Vanity Fare

He isn’t alone. On Saturday,entrepreneur Sachin Joshi who marks his debut as actor and producer with Azaan,unveiled its first look at an allied venue in Cannes. Another filmmaker,Deepkshika Nagpal,who has penned,acted in,produced and directed Yeh Dooriyan,is planning its release in the next few months.

The concept of ego projects or,“self-made projects” isn’t new in India. The last few years have seen many aspiring actors and directors take the plunge and do everything themselves. The trend started with Kamaal Rashid Khan,who notoriously publicised himself as KRK when he announced his film Deshdrohi,in 2008. He had written,directed,produced,even acted in it. Soon after,a blind actor Naseer Khan produced a movie called Shadow,in which he played the protagonist. Then,there was singer Vivek Sudarshan,who first launched his debut music album iVivek and then a film inspired from the album titled Impatient Vivek .

While most aspirants think that they are cut out for all aspects of filmmaking,a few admit that it was because established actors and directors didn’t beleive in them that compelled them to do it alone. “When I first wrote the script of Deshdrohi,all I wanted to do was direct it. I was looking for an Akshay Kumar or a Sanjay Dutt to work in it but everybody refused. I had to cast myself,” explains Kamaal. The film sank without a trace.

Sudarshan,however,had just cut his debut album iVivek,whose songs were to be used in Impatient Vivek. However,when the director couldn’t find a suitable actor for the lead role,he approached Sudarshan. “He thought I could just pull it off,” says Sudarshan,adding that he was very disappointed when the film failed at the box office.

Most ego projects don’t last in the theatres for more than a week. A film buff,Harpreet Singh Chaddha says: “My friends and I decided to watch Shadow at the theatres,just for fun. Four days after its release,they had already stopped running it.”

A Bollywood veteran might advise Goel to cast a well-known name for his first film. But the latter won’t — and for a reason. “When I took my script to producers,they wanted to cast an A-list actor. I realised that the script had potential and it would be good for my career,” he says. Neither is Sudarshan giving up so easily. He plans to create a niche like Manoj Bajpayee and Irrfan.

Of course,the debutants are leaving no stone unturned to garner publicity. When Nagpal’s film wrapped up,the party boasted a flattering guest list.

Kamaal believes that even though his film did not set the box office on fire,it achieved cult status. This has prompted him to launch two more films — Love Story of Trikaal and an untitled venture on the 26/11 attacks.