Welcome to the world of Parineeta

A classic written on paper in the early 20th century. A classic made on celluloid in the early 21st century. Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's Parineeta was unfolded to the world through the rich canvas of Vidhu Vinod Chopra in June 2005. Co-written and directed by ad film-maker Pradeep Sarkar, the cinematic adaptation went on to storm the UK Top 10 charts and the US Top 25 charts apart from being at the top of the heap in India. A film correspondent with The Telegraph, the largest selling English daily in eastern India, I had the priviledge of being "with" the film throughout — from the shooting on the first day in a chilly Siliguri to the global premiere at the 650-year-old Pathe Tsuchinski theatre in Amsterdam. I have never written so much — quantitatively and qualitatively — about any single movie. But Parineeta was always meant to be special. Here's how my fingers worked on the keyboard as I wrote about Pradipda's film from October 2004 to June 2005...

Best-seller, on screen and in print

Pratim D. Gupta

Number 23 in the US. Number eight in the UK. Number one in Calcutta.
Ever since its premiere at the 650-year-old Pathe Tsuchinski theatre in Amsterdam, Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s adaptation of the Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay classic, Parineeta, has topped the box-office charts in the country and broken new grounds on foreign turf.
And now, the Pradeep Sarkar directorial debut, which breathes Calcutta in every frame, is not only being touted as the biggest screen hit of the year, it has even given the Sarat Chandra novel a fresh lease of life in print.
Penguin Books India has come up with an English translation of Parineeta — along the lines of Devdas and Chokher Bali, but this time with “the first formal tie-in” with a film production company. So, Vinod Chopra Films has been credited for the film poster on the cover with Vidya Balan as Lolita, Saif Ali Khan as Shekhar and Sanjay Dutt as Girish/Girin.
Says V.K. Karthika, executive editor of Penguin Books India: “We were planning this from the time we heard of the film being made. We are looking at both people who would pick up the book after watching the film and those who would just read it without bothering to visit the theatres.”
For the Parineeta producers, the tie-in helps the film grow among the audiences. Says Sam Fernandes, chief operating officer of Vinod Chopra Films: “The novel is a very old one. So, people may like to read the book and know the characters before going for the film. They would also know the little bit of changes we have made to the storyline.”
A couple of thousand copies of the book have already flown from the shelves and Penguin expects re-orders for the Rs-99 book to take the tally up to the 10,000 mark.
A bestseller on bookshelves it might be, but a blockbuster at the box-office it already is. Says Arijit Dutta, eastern region distributor for the film: “It has had a phenomenal first two weeks. At Priya, the collections have been much more than the Black figures over the same period. Parineeta should easily complete 50 days here.”
At 89 Cinemas and INOX (Forum and City Centre), average collections in the opening fortnight have ranged from 85 to 95 per cent.
The two new releases last Friday — the all-skin Mallika Sherawat-Rekha-starrer Bachke Rehna Re Baba and the all-soul Silsiilay by Khalid Mohamed — have flopped. Even the much-hyped Bunty Aur Babli from the Yash Chopra house has slowed down in the two weeks that Parineeta has entered the race, prompting Vinod Chopra to chuckle: “We Chopras come from the same village in Punjab but believe in different schools of film-making.”

Made at home, hailed abroad

After its Amsterdam premiere, Parineeta has stormed into the UK Top 10 charts. At the post-premiere meet, producer VIDHU VINOD CHOPRA, director PRADEEP SARKAR, actors SAIF ALI KHAN and VIDYA BALAN shared with Pratim D. Gupta some untold secrets about the adaptation

Made in Calcutta. Premiered in Amsterdam. And now stormed into the UK Top 10. Within a week of its release, Pradeep Sarkar’s directorial debut Parineeta has literally gone places. But the drama that unfolded at the 750-year-old Pathe Tuschinski theatre in central Amsterdam after the global premiere was as engrossing as the two-hour-five-minute adaptation of the Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay classic. At the party that followed, the main players of Parineeta got talking…

Chopra chat

In normal Bollywood parlance, I must be a crazy producer. No sane man would put so much money on a new director, a new heroine and a new music director. But I guess, apart from learning new things, producers need to unlearn. That’s why I haven’t made a single compromise during the making of the film and I am proud of that.
We didn’t have a Saif close-up in the last scene where he looks up to his father while breaking the wall. We built the set again and flew Saif down from Australia for that one shot.
I didn’t like Vidya Balan when Dada (Sarkar) first showed me her audition. I didn’t think she fitted the role of Lolita. She went through six months of grooming and only then I said yes. I was sceptical because top heroines wanted to do the same role at the same price. I also didn’t think Saif could do Shekhar. But he stuck his neck out and good he did. He is brilliant in the film.

Sarkar speak

I was asked to shoot the film like an advertisement considering my background with ads. So a big period film was kept to just two hours and five minutes. All I can say is that physically I gave two-and-a-half years of my life, but actually I gave seven lives of mine to make this film. It came straight from the heart.
We didn’t want to shoot the story in the period it was set in because we felt the younger generation wouldn’t identify with concepts like the Brahma Samaj. We could have shot it in any other period. But since I was in Calcutta during the 1960s and 70s, I was very comfortable showing the city of that time.
Music is a big part of my film and it holds the film together. I can’t imagine doing anything without music. If you just take a walk in the lane while listening to music, you will notice that everything is moving to beats. The whole world moves to music.

Saif say

Parineeta has been a special experience. I got to work with people who are passionate to the point of being insane. Personally, too, the film happened at a very interesting stage in my life. My whole life is up there on screen.
I am inherently a very lazy person. So when I had to shoot for 72 hours at a stretch, I did complain to my producer that my director is making me work this hard. But good he did so. I realised that I did some of the best work on day three of that non-stop shooting stretch in Calcutta.
It was getting frustrating being typecast as only a funny actor. Parineeta let me explore a more mature role. And if it proves a certain kind of versatility in me, that should be great.

Balan byte

I couldn’t have asked for a better platform for a Bollywood debut. More than me it’s the people around me who helped me to perform.
Dada, of course, has been the greatest inspiration. Then there’s Saif. If I was good in the scenes with him that’s mainly because he was so good and co-operative. I was just reacting. Raima and I, of course, have an awesome personal relationship off screen.
It was not difficult doing the passionate scenes in the film. The way my director interpreted the scenes was that the marriage of two minds meant the marriage of two bodies. I just believed in Dada’s reading.
Apart from Parineeta, I am doing two other movies with Vinod Chopra films — Munnabhai Part 2 and Yagna. So at the moment I am being taken care of.

‘Mom wants to see Parineeta with dad’

In between returning from Australia and travelling to Amsterdam, SAIF ALI KHAN spoke to Pratim D. Gupta in Mumbai about his most intense role, his best screen father and his forthcoming films

When you started shooting in Siliguri, you said you were just trying to get into the character, develop a 60s flavour. How much did you achieve that at the end of it all in Calcutta and Mumbai?
Now, that you will have to see and tell me. I have tried my best for this film. It’s a very important film for my career, as I have never done such an intense role ever before. This movie will prove me as an actor as it is very different from my image of a cool dude.

You shot on the toy train. You played a Bengali character. Was Parineeta your cinematic journey closer to your mother?
I don’t know why people are getting so emotional about this. It was not a deliberate thing to play a Bong character or to shoot on a toy train. It’s all Pradeepda’s vision for the film. I just liked the script, the character and hence decided to do the film. After seeing the promos, my mom sent me a message saying she liked me a lot in the promos and will want to see the film with my dad.

There were reports that you used to go crazy with the non-stop 24-hour shoot in Calcutta. How much of it is true? How taxing was it?
It was very taxing. Not just 24 hours, we almost shot for 36 hours regularly. Pradeepda is a workaholic and his dedication kept us going for so long.

What was your experience of shooting in Calcutta?
It was nice shooting there. I didn’t get to roam around the city much as we had a very busy shooting schedule for the film but no doubt Calcutta is a wonderful place to be at.

Tell us a little bit about your co-actors Vidya Balan and Sanjay Dutt...
It is my first movie with Sanjay and I must say he is a very nice human being apart from being a wonderful actor. Vidya was great to work with. She is very spontaneous in front of the camera and has done a great job in this film.

What was shooting with Sabyasachi Chakraborty like, who plays your father?
It was great. While on camera he was like my real dad. He is a great actor. Sometimes he used to make me forget that I am acting.

You are doing another film for Vinod Chopra Films — Yagna. You also get to act with Amitabh Bachchan. Any thoughts…
Wow! What else should I say? It’s great and an honour to share the screen with someone like Mr Bachchan.

What was the Salaam Namaste shooting in Australia like?
It was great and very enjoyable. Again it’s another Yashraj film after Hum Tum. I am happy to be a part of that family.

How offbeat do you get in Being Cyrus?
As offbeat as my role gets. It’s again something different and a film I am looking forward to. Being Cyrus is on a Parsi family and is directed by Homi Adajania who is a Parsi himself.

Is the Parineeta experience divine enough to delve into more Bengali characters, Bengali films and shoots in Calcutta?
Yes of course, if someone again offers me a good script like this.

Parineeta breathes Bengal among the tulips

Pratim D. Gupta

Amsterdam, June 10: Dutch folk and bar music gave way to Rabindrasangeet late last night, as the strains of Phoole phoole dhole dhole resonated across the 650-year-old Pathe Tuschinski theatre.
The world premiere film of this year’s IIFA Awards, director Pradeep Sarkar and writer-producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s celluloid adaptation of the Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay classic Parineeta, was shown at all the six screens of the heritage theatre at the Amsterdam Centre to a standing ovation.
The audience included Dutch dignitaries, the crème de la crème of Bollywood and the global media, coming from as far away as Fiji, China and Egypt.
Kicking off with Sonar Bangla ami tomay bhalobashi, Parineeta breathed Bengal and lived Calcutta — from Ray and Tagore to Flury’s and Moulin Rouge.
What started out as Chopra’s tribute to his “favourite author Saratbabu” and his film-school teacher Ritwik Ghatak turned into a visual showcase of Calcutta of the 1960s with the storyline — sticking strictly to the original novel — a parallel narrative of the turbulent times the city was going through.
“The original novel was set in early 20th century but we decided to bring the time period forward so that everyone could identify,” Chopra said.
“We could have set the film at any time but I wanted to show the characters going through the same crisis as Calcutta did in the early 1960s. We also could have made the same film on the sets of Mumbai at a much cheaper budget but I wanted to give the world a real flavour of the city.”
The Saif Ali Khan-Sunjay Dutt-starrer — shot in Calcutta in November last year — starts and ends with Amitabh Bachchan’s commentary, which introduces the time and space Parineeta is set in and also rounds off the two-hour-seven-minute period piece.
“I was staying in Calcutta during those years and I found the film to show the city exactly the way it was those days,” said Bachchan.
While the music by Shantanu Moitra used Rabindrasangeet in moments of pain and pleasure, the swing sequence featuring Lolita (an effortless Vidya Balan) and the tree-axing montage took you back instantly to Ray’s Charulata and Sadgati. The birthday cake came from Flury’s while the late-night party happened at Moulin Rouge, not to mention the frequent references to Coffee House and Park Street.
Apart from the hordes of Bengali actors in the cast — Sabyasachi Chakraborty and Raima Sen led the list, with Biplab Chatterjee, Kharaj Mukherjee and Haradhan Bandopadhyay giving them company — there were the quintessential Calcutta touches of phuchka-eating, sandesh-sharing and the celebrated dhunuchi naach at Durga Puja.
For adman-turned-director Pradeep Sarkar, it was a return to his youth. “It was very easy and comfortable for me to show Calcutta of the 1960s as I was there myself at that time. I wanted to show the city in a way never seen before.”

Page from past, call of future

Three months after capturing the Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay classic in the city, director Pradeep Sarkar is back to can the last few images for Parineeta. But he also has an eye on tomorrow as he returns to Victoria Memorial, not for phuchkas but to shoot a tourism ad, finds out Pratim D. Gupta

If you thought that the Parineeta parade in Calcutta was all over and the next thing on the Vidhu Vinod Chopra production would be on the big screen, well, you’ve got it wrong. Director Pradeep Sarkar will be back on Wednesday to can some more snatches of Calcutta for the final touches to the celluloid adaptation of the Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay classic, starring Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Vidya Balan and Raima Sen.
“A couple of ambience shots of the city streets was left to be taken and I have been pushing the dates back and back,” says Sarkar from Mumbai.
“But with the film releasing on May 20, I had to come and get it over and done with. We were even contemplating capturing those particular shots by building sets in Mumbai but then decided against it because you can never get the real Calcutta anywhere else.”
So Sarkar and his team, headed by cinematographer Natarajan, will be shooting night-time Park Street on Thursday and Friday before returning to Mumbai to add the images to the “almost ready” film. “Since Parineeta the film is set in the 1960s and not in the 1920s and 30s as in the novel, we have to make the city streets look like that at night time. Jombe mone hoy…,” adds Sarkar.
But Parineeta’s not the only reason that will bring Sarkar back to the city. He also plans to shoot a 60-second commercial on behalf of his production company, Apocalypso Filmworks, for the government of India. “The ministry of tourism of the government of India has launched Atithi Deva Bhava, a social awareness campaign to create awareness among stakeholders of the tourism industry,” says Sarkar. “They plan to train people like taxi drivers and tour guides to improve their behaviour and conduct to attract more tourists to the country. So they have got us to shoot two commercials for this new project — one in Mumbai and the other in Calcutta.”
Sarkar, who gave the city a taste of real Bollywood by getting the Saifs and Sanjus parked here for more than a month, won’t have any stars coming with him this time. “No, I don’t need any of the stars for the couple of Parineeta shots left to be taken. As for the commercial, well, it is about the common man and I plan to have only ordinary people in the ad. While in Mumbai, I will shoot at the Gateway of India, in Calcutta it will be the Victoria Memorial,” says Sarkar.
As for the Parineeta promos, keep your eyes glued to the small screen. “The teasers may come any time. Keep watching,” smiles Sarkar.

Tribute to teacher, ode to married woman

Pratim D. Gupta

Call it gimmick or genuine, the producer in Vidhu Vinod Chopra has been able to raise a storm with one simple “step-motherly” remark. Mumbai tabloids and websites have gone to town with screaming headlines like “Parineeta runs into trouble”. Director Pradeep Sarkar, though, has insisted throughout: “Nothing’s gone awry — everything’s going as per plan.” And hadn’t that happened, the film’s stars wouldn’t have landed and left the city as per the original schedule.
Those present on the sets that day argue it was Parineeta’s core team that was more at fault in its dealings with the local technicians. And the problem was sorted out before it could cause damage or delay.
While the real story stays hidden, it’s better to delve deep into the mind of Chopra, the visionary. The man, who started off making “Sound of Music and Godfather in the same Bollywood movie” in Parinda, is now one of the strongest pillars in tinsel town. While his western breakthrough project hasn’t quite materialised, he has guided some of the brightest new directors of the country.
When Chopra came to Calcutta to promote Munnabhai MBBS, he had confessed he wanted to make a film in Bengal. “That has always been my big dream. Ritwik Ghatak taught me film-making at the Pune institute and he used to teach me in Bengali. I didn’t understand a single word initially but he chose not to speak in any other language. Those three years were so Bengali that I always wanted to come here and make a film. And here I am making Parineeta…”
He doesn’t even regret not directing it. “I just want to write and produce films now. I want to help out talented film-makers to realise their dreams.”
Chopra has always got the best creative talent to come together in one film. Even for Parineeta, he’s got Munnabhai director Rajkumar Hirani as the film’s creative producer. “There is so much creative energy involved. I believe in the fact that we have to all come together to pursue and achieve excellence in cinema. If there is a conflict of thought, I always have the final say.”
Hirani thinks likewise: “It is never a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth. When many creative people converge for one single project, it only blossoms, it never gets affected.”
Sarat Chandra has always been close to Chopra’s heart. “When I was a little boy in Kashmir, I grew up reading him,” he recalls. “I read Devdas. I read Parineeta. This film, I owed to Saratbabu. He is the Shakespeare of Bengal... We haven’t even announced the film in Mumbai. We met the press for the first time here in Calcutta,” he added, stressing the Bengal bonding bit. Chopra doesn’t deny the fact that he could have shot the film in Mumbai. “But we had to do it here in Bengal. I think this is the first time an entire Mumbai team has come here to shoot for 57 days. We have been shooting round-the-clock. Sometimes for 12 hours, 16 hours and even 18 hours a day.”
Director Sarkar and the main cast of Sanjay Dutt and Saif Ali Khan look at Parineeta 2004 as a return to a bygone period in history and a recreation of the old days. Chopra, though, looks at the film differently. “Parineeta is about the married woman. In today’s times, love and marriage have become very important concepts. That’s what Parineeta explores, relating love with marriage. The story of the film is relevant even today. We could have set it in modern times but I wanted a little period feel. So 1962 is the year in the film, when Bengal was going through a very torturous period.”
The casting for Parineeta, Chopra confesses, happened on its own. “Sanjay has to be there in all my films. He is like family to me. As for Saif, it has been a revelation. When he came to the office he was slated to do another role. He just said, ‘I can do Shekhar’. And I saw the rushes and he has truly done an incredible job.”
But what’s happened to Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the director? “I am writing Yagna. It should get underway by middle of next year. Amitabh Bachchan plays one of the main roles. Sanjay is there too. The rest of the casting is being done. We are also writing Rajkumar Hirani’s next film and once the scripting is over, we’ll be able to talk more.”

Bally-ho! Munnabhai meets Chhote Nawab

Pratim D. Gupta

Amader Munnabhaike dekhbo…” From Byculla to Bally, Versova to Victoria, there is no stopping the fan following of the deadly Dutt. After the Saifs and Dias got the Parineeta party rocking, first in Siliguri and then by the Strand, it was time for Sanju Baba (there’s no escaping the “Baba” bit, plastered on the door of the make-up van or a permanent fixture on the lips of all those surrounding him) to set off the Diwali crackers.
Having arrived in the city on Friday night, Sanjay was slated to face the arclights for the first time on Saturday afternoon at the Rajbari in Bally on the banks of the Ganga. That was after Saif shot in the morning for a small but important sequence.
“In the novel, this particular episode comes in the opening pages when Shekhar (Saif) talks to his mother about meeting a prospective bride and how the discussion switches to Lalita (Vidya Balan),” explains one of the production assistants in director Pradeep Sarkar’s team.
The shot, taken in the extended garden, is okayed after a couple of takes and Saif returns to the comforts of the AC make-up van.
Knock, knock…
“Who’s that?”
“Baba.”
Sanjay and Saif are locked in a warm hug as the two meet for the first time on the sets of the Vinod Chopra production. Then, they beat a quick retreat into the van.
The camera and the props are shifted to the front half of the palatial white building, as two vintage cars are put in place.
Sarkar looks relaxed as he discusses the exact placement of the camera for the particular shot. “Working with Sanjay is really a dream come true. I had directed the Chhan chhan song in Munnabhai but didn’t really get to work with him. He has really matured so much. Sanjay is the only actor who can make you cry even in a song sequence. He is just too good.”
Unlike the leading ladies of the film who spend hours inside the vanity van, Sanjay takes less than 15 minutes to slip into the green kurta, get into the gold and look more of his Vaastav self. Saif also makes a quick costume change — from a white kurta to a pastel shade shirt.
The shot is ready to be canned. Scene 60 — Gurcharan (Achyut Poddar) is lying ill inside the building. The house doctor comes out after checking him. He is accompanied by Girish (Sanjay) who pays the doc his fees and discusses the situation. Shekhar walks in and gets inside the house to check on Gurcharan.
Familiar face on Tolly telly, Tapas Chakraborty, plays the doctor and is expectedly excited about the shoot. “Can you please click me with Sanjay?” he asks one of the lightmen.
After a couple of rehearsals, the cameras roll. The first take goes wrong with Saif rushing in a touch too early. The second take is not even completed with Sanjay reacting to Saif’s cue and turning his head. The third take is “NG (not good)” with Chakraborty’s frame blocking that of Sanjay.
In a mini-break that follows, Sanjay lights a Marlboro, Saif his Camel and the two share a joke before they get back in front of the camera. “Working with Saif is a whole lot of fun,” says Sanjay, with the two having shared the frame before in Nehle Pe Dehle.
Saif wants to go for the Indo-Pak cricket match and has even got himself tickets. But football is his first love as he still nurses a sprained ankle that he helped himself to during the friendly IIFA soccer match in Singapore.
Another take with a slight change in dialogue and character position follows and this time Sarkar is happy. The Sanjay shooting sojourn in Calcutta is off the mark and the Parineeta juggernaut rolls on despite problems like the missing truck, union strike and the mob mania…