Homi Adakania says not even Saif Ali Khan or
Naseeruddin Shah enquired about his filmmaking experiencing prior to Being
Cyrus: “They assumed I was an ad director’
Homi Adajania, while taking about his
debut film Being Cyrus, recalls the cast, comprising Saif Ali Khan, Naseeruddin
Shah and Dimple Kapadia, didn’t have any idea if he had done a film earlier.
Homi Adajania, who made his directorial
debut with Saif Ali Khan-starrer dark comedy Being Cyrus 18 years ago, recently
said that finding a financier for the film was an uphill task. The movie, which
revolves around dysfunctional Parsi family, was released in English and also
featured Naseeruddin Shah and Dimple Kapadia.
While talking about casting the
actors, Adajania recalled they didn’t ask him if he had done a film earlier,
and was impressed by his narration. “Nobody asked me if I had done a film
before. Neither Saif nor Naseeruddin Shah or Dimple Kapadia asked me if I had
made a movie before. They assumed that I was ad filmmaker. They didn’t know I
was sitting in my lungi, on jetty, in Lakshwadeep catching fish,” reminisced
Adajania, who also directed Cocktail and Finding Fanny. The filmmaker was in
conversation with Cyrus Broacha, on his Youtube Channel.
Adajania further revealed that the
film is based on a book which was rejected by publishers for its profanity. The
director, who had done ad films in the past and was writing articles for
newspapers and magazines, further noted that he believed the actors were
floored by his style of narration and therefore, said yes to the film.
“I am a decent storyteller and I get
very enthused during the narration. I think because of my narration they had a
clear idea of what I exactly wanted from the film. I had a story but no
technical knowledge. In the ad space, I had only delved into the creative part
with a little bit of editing experience and not know anything about the
technical aspect of the process and a huge amount of time had passed since I
did that,” he added. Coincidently, Being Cyrus clocks 18th years
today.
While the film received critical a
claim, the making wasn’t a smooth ride. “It was difficult to get the film made
and it was not easy to get the money. It was an English film with Bollywood
actors. The producers were not sure about the film so we went through 8-9
narrations before the financiers. When we finally got the money, just 12 days
before the shoot, I was told we had to do another round of narration and then
came the shock. The financier had died and we had to look for another person,”
said Adajania.
He added that while the entire process
of getting a financier was a Herculean task, the process of making the film was
one of the easiest experiences he has had. “It was something very liberating
probably because I didn’t know anything about filmmaking and I had nothing to
lose. I told my technicians that they have to translate my thoughts on the
celluloid,” he added.
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