Nishikant Kamat's eyes sparkle and his body seems filled with a maniac energy when he talks about cinema. And once he starts, it is very difficult to get a word in between. Perhaps it is his ability in translating this passion into celluloid that brought him laurels, not only in India but also abroad, for his debut movie `Dombivli Fast' (Marathi, 2006).
The movie was shown at film festivals in London, Los Angeles, Stuttgart, Florence, Dubai and Singapore, and won many audience poll and jury awards. This year, it is scheduled to be screened at festivals in Rio de Janeiro and Sydney.
It swept the Maharashtra State Film Awards, winning prizes for best director, film, actor, editing, screenplay, cinematography, and dialogue.
Though Nishikant is basking in the limelight now, bringing his dream to fruition was not easy. "Every producer I went to wanted two songs, fights and comedy scenes in the movie. But as I did not agree, no producer was ready to work with me. It took me one-and-a-half years to find a producer who shared my vision."
Thanks to the attention the urban, gritty movie received, Bollywood directors Abbas and Mustan bought its rights (this is their first production venture), and Nishikant was given the choice of remaking it either in Hindi or Tamil.
"I felt the story was more suitable for regional cinema, than Hindi. That is why I decided to make it in Tamil." Madhavan, Seeman and Sangeetha were brought on board for the Tamil version, `Evano Oruvan,' which, he says, is not a carbon copy of `Dombivli Fast.'
Before he began shooting, Nishikant came and stayed in Chennai for one-and-a-half months. "I travelled in buses and local trains during peak hours, watched movies in theatres sitting in the front row, ate at local joints and went on long walks to learn about Chennai and Tamil culture." He incorporated all his experiences in the Tamil film. As he wanted interesting faces, he auditioned around 400 people, and finally used around 100 of them in the film.
`Evano Oruvan,' he says, is a very realistic film. It is the story of an ordinary man "... who lives in Palavanthangal; gets up early to fill water from the tanker; takes the local train to work [at a bank] everyday; eats thayir saadam for lunch; and buys vegetables on the way home after work. It is about the problems he faces every day — water, corruption, garbage on the roads, traffic indiscipline. It portrays his angst, and how he deals with it. What happens when he decides to question the wrongs happening around him?"
"These problems are not specific to any city. The people in Los Angeles, Dubai, Singapore and Germany were all able to identify with them. The problems are universal. And the common man is the same everywhere."
He candidly admits that `Dombivli Fast' was inspired by Martin Scorsese's `Taxi Driver.'
"When I started writing the movie, I realised that my protagonist was very similar to the one in `Taxi Driver.' The storm in the minds of the protagonists... that is what is common to both the movies."
That Nishikant lives and breathes cinema (he claims to know at least a 100 movies by heart) would be obvious to anyone meeting him for even a few minutes. But few know that he is also crazy about comics (Indrajaal Comics especially) and is a voracious reader (he is still under the spell of the "The Kite Runner," months after he read it.
He actually wanted to make a movie on the book, but then found out that the rights had already been sold).
Nishikant's next movie is also on another issue close to his heart, something, which affected him on a very personal and emotional level — the bomb blasts in Mumbai's local trains in 2006.
Nishikant has already started working on the cast of the movie, which will detail the blasts' aftermath. Shooting for the movie, for which the script is already ready, will begin sometime in May or June 2007.
Courtesy: The Hindu. Thank you Venkateshwaran!
The movie was shown at film festivals in London, Los Angeles, Stuttgart, Florence, Dubai and Singapore, and won many audience poll and jury awards. This year, it is scheduled to be screened at festivals in Rio de Janeiro and Sydney.
It swept the Maharashtra State Film Awards, winning prizes for best director, film, actor, editing, screenplay, cinematography, and dialogue.
Though Nishikant is basking in the limelight now, bringing his dream to fruition was not easy. "Every producer I went to wanted two songs, fights and comedy scenes in the movie. But as I did not agree, no producer was ready to work with me. It took me one-and-a-half years to find a producer who shared my vision."
Thanks to the attention the urban, gritty movie received, Bollywood directors Abbas and Mustan bought its rights (this is their first production venture), and Nishikant was given the choice of remaking it either in Hindi or Tamil.
"I felt the story was more suitable for regional cinema, than Hindi. That is why I decided to make it in Tamil." Madhavan, Seeman and Sangeetha were brought on board for the Tamil version, `Evano Oruvan,' which, he says, is not a carbon copy of `Dombivli Fast.'
Before he began shooting, Nishikant came and stayed in Chennai for one-and-a-half months. "I travelled in buses and local trains during peak hours, watched movies in theatres sitting in the front row, ate at local joints and went on long walks to learn about Chennai and Tamil culture." He incorporated all his experiences in the Tamil film. As he wanted interesting faces, he auditioned around 400 people, and finally used around 100 of them in the film.
`Evano Oruvan,' he says, is a very realistic film. It is the story of an ordinary man "... who lives in Palavanthangal; gets up early to fill water from the tanker; takes the local train to work [at a bank] everyday; eats thayir saadam for lunch; and buys vegetables on the way home after work. It is about the problems he faces every day — water, corruption, garbage on the roads, traffic indiscipline. It portrays his angst, and how he deals with it. What happens when he decides to question the wrongs happening around him?"
"These problems are not specific to any city. The people in Los Angeles, Dubai, Singapore and Germany were all able to identify with them. The problems are universal. And the common man is the same everywhere."
He candidly admits that `Dombivli Fast' was inspired by Martin Scorsese's `Taxi Driver.'
"When I started writing the movie, I realised that my protagonist was very similar to the one in `Taxi Driver.' The storm in the minds of the protagonists... that is what is common to both the movies."
That Nishikant lives and breathes cinema (he claims to know at least a 100 movies by heart) would be obvious to anyone meeting him for even a few minutes. But few know that he is also crazy about comics (Indrajaal Comics especially) and is a voracious reader (he is still under the spell of the "The Kite Runner," months after he read it.
He actually wanted to make a movie on the book, but then found out that the rights had already been sold).
Nishikant's next movie is also on another issue close to his heart, something, which affected him on a very personal and emotional level — the bomb blasts in Mumbai's local trains in 2006.
Nishikant has already started working on the cast of the movie, which will detail the blasts' aftermath. Shooting for the movie, for which the script is already ready, will begin sometime in May or June 2007.
Courtesy: The Hindu. Thank you Venkateshwaran!
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