Vanity Fare

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

The concept of ego projects or,“self-made projects” isn’t new in India. The last couple of 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 cast himself as the protagonist. Then came singer Vivek Sudarshan,who first launched his debut music album iVivek and then a film inspired by the album titled Impatient Vivek.

While most aspirants think that they are cut out for all aspects of filmmaking,a few do admit that it was lack of faith in them by established actors and directors 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 Akshay Kumar or Sanjay Dutt to work in it but everybody refused because they probably thought that I couldn’t make a good film. I had to cast myself,” explains Kamaal. The film sank without a trace.

Sudarshan,however,feels that destiny made him a part of the film. He had just cut his debut album iVivek,whose songs were to be used in an upcoming film called Impatient Vivek. When the director couldn’t find a suitable actor for the lead role,he approached Sudarshan. “It is about are group of boys from a small town who talk and behave in a typical manner. My director 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 Naseer Khan’s 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 all wanted to cast an A-list actor. So I realised that the script had a lot of potential and it would do good to my career,” he says. Neither is Sudarshan one to give up so easily. He says that he has to create a niche like Manoj Bajpayee and Irrfan Khan. “I have realised that there are certain kind of roles that suit me best. Henceforth,I will only take up those,” he says.

Of course,as promotions become an important part of filmmaking,the debutants leave no stone unturned to garner publicity. Nagpal,for instance,invited the entire film industry and media to her film’s wrap-up party. Though the heavyweights were absent,the party did boast 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. Of course,he will play the lead and also direct and produce these.