Inspirational move

Bikram Saluja was Graviera Man of the Year, 1994. He was once an accomplished tennis player with national level potential but fate had something else in store for him after he won Grasim Mr India. A successful model whose acting career didn’t bid him well, Bikram Saluja wields the pen for his book, An Actor’s Inspiration.

An Actor’s Inspiration is Saluja’s interpretation of two iconic films, The Godfather and The Raging Bull. The coffee-table book has been conceptualized, interpreted and directed by Bikram Saluja. The actor says that it all started with him wanting to do something independently. “I initially came up with an idea of making a film but that seemed like an enormous task, so that was ruled out. After brainstorming a little more, I came up with the concept of a photographic book.”

Saluja did not want to write a book just for the sake of it. So he decided that the book would have to be something new that the Indian reader had never seen before. Eventually he came up with the idea of interpreting 15 of his favorite films but over time it dawned on him that it would be a difficult task and finally settled for just two of his favorite films — The Raging Bull and The Godfather. Saluja has interpreted both the films from the point of view of the lead characters, Michael Corleone, played by Al Pacino in The Godfather and Jake La Motla, played by Robert De Niro in The Raging Bull.

It took Bikram roughly around four years to conceptualize and present the final product. Explaining the delay he says, “My first draft was ready by December 2003. However, the project got stalled due to various reasons. It was much later that I revived it and again it roughly boiled down to three years. Also, it took a long time to get the permissions and the extensive branding took up another year.” The foreword has been written by none other than the legendary Amitabh Bachchan and the photographs have been taken by Ronny Sequeira and Hardeep Sachdev.

The photographic book contains scenes that have been shot on location. The book is exactly like a film, including characters, dialogues, costumes, locations, etc., but on paper. It has been shot like a film through a still camera. The film sequences have been placed in the book like a film’s storyboard to draw the parallel between the film and the book. Two narratives run throughout the book — the first narrative is the characters and the other one is the author’s viewpoint. Saluja, who claims to have seen both the films innumerable times, says, “Each time you view these films they leave their mark on you. The experience of watching just gets better with each time. Earlier, I had seen these films but not from a director’s perspective. Now these films inspire me. The story of The Godfather is a saga. It touches so many different aspects of filmmaking. It’s not only acting that is brilliant, but also the direction and the storytelling. The film conveys the message without being too gimmicky and over-the-top. Though it is a commercial film, it is also artistic.” Saluja goes on to talk about The Raging Bull in the same breath. “The film has some great performances. The fight sequences are like a ballet. It is high on aesthetics and beautifully shot. Each aspect of the film really inspires you.”

From playing tennis professionally to modeling to films and now finally writing this book, Saluja has come a long way. Having taken a sabbatical from films, he is now looking forward to doing good work. “I was on a break from Bollywood and once I am through with this by the end of this year, hopefully I will take up something interesting that comes my way.”

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Rare diseases current flavor of Bollywood

Bollywood seems to be setting a new trend in exploring rare diseases with directors casting superstars in roles which seek to raise awareness about such lesser known ailments. NGOs and social workers are cheering the move which they say would result in an increase in the awareness and sensitivity among those, who were ignorant of such diseases. In the upcoming flick Paa, superstar Amitabh Bachchan plays a child affected with Progeria, a rare genetic disorder where a child ages three times faster than normal. Those affected by the medical condition usually have a short lifespan and the average patient survives only upto the early teens, say doctors. However, some patients can live upto 30 years and the cause of death is usually related to the heart or a stroke. R. Balki, director of Paa accepts that the cinema has the strength to help disease affected people by portrayal.

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3 Idiots looks all fine

The first look of Rajkumar Hirani’s 3 Idiots unveiled at a press conference at Metro met with an enthusiastic response. The story about three students at an engineering college — Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi — took off to a good start with the song — All is well. The trio rubbished rumors of a rift between the director and Aamir Khan. Aamir even joked that his only worry before he came on board was about how he would put up with Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Hirani, in fact, added that Aamir had even helped him out with the sub-titling of the film. Vinod Chopra too expressed his gratitude to Aamir saying that it was a pleasure to have worked with the star. The movie that has been acquired by Reliance Big Pictures is set to release on December 25. And though nothing is yet known about a simultaneous DTH release on TataSky. clearly, all is well. n Feature Desk