Nana Patekar and Raj Kumar worked together in the 1993 film Tiranga. This film was directed by Mehul Kumar.
It’s often said that a director’s job is just to edit, but their responsibility is much more than that. From the making of the film to its release, the director has to work in different departments.
It is very important for a director to have knowledge in everything, including writing, editing, photography. This is why it would not be wrong to call the director the captain of the ship.
In this episode of Reel to Real, we will understand the role of the director in making a film. For this, we spoke to directors Tushar Hiranandani and Mehul Kumar. Tusshar directed Rajkumar Rao’s recent film Srikanth. Mehul Kumar is known for films like Tiranga, Krantiveer, Mrityudata.
To make a film, it is necessary for the director to choose the right script. The making of the film can only begin when the director has a very good story (screenplay). There should be a lot of newness in the subject of this story. The director should not rush into choosing the story.
It takes 2-3 years to make a film. In such a situation, the makers should keep in mind that the story of the film should be new and different for people in the coming 2-3 years or even after.
The directors select the main actors for the film, the responsibility for selecting supporting actors lies with the casting director. Directors are also involved in casting actors in films. Talking about this, Tushar says, “I am fully involved in the casting of actors. The main casting of a film or any web series is done by me in collaboration with the casting director, but the casting of supporting actors or background actors is entirely the responsibility of the casting director.
Like in the Srikanth film, apart from the lead role, the entire casting was done by Abhimanyu. He had done a better casting. Many new faces appeared in the film, but everyone did a good job.
The director cannot cast all the people in the film alone. He needs to focus on something else. In such a situation, you have to trust the casting director.
The director also decides the day, time and location of filming. If the shooting of a film starts without proper planning, there is always a loss. For the film to break records and win at the box office, the pre-production work must be done in the best possible manner.
Suppose that if the film is to be shot on location, the director and others first draw up a complete plan of the outdoor location. How many shots are there in the location shoot, how many songs are there, all these things are written in the board. In this table, the clothing is also detailed according to each scene. The rest of the accounts of every little and big thing related to the shooting are kept in this table.
Talking about this, Tushar said, “The shooting of a film cannot begin without proper preparation. For example, a month before filming begins, I sit down with my entire team and completely revise the script, so that everyone knows which shot should be shot, on which day or what the first and last shot will be.
The director should work in collaboration with the producer. Mehul Kumar said that before the shooting of the film began, there was an agreement between the director and the producer. Everything about fees is written in this agreement. Then the producer and director work like a family.
He added that in making a film, it is necessary for the director and producer to work together.
The director receives fees according to the film’s schedule. Mehul also spoke about the distribution of fees. Explaining through an example, he said, suppose the shooting of the film is carried out in 6 schedules, then the producers pay the director’s fees little by little in these 6 schedules. Then, the balance is paid to the director before the film is released.
However, the way money is exchanged between the producer and director varies from project to project.
It often happens that producers pay fees to the director at the beginning. At the same time, the director sometimes receives fees once the filming is completed.
When Govinda refused to shoot, director Mehul saved the film from closure. Govinda had worked in the film ‘Aasmaan Se Uncha’. The last action sequence of the film was to be shot in Kashmir. It was very cold and the shooting date had also been extended, so Govinda was not ready to stay in Kashmir. The film’s director Mehul asked him a lot, but he didn’t accept.
If Mehul had left the film incomplete, it would have caused a great loss. In such a situation, he had an idea. He shot this action sequence with Govinda’s body double. The close-ups of the scene were shot with Govinda at Filmcity, Mumbai. Director Mehul was wise enough to save the film from ruin.
Mehul added, “We filmed this scene in such a way that even today people don’t realize that a part of the scene was shot in Filmcity.
This scene was shot in Kashmir and Filmcity.
Nana didn’t want to work with Raj Kumar. The film “Tiranga” turned out to be an important film in Nana’s career, which was released in 1993. In this, he played the role of Inspector Wagle. On his casting, the film’s director Mehul Kumar said, “My first choice for the role of Inspector Wagle was Rajinikanth. He also liked the story, but refused to make the film.
He said: The subject is good, my character is also powerful, my name has also been retained, but I am not in the mood to work with Rajkumar. After that, Naseeruddin Shah was approached, then he refused and said: Mehul ji, I will not get along with Raj Saheb.
After that, Nana was offered, he accepted the film as soon as he heard the story, but he said that if Raj Ji intervenes in the film, he will leave the set.
I called Raj Ji and told him about the casting of Nana. Regarding this, he said: He behaves badly. Abuse on set. There will be trouble with him. Well, if all goes well, let’s make the movie.
During this casting call, a renowned producer-director associated with the industry expressed his concern on the very day of the auspicious moment and said that God forbid your tricolor flag should be flown. I’m afraid you’ve decided to make a film in six months, calling on one from the East and the other from the West.
Initially, Rajkumar and Nana Patekar sat separately after shooting, but after the song “Pee Le Pee Le O Mere Raja…” was photographed, both of them became friends. After that, they both became good friends until filming the climax. The film also became a super hit after its release.
Nana Patekar and Raj Kumar in a scene from the film Tiranga.
The director had Nana wear old clothes in the film. Nana Patekar had also worked in Mehul’s film Krantiveer. Narrating the story of this film, the director said, “Nowadays, actors choose their clothes themselves, earlier this did not happen. Nana’s look in the film Krantiveer was a bit fakir. In such a situation, I told Nana that you should wear all your old clothes in the film, which will not even be ironed. In return, I will have new clothes made for him. He happily accepted my request.
Shatrughan Sinha, who always arrived late on the set, reached the shoot on time on Mehul’s insistence. It was a very famous story in the industry that Shatrughan Sinha never came on time for the shoot. About this, Mehul said: He had worked with me in the film Naisafi. One day the producer of the film said that if everyone comes on time, why doesn’t Sinha Saheb come? I gave no response to this.
One day, as soon as I saw an opportunity, I went to meet Sinha Saheb. I told him that such things happened on set and that we didn’t arrive on time. It’s not good if people say that. For this reason, your shoot tomorrow will take place at 11am, so please come. He accepted what I said.
When I told this to the production team, everyone was surprised. Everyone said he wouldn’t come on time, but when Sinha Saheb arrived on set at 10:30 am the next day, everyone was stunned.
However, later Sinha Saheb told me that it was fine for one day, but one should not continue shooting like this every day.
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