Vikramaditya Motwane explains how he went from being Sanjay Leela Bhansali's assistant to planning his debut film with Amitabh Bachchan in the lead.
Vikramaditya Motwane wanted to make his first film with Amitabh Bachchan at the age of 25
Vikramaditya Motwane made his directorial debut with Udaan (2010). But not many know that he wanted to make a film called Bombay Talkies with Amitabh Bachchan as his debut directorial, at the age of 25. It’s about a great filmmaker making his return to the sets after years. And what all had changed about Hindi cinema, including stardom, in the interim. Bachchan was going to play this aged director — think of him as Hrishikesh Mukherjee, who was alive then, he says.
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Motwane found it impossible to cast a lead actor for this film, which is why it never got made. Until then, Motwane had extensively assisted Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Which, firstly, explains the access to Bachchan.
Bhansali and Motwane's mother once ran an advertising production house together. "I became an assistant director to Sanjay when I was 20 years old. I was thrown in at the deep end with this guy, where you are working 16 hours a day, 25 hours a day, whatever, it didn't matter. He is super hardworking... It was beautiful as film school because not only are you immersed into the writing of it, and writing music sittings, art department... you are doing everything. And then in the shooting you are also sitting with Sanjay and learning to sort of break down a scene, and what shot breakdown, is and why the camera moves when it moves. I was a little bit enamoured by the world of it, this world of filmmaking is so interesting and pretty," Motwane elaborates during our Sit With Hitlist conversation.
Also read: Sit With Hitlist: Vikram, et al
"The behind-the-scenes aesthetic of what a film set looks like - it is always gorgeous. I think that kind of drove me. When I finished that, I met Bhavani Iyer and then I had this idea about this filmmaker kind of making his last movie and the reasons he has to do it. We wrote it and I took it to Mr. Bachchan and he loved it... It is about a legendary director making his last films. That was the set-up. I couldn't get the second actor, unfortunately. So then things just went along the way," Motwane shares.
Watch the full interview here.
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