More news stories! Fun fun! And all of these are about the mechanics of shooting a movie, so interesting!
Article 15 Shot in 30 Days
This is interesting! Well, to me. Article 15 was shot in 30 days start to finish, on location in and around Lucknow, with Ayushmann committing to the whole time and shooting straight through. (story here)
I was just saying with the story about Alia needing to leave town to really relax that movie stars can’t be fully committed so long as they are in Bombay. This kind of shoot, the 30 days straight through with no breaks on location, is by far the most efficient. And is a luxury of sorts that most stars are afraid to risk. If you aren’t in Bombay, making connections and shooting ad campaigns and taking meetings, people might forget you. But, from the other side of things, if you commit to a full short schedule like this, you can make far more films per year.
That seems to be the balance Ayushmann has struck, he makes a lot of movies for someone playing leading roles, but they are short hard shoots. It means we don’t see him as much at the award shows and other events, and he doesn’t seem to have as many close industry friends, but on the other hand he has a new film releasing 2 or 3 or 4 times a year.
Amitabh Shoots Long
Now, Amitabh started out when the 30 day shoot and a movie is done kind of attitude was the norm, he made many many films in one year, and he didn’t waste any time. Which is why I am impressed but not surprised to learn that he finished off his last film with a 14 minute scene with no cuts. (story here)
If you don’t think a lot about how films are made, what that means is that the camera ran for 14 minutes while Amitabh did his thing without making a mistake. Not making a mistake is impressive, but also the pure endurance is impressive, the camera can pick up small nuance so you really really have to stay in character, it is exhausting to do that for such a long stretch. On the other hand, if you can do a long take well, it is more powerful than a short one. Sounds like Amitabh did it well, since reports say the crew stood and clapped after it was over. And this story did its job too, because now I want to see this movie so I can see the scene!
Karan Goes For a Quick Pay Out
This is kind of a “no duh” thing, Karan announced a few days back that Dharma would be making a horror movie, “Bhoot”. To which I, and most people who are paying attention, reacted by saying “boy, Dharma must need money because quickie horror movies are moneyspinners”. And now here is a story from “sources” confirming that is, in fact, the case. (story here)
If horror movies always make money, why doesn’t everyone make them all the time (you might ask)? Well, because they make a limited amount of money. The horror audience is very reliable, but also very limited. The money you make from a horror film is usually pocket change compared to what you might make from a film with more universal appeal. And on the other hand, there is still that percentage of horror movies that flop. Bhatt films specializes in horror and they have seen it come and go. Most of their movies make a small profit, enough to cover the budget with some left over. A few movies make a bigger profit, enough to cover the cost of their next film. And there are a few movies that flop, and then they are in trouble because they never made enough even from the “hits” to cover a loss.
Dharma right now just needs some pocket change to tide them over. They’ve still got movies in the works that could do very well once they release, they don’t need the big BIG money, but a quick infusion of cash would be welcome. Thus, horror!
dontcallitbollywood 
Another news, from telugu industry this time:
Why, why him?
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He’s cute! He’s father’s nice! His wife is talented! Maybe Sai just likes hanging out with Samantha?
On Mon, Jun 24, 2019 at 4:11 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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C’mon Margaret, he’s charming on screen and Majili just did really well. Anyway, I’m really excited about this movie! I honestly can’t wait to see what Shekhar Kammula comes up with after Fidaa.
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Oh, it’s the Fidaa/Anand guy? Then I am excited also! And I am thinking Sai Pallavi will probably be the lead more than the male hero? Because he gave her such a great role already in Fidaa, and tends to have strong female leads (right?).
On Mon, Jun 24, 2019 at 7:15 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yup, exactly! If it were any other director, I would be worried that Sai Pallavi’s character would just be a rehash of her character in Fidaa. But Shekhar Kammula cast Kamalinee Mukherjee in two distinct characters in Anand and Godavari so I’m curious to see what he’ll do with Sai Pallavi this time. But I am expecting that Sai Pallavi’s character to be the more dominating one compared to Chay’s.
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And you are right, Chay is super cute. If he is just sweet eye candy to support our heroine’s journey, I think it might be perfect casting.
On Mon, Jun 24, 2019 at 7:47 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yup!
By the way, have you seen Padi Padi Leche Manasu? I thought it was a pretty cute romance with a really good Sai Pallavi character. It’s on prime if you want to check it out.
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Yeah, he is cute, and his wife is great but nobody knows how much I suffered when I was watching Savyasachi! Still have goosebumbs when I think about Chay’s “acting” in this film.
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One thing that I noticed is that Shashank Khaitan’s name was on the posters and tweets about Bhoot but he’s not the director. I was wondering if he was going into production for Dharma similar to what Maneesh Sharma does for yrf.
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Oh, that’s really interesting! I could believe it, both because he and Karan have similar styles and because Karan must be thinking of restructuring after the series of flops he’s had.
On Mon, Jun 24, 2019 at 7:17 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I looked it up and the director that is directing Bhoot was Shashank Khaitan’s assistant. So maybe Karan is putting Shashank be in charge of this production? I could see it too because I feel like Shashank is more involved in Dharma than the other directors that have worked for Dharma recently.
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Yeah, I feel the same, like Shashank and Ayan have a special extra mentorship with Karan. And Ayan is doing the infinity shoot of Brahmastra, so he can’t take on anything else.
On Mon, Jun 24, 2019 at 7:50 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Kjo tries to copy the success trends of others but fails miserably.
He tried dhadak for Daisy to launch sridevi’s daughter bt got the case equations all wrong.
He made (ghost directed ) kalank as a extension of bhansalu films but it floors miserably .
He us making bhoot with Vicky kaushal bcoz horror movies like tumbad were raved last year.
Bramhastra is clearly him trying to establish a marvel like universe.
Bt he is developing cold feet after colossal failures of kalank and his pet soty franchise. Therefore the multiple delays.
And finally his Magnum opus takht is a pure inspired from bahubali . The 2 earring brothers , helpless father etc. Tropes.
Also his insistence of putting alia bhatt in every film even if she suits the part or not .
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Lovely post
Please do something detailed on SRK’s style. He’s always wearing Balmain hoodies and sneakers. Would love to read something on his style > his personality. Thanks
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Lovely post
Please do something detailed on SRK’s style. He’s always wearing Balmain hoodies and sneakers. Would love to read something on his style > his personality. Thanks
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Wow! Amitji doing a 14 min shoot…that’s great. And as Chehre is a thriller (and also with Emraan Hashmi), I’ll definitely watch it. Rumi Jaffrey…I only know him as a writer, none of his previous movies did interest me (despite having stars in the cast). However, I might give Life Partner a try.
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