The folks from Sathyam Cinemas were pretty sweet to arrange an interview with Nagesh Kukunoor for me sitting in Sydney. Here’s the entire unedited transcript of the chat… The edited version will appear in the next few days.
sudhishkamath: hi nagesh… i loved ur film… im sure that’s pretty obvious with the review… just curious… did u conceive iqbal or did mukta arts ask u to direct an idea they had…how did it all begin?
Nagesh Kukunoor : i had been pitching this idea about a deaf and dumb kid who excels at the sport of malkhamb – a rural sport. No producer showed interest till I changed the sport to cricket.
sudhishkamath: oh… the cricket idea was from mukta?
sudhishkamath: im asking this cuz i read a subhash ghai interview where he said iqbal was conceived before black… he was just looking for a director
Nagesh Kukunoor : No, no. I wrote the script with cricket and then approached mukta.
sudhishkamath: oh… cool… wat did u not want to do with Iqbal, especially keeping in mind the inevitable comparisons with lagaan and black? u seen them? 🙂
Nagesh Kukunoor : What he meant was I had pitched the idea to him way back when. He also said it beacuse comparisons were being drawn to black but we were already shooting shen black opened
sudhishkamath: so u made a list of things that u will not do while treeating disability??
Nagesh Kukunoor : I wanted to write a film about an underdog and a film which treated disability with dignity and this was as far back as 2003
sudhishkamath: ok… thats wonderful… it was high time disability was treated wtih this attitude… the theme of ability foundation’s film festival this year was on Inclusive society
sudhishkamath: ur film wud ve been the most perfect film for the occasion… wat prompted the desire to do something on disability? personal motivation or purely potential for a moving film?
Nagesh Kukunoor : A moving film but the approach was to do something unique…almost experiment with the audience i.e. condition them to treat disability with normalcy. Make the audience forget within the first 5 mins that the lead character is disabled. i.e. a film with a disability not about the disability.
sudhishkamath: ok… have u seen black? did u like it?
Nagesh Kukunoor : did see black but can’t relate to those sensibilities…i wanted a happier space where my characters existed.
sudhishkamath: perfect… it was the most feel good film!
Nagesh Kukunoor : glad you enjoyed it.
sudhishkamath: u seem like u disappove of Hindi films… do u have anything against bollywood or just that u cannot relate to it… bollywood calling clearly showed that u understand and sympathise with the film industy… then how come u still don’t relate to the sensibility?
Nagesh Kukunoor : it is different format of story telling. when you looked at the past works of filmmakers like Hrishikesh Mukherjee – they very much existed in the bollywood space but had different sensibilities. I relate to that – to Shyam Benegal, to Basu Chatterjee, Gulzar, early Yash Chopra, B.R. Chopra lots of such amazing filmmakers
Nagesh Kukunoor : foragot ijay Anand
Nagesh Kukunoor : V was missing from Vijay
sudhishkamath: u havent named any contemporaries?
sudhishkamath: any of ur contemporaries
sudhishkamath: do u see that much of a difference is sensibility between directors of yesterday and today?
Nagesh Kukunoor : I like some of Ramu’s work. Raju Hirani.
sudhishkamath: actually, we can skip that if u want to be diplomatic… 🙂 tell me how different was the script… if it was malkhamb and not cricket?
Nagesh Kukunoor : I think so. We seem to hae a hyper bollywood these days. Forgot Sudhir Mishra
Nagesh Kukunoor : I think it would have reached out to a smaller audience
sudhishkamath: wat is malkhamb… and how did that inspire u?
Nagesh Kukunoor : It is a desi version of gymnastics and a isually incredible sport
sudhishkamath: oh…ok… give me a sneak peak into the mind of a filmmaker… im sure that starts with scripting… how do u write? u have a systematic way of coming up with the plot points first and then flesh out what helps the character arrive there or do u just go with the flow and write from beginning to end?
sudhishkamath: u look at it scientifically or is it a very arty thing?
Nagesh Kukunoor : I give myself a time period – 30 days and then I write. I write everything together, story screenplay dialogs all in one flow. That is the only way I know how. Probably with this sytem is if I get stuck at one point, I have to get unstuck to move forward.
Nagesh Kukunoor : I have to rush to the airport
sudhishkamath: i had a debate on my blog once about Filmmakers: Wankers versus Prostitutes… Wankers bneing the types who do it for their own pleasure irrespective of whether there is an audience of not… 🙂
sudhishkamath: prostitutes being the types who sell themselves to the market
sudhishkamath: what are u?
sudhishkamath: let that be the last question
sudhishkamath: 🙂
Nagesh Kukunoor : How about a wanking prostitute?
sudhishkamath: oops…guess i asked an unprintable question… how can we reword that?
Nagesh Kukunoor : Hey you’re the writer
sudhishkamath: ha ha!
sudhishkamath: thanks nagesh!!
Nagesh Kukunoor : You’re welcome. Take care.
MADRAS INK. 
simply awesome and ofcourse candid !!
that leaves me to look forward for iqbal. i haven’t read the iqbal review, neither will i read until i watch it. but it didnt have too many spoilers.
neat !!
Haven’t seen Iqbal yet but shall definitely watch it… the review and the interview were just too good. Despite all my friends ooh and aah ing abt Black I found the movie very disappointing. Too dramatic. Felt disability cud have been handled better. I did wonder if ppl woke up every day ruminating abt wat a wretched existence they have. Iqbal seems to have handled tht well (again, haven’t watched it…but from wat i have read abt it). And Cricket. I am told tht not only did Iqbal cud put Lagaan to shame but it was like a ‘Guide to be a fast bowler’. Realistic. Seeing the movie this weekend. Lets see how it goes.
And Sudhish. Wankers vs Prostitutes. The debate can never end, can it?
super!
Off-topic. A BIG THANK YOU to the Amazing Suderman(can’t make bigger than this) for this Sorry about the delay, but awesome job!!! *bows*
Good.. Do post your story of this chat too…Srinivas.
Very funny interview! Can’t wait to see Iqbal.
hahaha…For all his diplomatic answers, he’s one hell of a talented guy!
hey sudhish,
i am a friend’s ramy’s and live in NZ – any plans of coming down here from Aussie?
Hey,
The Foxtel thingy sounds real cool!
Shelob.
Hey sudhish, hope you had a nice time at er..Australia..(was it?) anyway i was persistent in watching ‘Iqbal’ after reading your review…watched it..how could you ever compare it with ‘Black’?! I mean, its a whole different level…every bit of the movie makes u wanna snivel..atleast i felt that way..whatever said and done..it is about disability…it is about what you have and the other person doesnt..black did make me cry cos she was darn disabled and nothing came to her easy..black did make me smile cos she did have all the desires that you and i would have..i mean its a whole lotta love and emotion that predominantly gives ur life a shape.. im not saying u dont think black is a good movie..yet dont u think you are doing a lil unjustice to it by comparing it with ‘iqbal’ which is certainly a neat movie too? you tell me..what is the whole point in making a movie that centers around the fact that he or she is ‘disabled’?
I’m in Bangkok airport and will be back to Madras in a few hours. Yay!
anonymous: yes, thats Nagesh for you… the most candid guy ive ever interviewed. apart from gautam menon of course.
lazygeek: seen iqbal yet?
speech is golden: well, if u didn’t like Black, chances are, u will go gaga abt this one… but that does not make Black any inferior, it just happens to be in a different sensibility altogether.
harish:
🙂 good to know u finally have thirupaachi VCD… pathitiya?
krithika:
was it of any use at all? did they withdraw the ban?? else, never mind the thank you!
rim: srinivas, this rim thing sounds like Reliance India Mobile… whats the idea anyway?
the story is out, they changed it from the chat format to a Q&A… maybe they had space constraints.
Neon: I hope u did.
vikram: yes, his range of films speak for that… Talent, that is.
lakshmi: nope… too little leave. back in India today.
shelob: yeah, i was stumped. really cool stuff but it costs a bomb rite now. i have a feeling that people are gonna have huge TV bills that can give fone bills a run for their money.
maidenmissed: its impossible not to compare two films made about disabled characters going and getting their dreams, films showcasing the triumph of the human spirit.
in any case, my comparison was limited to the attitude of the films, just in case u missed the point.
Personally, I love both these films and yes, i do believe Black is one of the best films ever made here. Iqbal is no less, maybe lacking only in budget-specific constraints such as scale, production values etc.
Take any dept of filmmaking, and u can give Black 10 on 10, and the film surely has a soul… maybe people miss it while looking out for flaws to nitpick, the most popular flaw being the loudness and melodrama.
The sensibility has been only thing thats been under debate but then. melodrama lies at the heart of Indian cinema. and I only think that Bhansali has been a super sensitive director to use that sensibility to reach out to the mass-based audience that cinema ought to fetch itself. Which is why Iqbal caters only to a multiplex audience and Black in over 1000 screens around the world.
hope that answers both ur comments. Cheers! 🙂