While most Bollywood actors insist on a plush vanity van for changing costumes amid shoots, actor Vidya Balan, while shooting for Kahaani, did most of her costume change in a SUV, without raising a brow, says the films’ director Sujoy Ghosh.
“Most of our shoots were on the streets of Kolkata, where one doesn’t get the permission to park a vanity van. So, we covered up this Innova with a black sheet of cloth, and Vidya happily changed her costume inside the car,” says Ghosh, adding, “She has the capability to understand the constraints of the director, and hence doesn’t ever throw any tantrum. Vidya is a sweetheart.”
The thriller that is scheduled to release on March 9 has mostly been shot in outdoor locations across Kolkata – the Kalighat temple area, the Lalbazar police station, and in trams and Metro stations.
Rubbishing reports that Vidya acted “pricey” before taking up the project of a pregnant woman who flies down to Kolkata in search of her missing husband, Ghosh says, “No, she wasn’t pricey at all. This project was as close to her heart as it was to mine. She has been very involved in the way the film developed – right from its story to screenplay. In fact, she suggested many modifications, and they were all great.”
Actor Vidya Balan, an ardent lord Shiva devotee, visited the Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga temple in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, on Mahashivaratri. Vidya performed thepanchamrit puja at the temple. Talking about her visit, Balan, 34, said that she sought blessings for her upcoming film, Kahaani, in which she plays a pregnant woman in search of her missing husband.
Vidya Balan’s mission to find her missing husband ended on a rough note. The actor, a heavily pregnant woman in search of her missing husband, kickstarted the promotions of her upcoming film, Kahaani, at a railway station in the city during the morning rush hour. All was going well until the crowd turned unmanageable and she was whisked away from the venue in a private car to save her from getting mobbed.
However, the film’s spokesperson says “Vidya is bound to attract crowds, but the situation was in control. She finished the promotional activity and left the venue.”
Vidya distributed pamphlets with a sketch and details of her husband Arnab Bagchi, enquiring among the commuters about him, just like her character, Vidya Bagchi does in the film.
Director Sujoy Ghosh is very excited about the curiosity and interest his film is generating.
“We have planned many such mass activities to generate people’s interest in the movie. Vidya distributing the posters of her missing husband was well received by the audience. Now, they should wait for our next move,” he said.
Emraan Hashmi’s name is part of the cast and crew on various websites.When asked if the actor is associated with the film, Sujoy jokingly said “Emraan is the missing husband who Vidya is searching for.” On a more serious note, he said Emraan had nothing to do the film.
The first song of Vidya Balan’s upcoming movie Kahaani, Ami Shotti Bolchi… that was released on Friday, is a tribute to the City of Joy. It’s a funky grunge sung by Usha Uthup and Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy.
“My film has two heroines, Vidya Balan and Kolkata, and this song was for the latter,” says director Sujoy Ghosh. “The words, Ami Shotti Bolchi (I’m speaking the truth) just popped out while chatting with Vishal (co-composer Vishal Dadlani) and became the starting point for a song that’s been shot on the streets of Kolkata.”
From the iconic Howrah Bridge and Victoria Memorial to Kumartuli, the idol makers’ colony, and into a Durga Puja pandal during the vermilion ceremony before visarjan (immersion of the idol) on Dusshera, Ami shotti bolchi…takes one on a virtual tour of the city during the annual Durga Puja. Vidya goes searching for her missing husband in a Ambassador taxi, hitches a ride in a red police jeep, looks morosely out of a tram and even visits the Metro station.
“A large chunk of our tight budget went into ensuring that no one fell on the platform or on to the tracks during the shoots at three Metro stations—Kalighat, Jatin Das Park and Mahanayak Uttam Kumar,” admits Sujoy. “Everywhere, the unit was followed by huge crowds of star-gazers and eventually Vidya became our crowd controller. When things got out of hand, we’d send her out to entreat her fans to let us shoot.”
The song starts off with the actor trying to convince a cop that her name is Vidya and not Bidda and it ends with her shaking her head as a Visitor’s Pass is made out to Bidda Bagchi. “Vidya herself told me that in Kolkata she was always Bidda Balan. That stayed in my mind and found its way into the script and this song,” smiles Sujoy.
They also shot at Kalighat police station and the police headquarters at Lal Bazar. “Our actors were dressed in the same white uniform and since actual cops continued to do their work while we did ours, many believed that the Kolkata police were acting in my movie,” chuckles the director. “They weren’t, we’d only got permission to shoot in their domain.”
After Saat Khoon Maaf’s (2011) chartbusting Darling last year, Usha flags off the New Year with Ami shotti bolchi. “I’ve always wanted Didi to sing for me but didn’t approach her till Vishal came up with this song,” says Sujoy. “It’s trademark Kolkata and Didi is the voice of Kolkata.”
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