Manish Acharya directed Loins Of Punjab Presents, one of the funniest films of Indian cinema, which turned 16 this week, and then fate played a cruel joke on him. He fell off a horse and died on the spot.
Just like that. No goodbyes. When Shabana Azmi who was part of the memorable mirth-on’s cast informed Zoom of the tragedy, we thought it was a Manish Acharya joke. But it was true: fate had dealt the cruellest blow.
When we got to know Manish, he had just come back from the US to Mumbai with plans of making films. He once told Zoom excitedly, “To me, the 1980s was the archetypal decade of filmy happenings. The suspense, action and stunts were all so cinematic. Today, the car chase sequences look so hi-tech. I want to shoot those famous car chases from the 1980s on Fiats and Ambassadors screeching down dusty roads. I want the cars, trousers, hairstyles and shoes from that decade. That’s the era of true Hindi cinema.”
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Although Loins Of Punjab Presents, ahead of its times as it was, did not do great business at the Indian box office, Manish had lots of offers in Mumbai. “But most producers offered me films without seeing Loins Of Punjab…. I found that peculiar. I’m now in Mumbai and looking forward to making my very filmy flick from Bollywood. Of course, it’ll be in Hindi.”
The last time he got in touch was to send us DVDs of Loins Of Punjab Presents. “You were so supportive. You loved my film. I won’t disappoint you the next time.”
The next time never happened. This is as good a time as any to return to The Loins Of Punjab Presents. Writer-director Manish Acharya’s 90-minute film leaves you with enough characters to populate two big-budget Karan Johar spectacles. Broadly assertive Indians swarm the posh hotel that populates the music contestants on stage of every age and rage.
Writer-director Manish Acharya had recently shifted base from the US to Mumbai and felt far more at home here, except when strangers walked up to him and wondered why he had misspelt the leonine word in the title of his movie Loins of Punjab Presents.
Manish explained: "Actually the title is a homage to my love for Bollywood conventions. Yesteryear villain Ajit was known to pronounce ‘lion’ as ‘loin’. An elderly Punjabi gent actually asked me, 'I hope you know there are two meanings to the title.' But seriously, I must be the only filmmaker in the world to have used the L word in my title and be proud of it."
Manish's pride melts in his rather unguarded appreciation of his leading lady. "It was Ayesha Dharker who suggested that I sign Shabana Azmi for the role of Mrs. Rrita Kapoor. Please don't miss the two 'r's. I wanted to take a dig at the Indian film industry's fascination with numerology. If you see the film once you'll miss the two 'r's in Shabana's character's name. There are many such references in the film that I put in for people to go for a repeat viewing."
Returning to how he signed Shabana, Manish said: "I was hesitant. Would she do a comedy, and that too with a first-time director? When I met Shabana in Mumbai she was receptive and open to the idea. I've become her huge fan and want her to be in all my films. For me, those filmmakers who don't have a crush on Shabana don't exist."
About Shabana being known as a serious dramatic actress with a penchant for histrionics, Manish clarified: "This isn't a comedy in any obvious way. None of the characters in the plot find their own actions funny. It's like Charlie Chaplin eating a shoe. We found it funny. But to Chaplin, it was a deeply tragic moment. To me, comedy is what Chaplin or Woody Allen or nearer home Hrishikesh Mukherjee did. No fancy camera movements, no trolley shots, just a straightforward narration."
In fact, Manish chose the crew for his first film on the basis of how each member empathised with the plot and characters. "And to carry the authenticity to the outer limit, I've got every actress who participates in the singing contest to speak English in her own authentic accent. Shabana speaks in an Oxonian-St. Stephens accent. The ladies also sing a song each in their own voices. I didn't want to have artificial recording-room voices," said the young filmmaker who now lives in Mumbai with his wife and two sons.
Remembering his first shoot with Shabana, Manish said: "I told her at the outset that the convention of actors watching themselves on the monitor after every shot won't be followed on my sets. I find it distracting. On the first day of shooting, she did go to the monitor, and I commented that I'd have to let all the other members of the cast take a peek at the monitor. After that, Shabana never returned to the monitor. I started the film by having a crush on Shabana, the actress. I finished admiring the human being."
Within half an hour of theLoins Of Punjab Presents you warm up to these naively ambitious characters: the chic socialite (Shabana Azmi) whose raga-rich guru teaches her to sing ‘Chura liya hai tumne” sexily, the 17-year old singing prodigy(Ishitta Sharrma) of a stifling Gujarati family(a chaotic cosmos of dhoklas and pornography), the earnest but talent-less Bollywood-fixated bimbo(Seema Rahmani, perfectly cast), the Bollywood-Bachchan fanatic (played with don’t-take-me-seriously gusto by the director Manish Acharya himself), the belligerent gay Bhangra-rap duo walking hand-in-hand with aggressive amorousness across the hotel lobby staring down all the disapproving stares. They all gather together in a hilarious huddle of NRI eccentricities, Bollywood norms and Hindi songs, belted out in voices that often belong to the bathroom.
Given the severest of playing-time limitations, every character still brings to his or her role a delectable participative spirit. Jameel Khan's evil-eyed, boorish and vulgar performance as the show's organiser stands out.
Loins Of Punjab Presents remains a titter treat. So funny to see these sad sacks striving to win on a reality show. The circus on these shows goes on. Manish is not with us to laugh.