Punch Match Over Paanch
Anurag Kashyap blasts Tutu Sharma…

Creativity is often dependent on the mercy of well-meaning mercenaries and their sporadic bursts of venturesome experimentation to find its expression. That is the unfortunate irony of showbiz. The phenomenon is universal. He who manages the finances, wields control over art. Art and creativity are puppets whose strings are managed by the purse-holders — in the case of cinema, the producers.

‘There are no good scripts’ is the cliched lament of filmmakers, movie critics and trade analysts, explaining the sub-standard mind-numbing insults to the intellect that pass off as movies these days. But when a script comes along that’s as radical as it is brilliant, it struggles like a fish out of water.

Like Anurag Kashyap’s debut directorial venture Paanch, produced by old-hand-in-film-biz Tutu Sharma, which is stuck for the last two years. Completed in the year 2000, the film is yet to be released, even as we inch towards 2003. A trauma that wouldn’t be lost on anyone who knows the amount of blood and tears that go into writing and making a film, any film, leave alone something that’s as disturbing in content and form as this one.

“Nobody’s waiting for the film as much as I am,” says Anurag Kashyap, his voice barely managing to conceal his distress at his labour of love being treated so callously. “But believe me, I really have no clue about what’s happening with Paanch. Tutu and I haven’t been in touch with each other for the last couple of months.” He shrugs with the desperation of a man at the helpless end of his tether, knowing he has to either let go of his attachment to his work, or sink.

“I’m planning a Diwali release for Paanch – November 5, 2002,” declares producer Tutu Sharma, with all the calm confidence of a man in complete control. The attitude and manner almost a figurative antithesis to the director’s. “Anurag and I have had our share of differences on this issue, but one doesn’t realize that being the producer, I have nothing against the film! I understand his point of view and empathize with him, with the entire cast and crew who’ve worked so hard in making the film, including my sister-in-law Tejaswini. But the whole market is changing so drastically these days. What chance does a badly released film have, when well-planned big films are flopping like ninepins at the box-office?

“I want to release my other film Khullam Khulla Pyar Karenge which has Govinda and Preity Zinta on October 18 or 25,” says the producer. “Paanch will be released after that.” Remarks about the risk of releasing a Govinda starrer at this stage when the entertainer is hardly saleable is met with the retort. “What could be a bigger risk than Paanch for me? With Khullam Khulla… at least Govinda has some market, while Paanch has none.”

Paanch faced problems with the censors as soon as it was completed. The ‘all-too-real’ language and dialogue, and some of the black humor raised the censors’ strait-laced eyebrows. “The film got completed in November 2000 and went to the censors last June. I’m proud of the film. If I had my way, I wouldn’t agree to any of the cuts that were suggested by the censors. I would’ve moved to the court to sort out the matter. The court would’ve given us a platform to speak our minds. If you try to tell the censors anything, they think you’re trying to teach them their work,” says Anurag earnestly, a man who passionately believes in his ideology.

“It was finally cleared in November 2001, a year after it was completed. I wasn’t there when the censors cleared the film. I’d almost given up by then. I had a nervous breakdown because I was going through immense depression,” says Anurag, his eyes clouding over with the memory of that period.

“Then, there was a lot of post-production work that needed to be redone,” Anurag continues. “Since the censors wanted a few dialogues out, we had to re-mix the whole thing. Also, earlier the film was on Mono, then we decided to do it on Dolby, so we had to redesign the whole thing. When we were to mix the film, the producer ran out of money. Finally, after everything was done, the final copy came out by May this year. But the film hasn’t yet been released.”

Tutu Sharma has a different take on the subject. He contradicts the ‘lack of money’ remark with, “During the making of the film there was no financial crisis. Regarding the sound mixing, we had originally planned to record on Dolby, so I don’t understand what Anurag means by saying that the film had to be redone in Dolby and that there was no money.”

All that apart, what delays the release of the film now? If the final copy is out, why is it still lying unreleased all this while? Anurag shakes his head, “Something or the other kept happening – first the producer wanted to take out a public issue of his company, Padmini Telemedia. Obviously, in the beginning all the excuses seemed genuine and so all of us just kept going along with whatever was told to us. Every time the reason for the delay was asked, an excuse was cited. But slowly, he ran out of reasons to give.

“When I’d started to make the film, I’d given him a reasonable budget,” explains Anurag. “But today the budget has crossed four crore. But I’m not to be blamed for it because the producer kept delaying the project. Right now, the producer is making money on the hype created. Nobody is willing to wait for the film to release and then earn the revenue. They want money upfront. They want table money before the release of the film. What is the point of making a Paanch when you want to sell it at a price of a Dil Chahta Hai? Either he is a fool to be wanting more money than he’s getting out of his current deals, or then he’s playing a big game which one isn’t aware of.”

Tutu Sharma explains his side, “With a film of the genre of Paanch, half the battle is making the film, while the other half is releasing it properly. Take for instance Chhal – it had managed to create a certain kind of curiosity in the market, but the way the film was released, it just didn’t have a chance to make it big at all. I haven’t compromised on the making of the film at all. Regardless of the problems I’m facing now, or am going to face, I am going to release Paanch just the way I want to,” he firmly states.

Anurag fails to comprehend his producer’s game plan. “Most of us did this film because we believed in the subject. Many did this film for almost no money. So many careers are hinged on the film. It’s not only mine, but so many others’ first film too – the cameraman’s, the editor’s, the art director’s, several of my actors’. When the film was initially to be released, there were so many things about it that were new. But now, we lose on the novelty too...” he trails off helplessly.

Tutu Sharma, on the other hand, is pragmatic on this score. Empathetic, but pragmatic. “Look, I understand that several careers are hinged on the film. But if the film doesn’t get a proper release and thus flops, how it going to help boost their careers? I wasn’t getting the sort of distributors, or exhibitors, or theatres that I wanted the film to be associated with,” continues Tutu Sharma, clarifying his stand. “Today, people in Australia want to release this as a crossover film. If this deal comes through, there will be more number of prints than Devdas in Australia. In Singapore, they’ve shown a keen interest to show the film with sub-titles. There are a few people in America who are interested in releasing it there. We might just release an English version in an edited form (1 hour 40 minutes).”

This is something the director is not aware of at all. “Releasing it in English? This is news to me,” exclaims Anurag. But, apparently, this isn’t all that has happened without the director’s knowledge. “When the film was being promoted, the trailers that we made didn’t get aired. I can understand that since Tejaswini is his sister-in-law, he’d want to promote her. I told him to go ahead and do what he wanted, but not to give a wrong idea of the film. He went out of his way and made a few trailers outside because he knew that I wouldn’t let him make them. There were a few visuals that we wanted to hide from the public, but he’s put them all in the promos. Tejaswini comes in the movie after 45 minutes. My take is – promote her, but don’t give a wrong picture of the film.”

“I don’t know what Anurag is talking about,” counters Tutu Sharma. “Anurag has had complete creative control all along. Rather, there were times when I didn’t agree with him, yet I let him have the final say. I never held a grudge against him for wasting money. In fact, Anurag didn’t want to air a certain song on Tejaswini, and I haven’t done so till date. I feel that thanks to inane publicity, films are not even being put in the correct perspective. Look at what happened to Shakti? A big banner, big stars, lavish publicity… the works, but the film didn’t do as well as expected. Today, one can’t even understand whether a film that’s going to be released is a commercial film, an art film, a romantic, or action thriller…”

Today, after having lived with the film for five years and Paanch still facing an indeterminate future, Anurag doesn’t know whether all the effort will pay off and his sincerity will triumph. “While shooting for the film, we lived in conditions which are unmentionable. In Chennai, we lived in a guest-house where red water would run through the tap. We all fell ill because of the inhuman conditions that we had to live in, but none of us complained. But then of course the producer stayed in a five-star hotel. When you realize that the producer is cutting corners to make the film he says he believes in, while he spends it lavishly on staying in a five-star hotel for days on end, the bitterness and ironies get to you,” says Anurag, disillusionment apparent in his voice.

Tutu Sharma is surprised at this news. “I admit that there were a few financial problems,” surprisingly contradicting his earlier statement that there were no financial problems during the film’s making. “But that didn’t translate into making compromises while making the film,” Tutu argues. “If Anurag is talking about living in inhuman conditions, he should’ve voiced his opinion then. If I could get equipment worth lakhs, I could put him up in a five-star hotel too!”

The chasm of communication between the dreamer and the merchant is glaringly evident through their respective stances and reactions to the same situations. Emotional versus practical, the heart versus the head. Both perspectives are so diverse that it warrants a question whether things would’ve been better had the two spoken a similar language.

“I’m not here to make money,” claims Tutu Sharma. “I want to make good films. My Telugu film titled Show recently won the National Award for best film and best screenplay. But when it was made, I couldn’t release it because no one was buying it. Now it is running to packed houses in Hyderabad.”

And you feel that perhaps there is a common platform between the two, at least where their ideologies are concerned, as Anurag remarks, “One would see a Hum Aapke Hain Kaun...? ten times, but what stays back in people’s minds and affects their psyche is a Satya. They cannot see Satya ten times because that disturbs them. I want my film to stay with the audiences for days on end.”

But then, the producer reiterates his role as the controlling factor when Tutu Sharma declares, “God forbid something goes wrong with the film at the last moment and I’m not pleased, I might just postpone the release further.”

So there we are then, back to where we started. A director who’s made the film, pouring out his talent, hard work and toil, with no say or control over his creation because like we said, nothing speaks louder than money (not even talent). And one wonders whether Anurag isn’t justified when he remarks bitterly, “I’ve reached a stage today when I’ve lost faith in everybody. My approach towards anything in life has become very cynical. After this incident, it takes me very long to trust people anymore. Because I don’t want to go through the hell I’ve been through.”

And one only hopes that a film, decreed by anyone who’s seen the trails of Paanch as a path-breaking oeuvre, gets the justice it deserves… to be seen by the audience… sooner than later.