03 May,2009 07:28 AM IST | | Shradha Sukumaran
So what if your movie budget's been halved? Filmmakers tell you how to keept it tight and still shine
JUST as Aamir director Rajkumar Gupta was smack in the middle of his first shot on his first movie, his production guy whispered in his ear that he had only one hour left to wrap up and shove off. "This was the opening sequence at the airport and I was allotted six hours of shoot. But ultimately, they shortened it to just three!" Instead of going through the expense of seeking permission for another day, Rajkumar did the next best thing. "I chucked out a couple of shots and wrapped up the shoot. I could afford to do that because I had written the script."
No wonder then that as a debutant director, Rajkumar was able to finish shooting Aamir in just 24 days and in under Rs two crore.
Here's how:
A watertight script: Details, details
It's no surprise that director Dibakar Banerjee stresses on the details remember how the little things in his Khosla Ka Ghosla and Oye Lucky Lucky Oye defined his characters? Like the strange lion head lamp in Khurana's house or the way in which Lucky's girlfriend's mother transfers her affections, and parathas, to the more prosperous damaad.
But Dibakar points out that a detailed script also really helps control costs. "The more detailed your screenplay, the more clear you are when you're about to shoot. When it boils down to cutting corners, it helps if your script is detailed."
Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi director Sudhir Mishra agrees that a watertight script eliminates wastage. "If you shoot exactly according to that script, you'll find that there's not much to throw out on the editing table," he points out.
Visualise: Choreograph it realistically
Dibakar's tip is that over time, it's proper visualisation that increases the efficiency of your shooting. "If you want to have the effect of an explosion, you can show how its sound shatters glass or the impact of it on the hero's face, instead of showing an actual explosion."
While Sudhir feels that some genres lend themselves to a smaller budget, like relationships or drama, and others like action are more expensive, Dibakar disagrees. Some of the best action films are the cheapest, he points out, like the South East Asian ones. "Because they choreograph their action realistically, it's sometimes even more exciting and gripping than cars being blown up, hanging a man from a wire or pyrotechnics," says Dibakar.
Shooting days: Minimize, then improvise
Shooting days mean money the scale, the equipment, the locations, the star dates. Cut those down and you flatten the budget. "I had a tight budget on Khoya Khoya Chand, so apart from cutting down shooting dates, I also took big scenes and clubbed them together. I used the same crowds just by changing the order, by shooting 40 people in front, then pushing them to the back. If you prepare, you'll know the method in which you shoot," he explains. Both Sudhir and Dibakar say it's important to stick to the budget the producer allots to you, respect its constraints and not to overshoot.
Rajkumar recounts how he had to think on his feet when he shooting a sequence that had the protagonist Aamir crossing an abbatoir. " I had eight hours and had just got one long shot when one shop owner started threatening us with his knife. It was a critical sequence and I didn't know what to do. I looked around, saw this cornershop and shot the whole sequence in this 12x12 space. How? By shooting it in 20 different angles. That's when I realized that filmmaking is so fascinating."
Cast and crew: Get enthusiasm on board
What contributes to maximizing output on a film unit? Choosing like-minded people with the same fire, the same drive as you. "Even after you plan things as efficiently as you can, a foresighted production executive can make all the difference," says Dibakar. Sudhir feels the commitment of the cast counts towards a film, like in the case of Dharavi where Om Puri and Shabana Azmi created the "least fuss". Dibakar says a lack of star names even helps a project... in bargaining to bring down the costs in locations. "Even if you get no free locations, you can tell them that there is no Shah Rukh Khan in your film and bring down the costs."
Inspired crew choices pay rich dividends. During Khoya Khoya Chand, Sudhir found costume-in-charge Niharika Khan using clothes belonging to her family and actress Soha Ali Khan draping her mother's sarees. "It actually ended up looking more authentic!"
Rajkumar says that getting rid of sets and shooting in real locations ends up in saving pennies.
Finally, go at it with guts
After all the planning, filmmakers advise that you just go out there and shoot, regardless, or even despite, your tight budget. Things have a knack of falling in place during shooting. Rajkumar states, "The one thing that my producer Anurag Kashyap taught me while working with him is that you have to have the heart, the courage to shoot it. You don't need Rs 20 crore to make a film. If you have a script that you desperately want to make, you'll do it anyhow."
Directors who are sticklers for budgets
In the industry, the Bhatt factory is said to have perfected the art of shooting on a budget, but others are catching up. UTV Films has UTV Spotboy for smaller films, while Subhash Ghai's Mukta Arts has Mukta Searchlight. Sudhir Mishra gives his list of directors who are pros at the game.
"Raju (Rajkumar) Hirani is very well-planned. David Dhawan is economical as a commercial filmmaker, Anurag Kashyap is interesting because he shoots very fast. Mani Ratnam was known earlier for not have any wastage on his sets. Excel Entertainment (producing Mishra's next film with Farhan Akhtar and Kareena Kapoor) and Farhan are well prepared when they go in to shoot."
