
was involved in it to a point of no return."
Shantanu is also sore about the fact that Kamal claimed
that the budget of
the film was Rs 80 million when it was only Rs 45
million. Of this, Kamal
wanted Rs 20 million as his remuneration. He also
pointed out Kamal was
producing the film because big financiers like Bharat
Shah didn't want to
finance a Kamal Hasan venture. "If he is the producer,
if he says his films sell,
then why does he want a fee? The fact is, there are no
takers for his films. A
Kamal Hasan film does not get more than Rs 50 million.
Border cost Rs 80
million. Hero No 1, which was made in Rs 50 million,
looks much grander
than this film. How on earth does he expect to budget
his film at Rs 80
million, when there is nothing to show for that amount.
Finally, Kamal had to
go to the south to get his finance," says Shantanu.
Shatanu feels that Kamal's films do well in the south
because of their
gimmicks. "The dwarf in Appu Raja, the mentally
unhinged tantric in Guna,
the old man in Indian and the woman in Avvai Shanmughi
are nothing more
than gimmicks," says Shantanu. "Kamal can't do straight
roles any more
because nobody will accept him in such a role. The
national award, which
went to the old man and not the younger one in Indian,
proves this."
Besides, says Shantanu, none of the south Indian
directors or
cinematographers want to work with Kamal. Two senior
cameramen
reportedly told Shantanu they would not do the film
because of Kamal.
"They told me this in my office in Bombay. I believe
Shankar stopped
shooting Indian in 7 days and told Kamal to behave. He
could afford to do
that because A R Rathnam, and not Kamal, was the
producer.
Unfortunately, I was not as lucky. Nobody wants to work
with him, not even
his staff who crib about him constantly."
Kamal, meanwhile, has accused Shantanu of being bad
technically. When he
first saw the rushes, he did not like the way he looked
in the film. Shantanu,
for once, agrees, pointing out that Kamal himself was
responsible for his look
in the film. "It's true that Kamal looks bad. And
that's because he did not
listen to me. He says that Amrishji looks better than
him. I have chosen
everything from Amrishji's suit to his boots to his tie
for him. Kamal wouldn't
listen to me when I did the same for him. He has no
concept of what looks
good on him."
Shantanu blames Kamal's wife, Sarika, for this mishap.
"She would not only
choose his clothes, but rewrite the dialogues that
Gulzarsaab had written."
At this point, there seems no possibility of a
reconciliation between Kamal
and Shantanu. Professionally or personally. Shantanu is
still open to the idea
of discussing the whole thing and sorting out the mess.
But Kamal, according
to him, doesn't feel that way. "I came to Bombay and
tried speaking to him.
Before I could say anything, he yelled at me saying
that nobody leaves his
sets like I did. Well, there is a first time for
everything. I just hung up and we
have not spoken since then."
The film is now being made by Kamal and camera man
Jehangir Choudhary.
Shantanu doesn't want his name in the credits; he says
he wants wants his
name associated with a good film and not with a hit or
a flop.
"This film has been badly made because of Kamal's
interference. I will
withdraw my name from it," fumes Shantanu. "The new
title for the film,
Stree 420, suits him fine; that is what he is."
Photographs: Jewella Miranda
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