In one of my reviews of Fan, I mentioned that I couldn’t believe with the director or the writer listed in the credits were the people who really come up with the ideas, because they were just workmanlike Yash Raj studio directors, full of rom-coms and bright colors and songs and happiness.  But today an interview came out with Maneesh Sharma, and turns out, it was all  him after all!  And also, I may be a little bit in love.

Here is the full interview.  But if you don’t want to read it, here are the things I found super interesting related to where Fan came from.  First, he grew up in Delhi, just like Gaurav, Aryan Khanna, and Shahrukh in real life.  In fact, he even got training the same place Shahrukh did, the Barry John’s theater group.  His Delhi sense is apparent in his first film Band Baaja Baarat, but he takes it to a whole other level in Fan, showing how Aryan and Gaurav were both shaped by the city.

(I guess this is what Barry John looks like?  I hope he never dies, or at least has an heir in place, because every actor out of Delhi came through his workshops, from Shahrukh to Kunal Kapoor)

Maneesh also gives a glimpse of how the Yash Raj mentoring process works.  He says that after assisting on two films, Adi promised him they would make any film idea he came up with.  But when he presented Fan, Adi shut it down immediately, saying it was way too ambitious for a first movie.  But he stood by his word and promised they would explore it later, after Maneesh got a little more experience.  So, post Band Baaja Baaraat and Shudh Desi Romance, Adi pitched the idea to Shahrukh, and Shahrukh was in.  It was just a matter of balancing it with the other Yash Raj project, Jab Tak Hain Jaan.

See, this is what I think UTV and Reliance are missing, and Yash Raj, Dharma, and Excel have.  Adi, Karan, and Farhan all really mentor their little directors, every step of the way, helping them decide which of their projects to work on next, using connections to get them the right cast, and (I am sure), giving pivotal advice and suggestions through out the process.  Oh, and the other thing, I don’t really think the other studios can do, is bring their little baby directors along to a meeting with a superstar and make sure they get exactly who they want for their film.  I mean, Karan swung Hrithik, Sanjay, Rishi, and Priyanka for Agneepath, with a brand new completely untested director.

This film in particular really does need a superstar.  Really, it needed Shahrukh.  Maneesh says, if they hadn’t gotten him, he would have to take another ten years re-thinking the whole idea to make it work with someone else.  And I can see that!  The big idea of the film, that there is a huge movie star with almost unlimited power, that could work with a bunch of people.  But the specifics, an outsider who fought his way up, coming from a middle-class background, coming from Delhi, all of that was so brilliantly integrated into the characters of both Gaurav and Aryan, and it would have to re-worked for anyone else.  But Shahrukh did say yes!  Thank goodness!

And then there was the part of the interview where I fell in love a little!  He explains that he always wanted to do movies, but he wanted to get real training first, so he applied and was accepted at an American Masters program in film.  He says he was younger than everyone else in the program, and didn’t know about any of the non-Indian film references, not even The Godfather.  And then, here’s the part that made me go “Oh Maneesh I love you!”:

I had to educate myself within the system, perform really well to be eligible for scholarships. I had my run of watching Wong Kar-Wai, Pedro Almodóvar and my favourite, Krzysztof Kieslowski, at one go….By the time I graduated, I was very clear that I would return to India — while others were deconstructing Andrei Tarkovsky, I was giving presentations on Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995).

It’s me!  That’s exactly what my Masters program was like!  Except there weren’t any scholarships, so I was just educating myself in order to be allowed to stay in the program.  And yes, I was giving presentations on DDLJ while everyone else was talking about fancy European stuff.  Heck, that’s still my life!  I’m preparing for a conference in a few months, where I’m probably going to be, once again, the only person talking about Indian film.  This is why I have a blog!  Because I got so sick of trying to talk about this stuff in class to people who didn’t care!  The only difference is, I don’t like Krzysztof Kieslowski.  Too many syllables in his name, and The Decalogue leaves me cold.  Literally cold, don’t they ever have summer in Poland?  Wong Kar-Wai though, that guy’s awesome!  And briefly references Hindi films in Chungking Express.

Oh right, back to Fan.  There was some interesting stuff about the making of the film.  They had a ton of make-up work, but a lot of the changes had to be done in post-production.  So they were sort of filming blind, just trusting that what they were seeing on the monitors would work out eventually.  He also said that the chase scene was super hard to do, not just because of the two Shahrukhs, but because Shahrukh was recovering from surgery (again) and had to have painkillers shot into his knee every morning and then shoot for 9 hours.  So if you are watching that scene thinking “Oh please, like a 48 year old superstar could actually do all of this!”, remember that a 48 year old superstar is not only doing both parts of the chase, he is also doing it while being shot up with painkillers because he just had surgery and otherwise wouldn’t even be able to walk.

Oh, also, this just confirms what I could already see just from watching, how complex this must have been to film.  Even in the non-CGI scenes, there lots of fast moving parts and quick cuts and complicated angles, in order to make the story work.  And it was all filmed so clearly!  That’s where I think his American training comes in, that he has both the sensibilities and appreciation to work in Indian film, but also the kind of technical training that is harder to find in India.

But mostly, oh Maneesh!  You and me, both presenting over and over again on DDLJ and just waiting for everyone else to stop talking about boring non-Indian movies.  It’s almost enough to make me forgive you for the omnipresence through out 2014 of the Shuddh Desi Romance song teaser/video that made me want to rip my eyes/ears out.

(A little grating the 1st time you see it.  A little tinny and repetitive the 3rd through 15th. “Make it stop, Oh God make it stop!” the 15th through 50th times.)