Director Vishal Bhardwaj has revealed that he sacrificed 3 million rupees to make Maqbool and has not earned “a penny” from the film till date.bollywood news
filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj’s 2003 drama Maqbool ‘ is considered a modern masterpiece in Hindi cinema, but the director had to go through several setbacks before he could securely get the film made. In a recent conversation, he revealed that he did not earn a single penny from Maqbool and that he almost quit the film just two weeks before shooting was scheduled to begin.
In an interview with Mid-Day, Vishal said that he had to give up his salary for directing, writing, editing and composing the film in order to secure the locations he had his eye on. The filmmaker said he had a specific haveli in mind to recreate the old world charm in the film. However, the film’s co-producer Bobby Bedi informed him just 15 days before filming that they did not have the budget to fly the entire squad from Mumbai to Bhopal.
“Ek Din He (Bobby Bedi) suddenly said, ‘We don’t have the budget to go to Bhopal, so please shoot at Ki Haveli in the film department.’ Main mana kar diya ki main shoot nahi karungi And he said, “Main film nahi banaunga” (I said I won’t make the film and he said he won’t produce it). And this was just 15 days before this happened. Maine raat ko 4-6 Drink mare and hang up from Cal Dia (I had 4-6 drinks that night and turned off my phone.)
Disappointed that the film was ruined, Vishal switched off his mobile phone for the entire weekend. On Monday, someone from Bobby Bedi’s team came knocking on his door. “Meri’s fee is Rs 3 million. Music, direction and screenplay are sab kuchu laga ke. Unhone kaha ki Bhopal mein shoot karne mein 60 extra lagte hai to 300,000 to dhar de, 300,000 mein dhar dhunga. Mein・Bola Ki Ye Aap Bata Dete Friday Ko (My salary was around 30 million rupees including music, direction and screenplay. He told me that he needed an additional 60 million rupees to shoot in Bhopal. He gave me a salary of 30 million rupees. (I asked them to donate 100% of the money, and the rest would float away.) It’s about money. I joked that he might have told me this on Friday.)
The filmmaker, who is also a co-producer of films starring Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Pankaj Kapoor, said, “I have not been paid a penny for that film. Till date. Even though I became a producer, I didn’t get paid a penny. But look at this, Kitna mila hai Maqbool se, please help me Jo Mujhe with Rs 300,000. (What Maqbool did for me is worth more than 3 million rupees). Bobby Bedi had a vision. He was rejected by everyone in the film industry. ”
The filmmaker was determined to honor his vision. When the crew could not procure a suitably sized carrom board, Vishal angrily gave them his personal funds to buy suitable props. He said, “So, for that scene, the production gave us a small carom plate. When I asked them about it, they said, ‘You know what? “That’s high, budget high.” (This is the best we can do within our budget.) Rs. It’s a 200ka carom board. Toh mein pais nikalke mare moo pe ki tum mujuse paiz le lo bada karom bode rekha ao.We have been waiting for it, ki jab tak bada carom bode nahi ayeega.don’t shoot. Tara ki bohot saali cheesein ki hai aur kuch cheesein hotti hai jinka aap retrospective main credit le sakte hai (I took money out of my pocket and threw it at them and asked them to bring a bigger carrom board. We waited for the bigger carrom board to arrive. We refused to shoot until it arrived. These are some things you can take credit for in retrospect).
“Maqbool” is a film adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” and was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival. Vishal’s last film was Khufiya which was released on Netflix.
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Date first published: December 16, 2023, 11:09 IST
(Tag Translation) Maqbool
