Synopsis
Five men. The eldest is 60 plus while
the youngest is 20 plus. This ensemble group has
their fingers in legal and not so legal activities.
One of the gang members Seshadri (Dharmendra)
gets an offer to make a fortune in four days.
All the gang menbers go along with the plan as
this is the deal to propel them into the big league.
The youngest member, Vikram (Neil Nitin Mukesh),
plans to disappear to some unknown city with his
girl Mini (Rimi Sen) with his share when a thought
crosses his mind. Why not take all the loot? Vikram's
opening gambit is a neat double cross. But as
he plunges deeper into his diabolical plan, he
realizes the stakes are high and the only losers
he can afford to leave behind are dead ones...
"A good thriller is the only cure for
the common cold, say experts!" That’s
a line from the Johnny Gaddaar title
song video.
 I
think of Johnny Gaddaar as a film noir,
a caper thriller, a black comedy and a love story
all rolled into one. It’s a movie in the
mood of films I love like Blood Simple,
True Romance, The Talented Mr Ripley,
Snatch, Reservoir Dogs, Rififi,
The Killing and more (Big names!!!…hope
we are in the vicinity!). The big, big influences
were John Huston’s The Asphalt Jungle
and every film by Jean Pierre Melville. And while
I love a variety of pulp and crime writers, I
just felt like dedicating Johnny Gaddaar
to my first love…Rene Brabazon Raymond,
also known as 'James Hadley Chase.' I think India
and France are the only countries where Chase
enjoys a solid fan base.
Do Me a Favour Drop Dead, You Find
Him I’ll Fix Him, The Vulture is
a Patient Bird, There’s a Hippie
on the Highway. More than the sexy blondes,
it was the sexier titles that grabbed my attention.
Capers, gangs, losers, femme fatales, perfect
crimes, traitors….that’s the world
of James Hadley Chase. I wonder if anyone reads
Chase now with the avid fervour we used to, whilst
in high school. Which brings me to the Sixties
and Seventies.
The other huge influence on me whilst shooting
Johnyy Gaddaar were the Hindi films of
the 1960s and 1970s. I mean films like Jewel
Thief, Teesri
Manzil, The Train, Zanjeer,
Victoria Number 203, Chori Mera Kaam,
Yaadon Ki Baaraat, Dharma, Don,
The Great Gambler, Shareef Budmaash
and so many more. These were the movies I grew
up on. Big stars, twisted plots, terrific music,
grandiose sets and gaudy villains. Some of them
were great, some good and some positively cheesy
for sure. But they were uninhibited and unapologetic
entertainers….They were my great escapes
from school and studies.
Johny Mera Naam is a classic 1970 film,
far ahead of it’s time in terms of technique
and attitude. It’s amongst my top ten films
in the world….and the title Johnny Gaddaar,
is a minor homage to the great Vijay
Anand.
I had a version of this script for a while. Even
before Ek Hasina Thi.
The 'lying game sequence' in Ek Hasina Thi
was in this script though in a different context.
When you have a very detailed script and it’s
sitting for a long time, it gets a bit jaded faded.
So I kind of threw all my old notes and started
writing it afresh just a few weeks before the
actual shooting. A lot of new things were added
thanks to Vinay Choudhary and Pooja Ladha Surti
who I brainstormed with. Some crazy, interesting
ideas and scenes came about during these sessions.
And of course, my actors contributed too. Dharamji
would listen to a scene and sort of improvise
it …and I got some terrific lines from him.
Likewise with Vinay Pathak and Zakir Hussain.
The tough thing for me was not so much the plot
but the worry was really whether these characters
would connect with the viewer.
A long time back, I’d narrated the basic
plot line to Kundan Shah and he said something
I really tattooed on my brain. He said "A
plot has no life and life has no plot."
The challenge really was…and I don’t
even know if I’ve succeeded….How to
make a plot driven story somewhat character driven.
The Ashphalt Jungle does it beautifully.
I mean, in that film, I care for every character
though they are all racketeers. There’s
a terrific line in that film….said by Louis
Calhern. "After all, crime is only a
left handed form of human endeavour."
Thanks to Ek Hasina Thi, I didn’t
find it too tough to raise money for the film.
The only hitch was that a couple of producers
wanted me to cast an established star in the lead.
Jhamu Sughand gave me carte blanche but then due
to some problem he could not complete it. Oh yes
there were delays galore but somehow I was very
positive about the movie.
It’s a small film but we decided to shoot
it in Super 35. We cut down on technician fees
to the maximum…hoping that if the film works,
that’ll be profitable in some manner.
Casting took a while too. I kept toying with various
combinations. My dream cast for Seshadri was Dharmendra
simply because I am a huge fan of his films. I
did wonder whether he would agree to do a crime
flick. I mean, being an MP and all that. But he
liked the script…and it was pure heaven
working with him. He has a sharp sense of narrative
and characterization. And the best part was that
he was ever willing to rehearse his scenes. He’s
also a great improviser which came as a surprise.
And why did I cast a newcomer like Neil? I needed
someone with vulnerability and edge. I needed
an actor who’s in his early 20s…and
there are literally less than half a dozen. And
they are all busy for the next two years. A newcomer
in a sense is a 'bandh mutti.' And I thought maybe
I could create a certain curiousity about the
chap if he’s a new actor. Also, if the movie
does work, people would trust me to work with
another newcomers later. We did go thru a rigourous
workshop and auditions with Neil. It was only
after two months of work that I finally said yes
to him. But he’s confident and hard working
and daresay there is polish and honesty in his
performance. Zakir Husain started his film career
with a miniscule role in Ek Hasina Thi
( He’s the thug in underwear who ticks off
Saif and is next killed by Urmila). Ramu loved
this 'brief' role and immediately cast him in
several movies. Vinay Pathak loved the script
and we got along very well. Both Zakir and Vinay
are theatre actors and have contributed hugely
to the final film. We had no idea how it would
all turn out but now I’m quite thrilled
with the quirky ensemble of actors in Johnny
Gaddaar.
Murali (CK Muraleedharan), my FTII batchmate also
had done Ek Hasina Thi so there was no
second thought about the DoP. There’s an
obvious comfort factor. Pooja Ladha Surti, (the
writer of Ek Hasina Thi) has edited the
film. It’s her first film as editor. She
thinks unconventionally and has a superb sense
of music. She was pregnant whilst editing the
movie. And I wondered if she’ll be able
to complete it. She finished her final cut and
the baby was born on the next day!
In fact, four of my crew/technicians had babies
during the making of this movie. The fifth (the
film, in case you didn't get it!) is expected
on September 28, 2007...
Sriram Raghavan is an alumnus of the
Film and Television Institute of India (FTII),
Pune with specialization in Film Direction, 1987.
A director with a well-known affinity for thrillers,
Johnny Gaddaar is his second Feature
Film.
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