6 min readMay 30, 2014 03:00 AM IST
Upendra, who is mostly seen in off-beat films, plays Kadarbhai of Amanullah Chawl
Shutter ka taala jisne hain khola; Poochche toh tu usko phod de, Apun ke naam pe dedena kaan pe; Poochche toh phir usko phod de
This is the song that was being canned at Surve Farm in Panvel outside Mumbai by Sanjay Jadhav for his next, ‘Pyar Vali Love Story’. We enter the set that resembles two chawls, Amanullah Chawl and Ganesh Nagar and a song-dance sequence was being canned inside Ganesh Nagar with Upendra Limaye, Urmila Kanetkar Kothare and Sameer Dharmadhikari dancing with full gusto. Jadhav says Upendra plays a Muslim and Sameer a Hindu; they are best of friends and are the bhais of their respective mohallahs. The song, that introduces them in the film, establishes their rowdiness and their hold in the area, he says, adding that the film is a love story set against the 1992 riots.
Upendra, who is mostly seen in off-beat films, plays Kadarbhai of Amanullah Chawl. Looking the part in a printed shirt, he says “Kadarbhai loves to solve people’s problems.” Explaining the scene, he says that after resolving a serious situation wherein the houses and shops in the vicinity had been asked to shut, the members of both the chawls rejoice through this song. Sameer joins in, “I play Prasad Bandekar, a garage owner from Ganesh Nagar. Swapnil Joshi plays my younger brother. Prasad is also the area ka bhai, a protector. Both he and Kader are close friends. As for this song, I call it an item number because I have never done tapori kind of roles earlier. This is an experience for me.” As the shot is okayed, Urmila moves under a shade as the heat is quite oppressive. Dressed in a bright red and blue saree with two long braided plaits, the actress explains her role. “Nandini is an extrovert, who looks very simple, but everyone is scared of her as she abuses a lot. This song, which is my entry into the film, basically establishes the fact that Hindus and Muslims share a cordial relationship and treat each other like brothers and sisters.”
Jadhav takes us on a tour of the set and proudly introduces his art director Satish Chipkar who, he says, had just three and a half days to create the entire set after Jadhav contacted him. Beaming, Chipkar says, “Since I myself lived in a chawl during the ’90s, I am familiar with the set up. Yet I did look up the BDD chawls in Worli. I hung plants in Dalda ka dabba to resemble those days. Two chawls, a dargah, mandir, shops, market area, properties, practically everything had to be built and painted in a short span. I am glad Jadhav got what he wanted.” The director, however, rues that sudden gusty wind and dust storm two days earlier almost ruined the sets. “Chipkar created magic, but we lost many properties. Curtains and sheds just blew away,” he says.
A little distance there is a group busy singing away. As I walk towards them, I notice that it is the music composer and singers having a blast. Explaining their part in the song, composer Pankaj says that since the film is set in 1992, there is a rawness to it. “It is about bhaigiri, it’s catchy and fast-paced. Amit sir taught me to sing it,” says Rohit Raut, winner of Saregama Little Champs who has rendered the song along with Amitraj. He laughingly saying, “Pankaj helped us with the pronunciation. Rohit made me nervous as I am a composer not singer. Rohit ne sambhal liya.”
As there is a call for lunch break, we find choreographer Umesh Jadhav (UJ) in an animated discussion with his team. Handing over the baton to his assistant, he says that this would be his fifth film with Sanjay. “This song emphasises the chemistry and bonding of Sameer and Upendra. The chawl residents come down to celebrate as the shops which were shut are opened by the two. There is peace in the area and hence they break into a song. Since it is a tapori song, I just gave Sameer and Upendra some tapori steps. Though it is outside their comfort zone, they are leaving no stone unturned to give it their best shot,” says UJ. The trust and confidence is obvious as UJ has been given a freehand by the director who is busy canning different scenes on the other side of the set.
It is a market area with fish baskets lying around and an agitated Sai Tamhankar, in a purple and yellow salwar kameez, is seen walking briskly as Swapnil Joshi, wearing a bright red T-shirt comes from behind and stops her. Anger evident on his face, he demands to know why she is ignoring him and without answering him, she turns away only to find an inspector standing in front of her. The shot is okayed after two takes.
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Refreshing her make-up, Sai says, “I play Alia Khan, a happy-go-lucky Muslim girl. We are shooting near Amanullah chawl as that’s where my house is situated. I enjoy working with the Duniyadari team again as everyone knows each other’s strengths and weaknesses.” Swapnil,who has lost oodles of weight says, “I play Amar, a Hindu boy. Because of some compulsions, Alia doesn’t want to profess her love for Amar. As he stops her at the market area, his brother (Sameer) and police inspector (Chinmay Mandlekar) come into the picture.” Dressed in an inspector’s uniform, Mandlekar explains his role, “Mine is a brief but equally important role. I also love Alia and this is the scene where I see the two of them together for the first time and I feel jealous.”
As the next scene has been set up, the actors are called for the shot. There is sudden activity everywhere as two scenes are being shot simultaneously.
Sanjay Jadhav and his crew get back to shooting ignoring the sweltering heat as we take their leave.
Upendra, who is mostly seen in off-beat films, plays Kadarbhai of Amanullah Chawl