Stargazing

However,this bent towards glamour is probably not an aberration. Many filmmakers who,like Bhardwaj,had a modest beginning,are seeking out big-ticket actors for future projects. Imtiaz Ali,who started out with Abhay Deol for his debut Socha Na Tha,has since worked with Saif Ali Khan in Love Aaj Kal and Ranbir Kapoor in the forthcoming Rockstar. Reema Kagti has graduated from Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd with an ensemble cast to Aamir Khan for Dhuaan. Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK started out with 99 with Kunal Khemu and then made Shor In The City with Tusshar Kapoor and Sendhil

Ramamurthy. Their next,a zombie comedy,has reportedly impressed Saif Ali Khan. Even Anurag Kashyap has confessed

to looking for a “big star” for his dream project Bombay Velvet.

“Maybe it is the very fact that Vishal’s critically acclaimed films could never reach out to the masses because they didn’t have popular names on the cast like Shah Rukh Khan or Priyanka Chopra,” says Nishikant Kamat,who directed the acclaimed Marathi film Dombivali Fast before making Mumbai Meri Jaan and now Force with John Abraham. “A star ensures pre-release curiosity and footfall on the opening weekend.”

Director Raj Kumar Gupta,whose Aamir with then-TV actor Rajeev Khandelwal as the protagonist was a sleeper hit,further explains the phenomenon. It isn’t

always the filmmaker who goes seeking a star. “We have heard ample stories of well-known

filmmakers with strong scripts

not getting financing because

producers and distributors consider them too risky.” In such cases,it’s mostly the production house that demands and even brings stars on board to make it easier to recover the cost.

However,according to Dibakar Banerjee,stars aren’t always forced on them by the producers. “A star on board means a higher budget,which ensures better fees for the entire crew. Besides,the large section of audience,which goes to the theatres to watch its favourite actor on screen,will buy an averagely written and directed film,thus taking the pressure off the others.”

Cinema is a larger-than-life medium. And Anurag Kashyap argues that not every film can be made on a meagre budget. “It isn’t always about getting a name on board. Sometimes,an actor may suit a script better. Bombay Velvet is a project that will recreate the Bombay of yesteryears. For such a treatment to look convincing,one also needs an actor who can push the envelope in that direction,” he explains. Gupta seconds Kashyap. “For the role of the journalist in No One Killed Jessica,I needed an actor whom the audience could connect with. Her ability to drive a nationwide movement would then seem more convincing,” Gupta says. However,he adds that sometimes,for filmmakers —whatever be their sensibilities—the star-hunt also depends on the cinema they grew up watching. “Most of us grew up on masala Bollywood films with Amitabh Bachchan as the ‘hero’. The need to work with a star at least once or twice is only natural,” he adds.

Banerjee,said to be working with Akshay Kumar in one of his untitled upcoming films,takes Gupta’s point forward. “Sometimes,it’s a creative lure that makes alternative directors work with stars,” says the director of Love Sex Aur Dhokha. “There are times you are tired of watching a star in a defined space and may want to reinvent them and the genre. I would work with a star

for that reason.”