God only knows what this ad guru is up to

What has ad guru and theatre director Bharat Dabholkar, known for his 'Bottoms Up' kind of humour, been up to lately? Vickey Lalwani reports.

Theatre director and actor Bharat Dabholkar, last seen in Ram Gopal Varma's Company as the corrupt minister who gets shot by Vivek Oberoi, makes a debut as a film director in a big-budget Hinglish film titled God Only Knows! which promises to be a spoof, like his English plays.

Excerpts from an interview:

There is no question of moving away. My company Publicis Zen has settled down in terms of manpower. I am not required on a day-to-day basis.

I have done lots of theatre. So, films was the logical extension.

The medium is different, but my maiden venture on celluloid does not stray very far from my usual brand of 'Bottoms Up' humour. The film is a two-hour take-off on almost everything under the sun, with 40 minutes of nach-gana. In my bid to be hatke, I have the cast plucked from the cr`E8me de la cr`E8me of the stage. Watch out for the leather-clad Sharbani Mukherjee doing a sizzling take-off on Britney Spears, cameos by Jackie Shroff and Johnny Lever, and the hilarious punch lines. Some other highlights are an eight-minute qawwali medley in English, disco-dandiya in English and spoofs on many ad campaigns.

If that isn’t enough to get you going, there’s a English qawwali- an ode to the political scenario comprising the ruling and the opposition parties. Sample this: 'Wine, women and petrol pumps, we will pay your scandal bills...' and we owe it to remixer Jatin Das and pianist-composer Louis Banks, who, by the way, has his own cameo as an angel in the film. The songs are in English. Sudesh Bhonsle has sung most of the songs and he has done a fantastic job. In the qawwali medley, he has changed four voices. Other songs are sung by Poornima and Hema Sardesai. Furthermore, there are 10 minutes of special effects done by Ramesh Meer of FX factory. We have even roped in Nakul Kamte (of Lagaan and Dil Chahta Hai) for sound designing.

It is an assorted film. Like I was very particular about the way I wanted everyone to speak in this film. Everyone was made to speak as he does in day to day life. I didn't want any improvisations as that would make it sound very hi-fi, which in turn would keep some people away. Some Indians don't like seeing English films mainly because we don't grasp each and every dialogue; this dilutes the fun. In my film, a Gujarati like Dinesh Hingoo will speak English exactly as a Gujarati does with his typical pronunciations. Ditto for the other cast. This is a tested formula; it reaches more people. We've been doing this in the plays for the past 15 years non-stop. We've done it in every city in this country and virtually every country in the world where Indians live and got great response. Considering all this, I don't think that I'll need to dub this film in Hindi.

The story is about an Indian politician who dies and goes to heaven. Actually, Lord Indra has ordered for a sample of a man in today's time. Once there, the politician converts heaven into hell. Anjan Srivastava plays the minister, with co-stars Dilip Prabhavalkar, Viju Khote and Vihang Nayak play the mythological characters. It’s a laughathon. Leave your worries on the doorstep for two hours and let your mind relax, this is just what you need in today's times of acute stress and strain.

(grins) God only knows what havoc does an Indian politician bring about if he ever went to heaven.

During the making of my plays, I had done a story called Last Tango In Heaven which was similar to what I have made here. I took the seed and converted into a tree (large canvas).

No. Those were just rumours. Atul Parchure has done that role. That way, I was even planning to have Suniel Shetty and Raveena Tandon; they are good friends of mine. I couldn’t compromise on the date factor. I have finished the film in 38 days.

I was surprised when Dr Mandke agreed to do a spoof at the medicos. I told him that the medical fraternity would start hating him after that. He joked that he was hated even otherwise!

What are the reasons for not highlighting any brands in the film?

So, you observed that. I know what you mean. If I had used my contacts, I could have got very good sponsors-- but I didn't want to ask anyone. If in my next film they come forward themselves, it's a different matter.

I am a bad actor. I am there in this film, but it's just a 10-second role. I wanted to chop it off at the editing table, but then, I make a statement which is quite relevant to the plot. So I stayed.

I am confident. Some time back, I had narrated this topic to some distributors. They all said that if I would take good actors from the theatre fraternity, I wouldn't need anybody from the tinselville.

The real Bharat Dhabolkar is a very serious person. I just have a very funny way of looking at life. I just look around me and try to make everything funny by looking at it in a different way. And I do my work without getting too passionate and paranoid.

No content, only gloss. No story, only style. No substance, only fluff. The so-called young directors should make a conscious effort to dish out different every time.

A bit of television programming. But that would come at a later date. For the time being, I will start two more films during 2004. Scripts are ready. TWF

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