On the panel, were last year's best debutants Ranveer Singh & Sonakshi Sinha along with some of the best new talent in direction such as Maneesh Sharma, Abhishek Sharma, Vikramaditya Motwane, Habib Faisal and Kiran Rao. The session was moderated by the ace filmmaker Karan Johar, who started in his tongue-in-cheek humorous way, by saying, "I feel like an old uncle in the midst of this young and dynamic panel. I am like a jaded veteran trying to welcome the new brat-pack into the movie industry."
Kiran Rao, who made one of the most acclaimed films of recent times Dhobi Ghat, spoke about her journey. She said, "Initially I wanted to produce Dhobi Ghat on my own and had even created my small banner 'Cinema 73'. I was not sure if this film should be produced by a banner as big as Aamir Khan Productions. However when Aamir read the script, he loved it and offered to produce it under his banner. Working with Aamir has been as easy as pie. He takes complete care of a film right till its final destination in the best possible way. Having such a producer is essential for any project- big or small."
Vikramaditya Motwane, whom Karan describes as the 'Most Awarded Gentleman of 2010' for his directorial debut Udaan, too spoke about his struggles. The talented director said, "When I wrote Udaan in 2004, the industry was very different. If it had released then, it would have released with minimal prints and would have tanked badly. Nowadays, times are right for new subjects to come along. Mine was a film with no heroine, no scenic locations, no major production values yet UTV, Anurag Kashyap and Sanjay Singh had the vision in backing the film in such a big way. Full marks to them… Making a film is easy; getting it released is the tough part."
Maneesh Sharma, who gave North India a cool, hip look with the smash-hit Band Baaja Baaraat, too thanked his producers Yash Raj Films for backing his vision. He said, "When a big studio like YRF backs your vision, it really helps. The opening of BBB was pretty ordinary but the film picked up with word of mouth and the accolades have been pouring in till date. In fact, the film is still running in the theatres. Producers supporting new talent is a very positive sign for us."
Habib Faisal succeeded in both roles as a writer for Band Baaja Baaraat and as a director for his film Do Dooni Char last year. The writer-director spoke about the different experience on both the films. "Working on both BBB and Do Dooni Char was a different experience. Do Dooni Char was ready for a while and was produced by Planman after which Disney took it up. They saw a nice fit as it was a universal film with a family theme. Disney's was a more corporate set up with targets etc but YRF has been a traditional film-making studio. Nevertheless it has been a tremendous learning experience for me working with both of them."
Abhishek Sharma, who directed the highly concept driven film Tere Bin Laden with much elan, too spoke about how his producers had faith in his vision. The man, who used to work in the legal dept. of Adlabs before writing and directing one of the most hilarious satires of recent times, said, "It was fabulous working Pooja and Aarti Shetty of Walkwater Media. They were very supportive, knew my vision and completely believed in it. Mine was a concept driven film with no big stars. I come from a theatre background having done my Post Graduation in direction from NSD and I believe that Concept is the King." Abhishek even asked all the audience to repeat loudly that 'Concept is the King'.
Finally it was the turn of the new stars on the horizon Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha to share their success story. When Karan jokingly asked Ranveer if he had experienced the casting couch, Ranveer replied, "There was a casting couch involved but not at Yash Raj. During my struggling days I have experienced many sleazy characters, so yes the casting couch does exist." Ranveer also spoke about how he made it despite goofing up big time during his screen-test at YRF.
Sonakshi, who won everyone's hearts with her portrayal of Rajjo in Dabangg, looked like a million bucks and shared, "I think everyone knows my story so I wont bore you all again with it. I never wanted to be an actor but Salman; Arbaaz thought I was perfect for the part. So I really had no choice. I am also thankful to my director Abhinav Kashyap who was also a newcomer like me and made it easy for me on the sets."
Before ending the interesting session, Karan asked all the panel members what they felt should change for the betterment of the film industry. Kiran Rao replied, "It's important that we invest in creating avenues for new talent to emerge- be it actors, writers or directors. It's the duty of the producers, distributors, and exhibitors to encourage new talent. I would also like to see more regional films being exhibited as we have films being made in many languages in India but most of them get a very selective release." Vikramaditya Motwane too stressed the need for better exhibition avenues for smaller, 'indie' films.
Abhishek Sharma added, "It's very important to believe in non-parallel model of concept driven films which may or may not have big stars. Such films should be nurtured by the producers."
Habib Faisal spoke on behalf of the many struggling writers when he said, "Some kind of system needs to evolve to nurture writers."
Finally it was Ranveer Singh who stole the show and received a loud applause when he said, "We seem to be making too many projects and few films. There is also a rather unhealthy trend where the male actor becomes the centre of the eco-system. I find it rather appalling. It's important that we focus on good scripts. At the end of the day I am an actor, an artiste. All I look for before signing a project is whether the character excites me and will challenge me to push myself beyond my boundaries. Main Ek Kalakaar Hoon…Mujhe Dhanda Samajh Nahin Aata."
