Synopsis
Ranjeet Thadani (Rajat Kapoor), a bored,
arrogant music company executive hurts his back
the night he has found a prize catch for a weekly
bring- your-idiot talent dinner hosted by his
friends and him. He ends up spending the evening
with this idiot, Bharat Bhushan (Vinay Pathak)
who tries to help him get his wife (Sarika) back
who left him earlier that day. The result is utter
chaos let loose by the idiot, who cannot do a
single thing without messing it up further. The
plot turns around to be a series of mini disasters
that leave Ranjeet's comfortable life in ruins.
Call it the idiot's revenge!
I watched The Dinner Game by Francois Weber at an international film
festival in the year 1999 and I was floored by
its dry wit and exemplary story of an idiot. I
was quite impressed with the contemporary French
cinema standards and felt ashamed at the level
of comedies that were being made in the Hindi
film industry. Little did I know at that time
that my debut film would be majorly inspired by
it!
 After
working on two low budget films like Raghu
Romeo and Mixed
Doubles both directed by Rajat Kapoor, I was
quite convinced that the only way to make a film
without any strings attached is to make it within
an amount which the producer is confident of recovering,
irrespective of the commercial success the film
enjoys in the cinema halls. With Rajat I had learnt
the art of executing low budget films without
compromising much on technical quality. To make
a film as such you need a fine screenplay that
justifiedsthe money rather than money justifying
the screenplay. And yes, a good film needs great
technicians and great performers, who would be
ready to work for peanuts! Fortunately I was breeding
in an environment where many talented people -
actors and technicians really wanted to do something
different! Thus interacting with marvelous actors
like Vijay Raaz, Sadiya Siddiqui, Saurabh Shukla,
Ranvir Shorey, Konkona Sen, Vinay Pathak, Rajat
Kapoor and great technicians like cinematographer
Rafey Mahmood, audiographer Resul Pookutty and
editor Suresh Pai, I realized I would be a fool
not to utilize this pool of talent. Mixed
Doubles was a great hit and it was very close
to my heart as I have worked on every little stage
of its making. While watching it in with an audience,
the experience of people laughing at exactly the
right points as planned by the director mesmerized
me. I knew that people just wanted to laugh. Everybody
was too stressed out and they needed a vent.
It was also that time of the year when the Indian
Idol singing competition had reached a new crescendo.
Anybody and everybody was a singer! Even the Hindi
film industry was only churning out sex comedies
or “bhankas” genre films that relied
on slapstick humour, double entendres and flesh
show. It was also that time of the year when many
new directors made their debut films which were
really bad. It was as if art had been held hostage
by media savvy individuals wanting to be celebrities
using the power of a medium. I was burning to
make my film as somewhere I had this idealistic
belief that I would set things right!
When we decided to adapt the French story I was
looked down upon by everybody with the same contempt
that I carried for DVD-directors. My task was
uphill! Thankfully Sunil Doshi, the producer was
quite convinced. But he was more convinced with
me rather than the screenplay. He told me that
he is putting his money on the jockey not the
horse! Bheja Fry was originally called
Ding Dong Baby Sing a Song and was initially
conceptualized and planned for television and
to be shot on 16mm but I am happy that finally
not only could I make it on 35 mm but also the
film is soon to get a full-fledged theatrical
release. Suresh Pai the editor was the first person
to receive the concept note in order to get a
reaction. He was quite impressed and that encouraged
me that I was on the right track. I really wanted
to adapt the story rather than copy a film. A
few understood me, the others, well I simply did
not let them bother me. I had a film to make!
 I
always knew that my idiot was a singer and that
his name was Bharat Bhushan. I had a friend in
college who was a bad singer but always broke
out into a song without realizing that he is making
a fool of himself. Also, in Raghu Romeo,
Vijay Raaz sings a song looking at the moon while
Maria has gone to the toilet. All these factors
assimilated to create Bharat Bhushan who was planted
in the plot of the French story. Situations changed
and so did the dialogues. Of course, the French
story did not cater to Indian sensibilities. So
we doctored the entire plot and began to weed
out the weak links the story had. Arpita Chatterjee
and me would have hours of telephonic conversations
on the screenplay. She wrote the initial draft
which became the basis of all method. Initially
Anurag Kashyap was supposed to write the dialogues
but he was burdened with Guru and his own films.
He did not manage to find time. But I did have
a great session with him and was enlightened by
many of his perspectives to the story. He liked
my choice of cast and it was he who suggested
me to think of Sarika as Rajat’s wife, a
masterstroke in retrospect. Anurag also contributed
a few brilliant script based nuts and bolts that
enriched Bheja Fry. But the credit of
the actual mad dialogues must go to first timer
Sharat Kataria – also assistant to Rajat
on Raghu Romeo, a Jamia graduate. He
brought in much of the whacky humour of words
and turned around a few situations to new scenes.
A lot of contribution also came from Vinay Pathak
and Rajat Kapoor. So each shooting day was a workshop
where everything was assessed to as it is basis
and scenes were rewritten keeping in mind the
improvisations. The assistants had a tough task.
I was always at top of the things and not even
a single word could be altered without my consent.
I was very sure of what I wanted. I was very clear
of the rhythm of my shots, where to pause and
hold and when to speed it up. Sharat came to the
shoot everyday. That made things a little easier.
All my actors were such good performers that I
never went more than three takes. But I shot extensively.
I covered the same scene from various perspectives
and camera angles almost making it a two camera
shoot setup. Many mistook that for my insecurity
of being a first time director.
Parixit Warrier the director Of Photography who
is also a batch mate from the film school and
a very good friend made this magic possible for
me in the shoot. Every shot was ready in 20 minutes.
Gauging the amount of time given to him and the
results delivered I am amazed at his craft. I
wanted to get out of the gamut of Long shot, mid-shot
and close-up and was tired of the usual boring
over the shoulder shots. So we created a different
pattern of lensing and extensively covered the
scenes, gave full freedom to actors and devised
shots according to their movements rather than
make them move according to the shots. The result
as expected was very good.
Bheja Fry was shot within seven days,
twelve nights over sixteen locations consuming
exactly just 101 cans of 35mm raw stock. Though
the film was shot with an extremely, extremely
modest budget, its major challenge was being not
looking like one that was! Which I would like
to say, we have achieved.
 When
Suresh Pai edited the film the first cut was 95
minutes and he was extremely happy because the
film had 'arrived' in its totality correctly.
Suresh has always apprehensive about overly shot
films which are butchered at the editing table
to chart out a meaning. So in short, he felt that
Bheja Fry had utilized its resources correctly!
I met Sagar Desai when we were desperately looking
for a good music director for Mixed Doubles.
I have been actively involved in the production
of the entire music score of Mixed Doubles.
Sagar Desai is a genius. He has been there throughout
the conception of Bheja Fry and through
most of the screenplay discussions because screenplay
writer Arpita Chaterjee is his wife. He knew the
story well and had an excellent rapport with me
knowing just knew what I like and what I wanted.
The entire film was dubbed in Mumbai at Aradhana
studios. But the entire sound post-production
happened at Real Image Studios in Chennai. Tapas
Nayak, the audiographer of the film, was a batch
senior to me at SRFTI and had a great understanding
of his medium. In the given budget we just could
not afford Dolby surround. DTS offered us an excellent
package deal and the dream of having 5.1 sound
materialized. All the sound tracks were sent over
to Chennai and the film was finally mixed and
the exposed sound negatives and DTS discs were
dispatched to Adlabs, where the film was finally
printed. Bheja Fry is today ready to
be served!
A cinematographer friend and guide - Sanjay Kapoor
told me right at the start of my film that it
was going to be a journey of discoveries on every
level – mental, emotional, physical and
spiritual. It did sound like a platitude then
but now that the film is ready I can surely say
that it has been one hell of a bheja fry and yes,
I have thoroughly enjoyed getting my brains fried
making my first film!
Sagar Bellary is an alumnus of the Satyajit
Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata
with specialization in Screenplay Writing and
Direction. He has directed a short film X
and Y, been Chief Assistant Director on the
feature film Raghu Romeo and Associate
Director on the featurefilms Mixed Doubles
and Mithya. Bheja Fry is his
first feature film
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