Yashraj films' foray in 'new age' cinema with 'Kabul Express'

New Delhi, Dec 15: 'Iqbal', 'Rang De Basanti', 'Dor', 'Khosla Ka Ghosla', 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' and, now, 'Kabul Express'- the 'new age' cinema bandwagon rolls on! Success of films like 'Rang De Basanti' and 'Khosla Ka Ghosla', films which this year have fired the imagination of cinegoers with their unconventional storylines and innovative cinematic treatment, in a way also marks the resurgence of 'New Age' cinema in India.

For a change, however, it is the 'Big Guns' in Bollywood -top notch film production houses like Mukta Arts of Subhash Ghai, Vinod Chopra Productions of Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Dreamz Unlimited of Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chawla and UTV owned by Ronnie Screwvala - that have held aloft the rampart of 'new age' cinema in India, lending their financial backing as well as their production wherewhithal behind the various 'New Wave' filmmakers bubbling with innovative and creative story ideas.

Kabir Khan's 'Kabul Express', which releases across the world today, is the latest in line of 'new age' films backed by the financial might of big filmmakers in Bollywood.

Featuring the adorable hunk John Abraham and Arshad Warsi, 'Kabul Express' marks the foray of Yashraj films in 'experimental' or 'different from mainstream' cinema, dealing with topics and subjects different from those touched upon by the mainstream cinema.

Based on the director Kabir Khan's experiences as a documentary journalist in Afghanistan, 'Kabul Express' is far different from the action thrillers and the 'sweet love stories and romantic sagas' that Yashraj Productions have made in the past.

According to producer Aditya Chopra, 'Kabul Express' marks a departure from the usual mainstream larger than life extravaganza that the production house has been associated with till date.

''I wanted to come out of my comfort zone of creating popular blockbusters and create a film that connects to a wider, international audience. When I read the script of Kabul Express I knew I had to make this film, and make it now,''Aditya Chopra said on the eve of the film's release.

Talking to UNI on the eve of the film's release, Arshad Warsi said, ''Kabul Express is different from what I have done till now. The film is based on director Kabir Khan's own experiences as a journalist in Afghanistan. In that sense, it is a realistic tale which captures the sweat and toil that war reporters have to put in to deliver breaking news from the war front.'' Set in post 9/11 war-torn Afghanistan, making it the first international feature film to have been shot entirely in Kabul after the end of the Taliban, 'Kabul Express' is inspired by director Kabir Khan's own experiences in Afghanistan as a documentary filmmaker, specially his encounters with Taliban prisoners.

'Kabul Express' is a kidnap drama that is alternately funny and horrifying.

Infact, the film has an international feel to it in the sense that it features Pakistani actor Salman Shahid and Afghani actor Hanif along with Arshad and John.

The film has John play a war documentary journalist, a completely offbeat de-glam role and far removed from his 'macho hunk' portrayal in Sanjay Gadhvi's 'Dhoom'.

Even before its releases across the country today, 'Kabul Express' has garnered accolades from several quarters. The film was screened at the Toronto international film festival a few months ago where it received a standing ovation from the local audiences as well as the Asians present.

At the same time the film was also invited to the film festivals in Pusan and London.

''Before the movie was released in Toronto, there was this apprehension as to how the North American press would react to the film trivialising a serious situation like the 9/11. However, all apprehensions were belied as the two screenings of the film - one for the North American audience and the other for the Asian audience, predominantly Pakistani, Afghani and Indian - received an overwhelming response. Infact, there was a standing ovation after both the screenings,''John told UNI on eve of the film's release.

Shooting for the film in Afghanistan was fraught with threats at every level for the cast and crew.

''Well there were a lot of radio signals that were intercepted by the RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) which is equivalent to the FBI in the US and I was advised by the RAW not to go saying that my life was in danger.'' Thereafter, the producers made appropriate arrangements for our security there with help from the Indian embassy in Afghanistan and the Afghan government. Infact, the security was such that there were more security guards than the unit members of the set. The security was provided by the 'amniat' that's the Afghani intelligence,'' John said.

The security notwithstanding there was still the occasional suicide bombing and the bullet flying over the heads as well as some missiles here and there that posed some threat.

''Coming back to India after the shooting was like being in the Garden of Eden back home,'' John said.

Nevertheless, shooting in Afghanistan was a memorable experience for the film's cast, specially John and Arshad.

''The experience of shooting in Afghanistan has been simply superb. The Afghanis love the Indians to death and its not just about movies but they just love Indians. After God it is Hindi movies there.

Infact, Hindi movies are like religion for them. They know every song, every dance, every action, every dialogue of every movie.

Infact, shooting in the country gave me a completely different perspective of life from what I had heard,'' John said.

According to Arshad, one thing that he liked about the people of Afghanistan was their indomitable spirit and being happy despite all the turmoil around.

''What fascinated me about Afghanistan and its people was the fact that despite constantly facing the fear of death - there is so much of trouble that you can see more AK-47 than mobiles phones- you will never see them unhappy or sad as they are always smiling.

There are ten-year-old kids with maturity on their face of a fifty year old man. There are fifty year old men who behave like children,'' he said.

Yashraj films' foray into experimental cinema follows close on the heels of several films with unconventional scripts hitting the bull's eye at the box office.

With films like 'Iqbal', 'Rang De Basanti', 'Dor', 'Khosla Ka Ghosla' and 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' winning tremendous critical acclaim and box office success, an increasing number of production houses are jumping onto the 'New Age' bandwagon.

Infact, the film production house UTV Motion pictures will, in the coming years, promote experimental and unconventional films in a big way under the aegis of UTV classics, a new venture that will help make these cinematic ventures available to a wider audience. Marking the foray of UTV Classics, the sub-brand of UTV Motion Pictures that would promote experimental and unconventional cinema making it accessible to a broad audience, will be Vishal Bhardwaj's new venture titled 'The New Umbrella, which is set to release in theatres across the country on January 5 next year.

'The Blue Umbrella', based on a Ruskin Bond novel by the same name, has received tremendous acclaim in the international circuit, having being screened at some of the top-notch film festivals abroad.

''The entertainment tastes of a section of the audience are maturing with time and UTV Classics is an initiative to address the needs of this growing audience for different cinema. 2006 has been proof of this, with unconventional movies that have broken the mould and which have been applauded by audiences and critics alike,'' UTV CEO Ronnie Screwvala says.

Recent years have also seen producers like Subhash Ghai and Shahrukh Khan coming forward to support films from the stable of 'New age' cinema by launching separate production outfits.

In the coming year, Mukta Searchlight will produce three 'offbeat' films to be directed by Nagesh Kukunoor, Shashi Sudulgia and himself. While Nagesh's film will repeat his hero Shreyas Talpade, Shashi has cast three diploma holders from FTII and has already started shooting.

Ghai's film will go on the floor this November. To be shot in a 40-day schedule and expected to complete by January next year for a March release, the film, titled 'Black and White', will introduce a new hero Anurag Sinha, a trained actor and diploma holder from FTII. Anil Kapoor will play the stellar role in the film.

''Good films always have an audience provided they are made within a targeted budget. We had a good taste of success in Jogger's Park and Iqbal because they were low-cost films based on excellent concepts,'' Ghai said.

Shahrukh Khan also plans to revive his Dreamz Unlimited soon with a couple of offbeat ventures.

In recent years, the Sanjay Gupta and Sanjay Dutt-owned White Feather has been providing filmmakers the opportunity to craft innovative and path-breaking films like 'Kaante', 'Musafir' and 'Zinda' that challenge, provoke and inspire.

Infact, White Feather Films recently joined hands with Balaji Telefilms Private Limited as part of their endeavour to create cutting edge cinema.

In the coming year, White Feather Films plans to release films like Apoorva Lakia's realistic crime drama 'Shootout at Lokhandwala', the ambitious 'Dus Kahaniyan' and Hansal Mehta's tribute to film noir Woodstock Villa'.

While 'Shootout At Lokhandwala' stars Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Abhishek Bachchan, Viveik Oberoi, Tusshar Kapoor, Arbaaz Khan, Aditya Lakhia, Rohit Roy, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Amrita Singh, Dia Mirza, Neha Dhupia and Aarti Chabbria, Hansal Mehta's 'Woodstock Villa' stars Sikander Kher and Neha Uberoi.

UNI