Odd Couple

However,Bhansali-Prabhudheva is not the only alliance that’s getting attention in the industry. Over the last couple of months,Bollywood’s formed newer alliances when Subhash Ghai signed Priyadarshan and Abbas-Mustan to direct films for his production house. Ekta Kapoor will produce Vishal Bharadwaj’s Dream Sequence and Sajid Khan is working on a revenge thriller script with Shimit Amin of Chak De! India fame. Apart from this,Anurag Kashyap will be boosting the cross-over trend when Danny Boyle produces his next,Bombay Velvet.

With corporates taking over the movie business,a number of people have been setting up production houses. For a while,it was the upcoming directors who were tapping this opportunity. Well-known directors had to make do with producing their own movies or fall back on their old loyalists in the industry. Now,production houses are once again banking on experience. “There has to be a healthy balance of young filmmakers as well as the experienced,” says Ghai. His main reason for signing Priyadarshan and Abbas Mustan for a comedy and crime thriller respectively was to control the budget without compromising on the quality. “When you have been in the industry long enough,you learn to use resources judiciously. But does this mean a possible clash of sensibilities as well? “That is what I am hoping for,” says Khan,who believes that Amin’s feedback will be important in developing a good script. “Arguments are inevitable when two experienced people work on a project. One must bear in mind that each director has his or her strengths. It is getting these strong points together that one must focus on,” says Khan.

This apart,the respect that the directors have for each other is likely to add value to their joint production. For instance,Prabhudheva enjoys the larger-than-life love sagas that Bhansali makes. Still,th e dancing sensation Prabhudheva says that he will stick to action films. “The best part about working with Sanjay is that he understands cinema and gives you the liberty to do your film as you wish to do it. With a producer like him,you know you are in safe hands.”

The same holds true for producers who are looking at bankable names to direct films for their production houses. Little wonder then that Boyle chose Kashyap,who is known for his offbeat movies,and Kapoor inked a deal with Bharadwaj,who is currently among the topnotch directors of the country. Tanuj Garg,CEO of Balaji Motion Pictures,believes it helps in strengthening the credibility of a production house. “Vishal is a name to reckon with in the industry and our association with him will only give our production house a positive direction.”