Filming Fanny

Deepika Padukone: Everybody has a take on what everyone else should be like, what society should be like. I think it’s a very individualistic thing. I think at the end of the day you should live your life the way you want to and do what makes you happy. And I think that’s the way Homi has actually lived his life.
People can make fun of him saying his second film, Cocktail came seven years after Being Cyrus, and that he takes off for snow-boarding or scuba diving. But the important point is that he is happy doing what he wants. He calls us workaholics, but that is what makes us happy. We don’t have to live his life and he doesn’t want to live ours.
I won’t talk about his characters specifically, but his films are very relatable even though they might look cool and quirky. And the way he tells his story is very different. I can guarantee if any other film-maker had made Finding Fanny he would have focussed on Arjun and my love story. His sensibility is very different from what I have seen before and that’s what makes his films stand apart.

Deepika, if not Angie which other role in the film would you have liked to play?

DP: If given a chance I would like to play Angie all over again, but just for the bum, I would not mind playing Rosie (Dimple Kapadia) (laughs).

Arjun what about you? Is there any character you would have loved to play? Maybe Pankaj Kapur’s role of the sardonic Don Pedro?

AK: Don Pedro plays more to the gallery and will get a more visible reaction. But I really like the bumbling, fumbling Ferdie (Naseeruddin Shah) as well. There’s a certain innocence in a man of that age, which is very difficult to pull through after doing 200 odd films, and he does that with aplomb. Pedro is great and so is Ferdie. I can’t pick and choose as I think both have their good points. But I am filmy by nature, and I would say Pedro because that’s a more physically performed character.

Deepika, last year you did four commercial films which were all extremely successful. What attracted you to Finding Fanny, ostensibly a multiplex movie?

DP: It comes from the audience choosing what kind of films they want to watch and which they don’t. But as an actor I don’t want to categorise the films I do, because the passion, hard work and effort I put in a film is the same, be it a Ram Leela, Chennai Express or Finding Fanny. Coming to why I did Finding Fanny, it was pure instinct. When a story is being narrated to me I do it if I like it, otherwise I don’t accept it. And once I do it, my convictions and efforts are the same. I don’t categorise the films I do, but I treat every film equally. And then Finding Fanny is being promoted like all my other films.

AK: I too disagree with this notion that a film is not for the masses or it is for them. You don’t select movies on the basis of mass and class. You just like the story and that’s why you do it.

DP: If I like a story that my director wants to tell, I would like to be a part of that journey. It may appeal to a certain section and may not appeal to another. But we always hope that it appeals universally. But as an artiste I can’t restrict myself saying this is not massy so I am not doing it. I don’t believe in that. I think that our audience is also ready for so much more, then why do we limit what they can view and enjoy. As film-makers what can we do is to believe in the films we make and go up there and make them confidently. Put in our best and leave the rest to the audience.

Both Arjun and you worked with some of the finest actors of Hindi cinema in Finding Fanny. What did you learn from them?

AK: That’s one question we have been asked from day one and am sure we will be asked this question several times in the future too. I can speak on behalf of both Deepika and me, that it was nice to know them beyond the actors and stalwarts that they are. They don’t flaunt their experience, they don’t come on the sets and ask you to pull up your socks or refuse to do certain things. That’s why I think, they are so successful. They know their craft well. If they are uncomfortable they won’t show it, and neither do they impose their style on you. We were all on an equal footing. Finding Fanny is a true ensemble cast. We never felt that they were trying to eat into our roles or outdo us. And then getting to know them personally was an amazing experience. Otherwise who will get the chance to sit and talk with Dimple Kapadia about life? I remember, Naseeruddin Shah would be sitting and suddenly get up to give his shot and he would do it in one take!

DP: I remember Dimple Kapadi sitting with me and chatting about paintings, interiors, candles and then the next moment, she’s wearing this bum and playing Rosie. Actually a large part comes from Homi. At the script level itself he made us feel that it’s not one person’s journey and that the film belongs to everyone. He didn’t treat anyone differently and he spoke to us in the same way and directed us in the same way too.

AK: It was like ‘hey Arjun’ or ‘hey Pankaj’ Everyone was treated equally, which simplified things for the actors.

What has the response to the film been like?

AK: It is a unique film and the critics have been very fair and reacted positively. And if the young audience appreciates, it will be very encouraging for other film-makers to make more such films and actors to act in them.

‘I am fascinated by human behaviour’

Homi Adajania on creating quirky characters in Finding Fanny and the response to the film

What has the response to Finding Fanny been?

There have been people who said ‘it’s nice’ or ‘it’s sweet’ or ‘you are mad Homi’, which means that they really don’t like it much. But those have only been very few, as the majority have loved it. What I found out was that kids have loved it, which means they have got all the nuances right. If you are cool and smart you will love the film.

Amongst all the crusty characters in Finding Fanny, would you agree that Deepika is the only one who’s like a ray of sunshine?

Actually Deepika is the ray of sunshine in our lives! But in the film she is as crusty and outrageous as the others, and her character has the same mode of dysfunction, or layers as the others, except that it’s played on a different pitch. You’ll feel she is very quiet, and in her own world, but she has got this mischievous streak. And the people who look at the film in depth will enjoy it. Actually you will realise she is the manipulator of the whole film and of the narrative and doing things which will make you feel she’s there. Like she slaps Savio (Arjun Kapoor) for kissing her, then later she’s making out with him.

Any particular reason why do you like to create these quirky characters in your films?

I feel we all have these quirky characteristics in us, it is just that we put up a facade and don’t show them. My characters have a dysfunctional trait which I like to make a predominant trademark, but there are reasons for that. It’s not that just for the heck of it, and if I made Arjun this repressed and inexpressive character, it’s not because he would look cool. There was a reason why he looks and behaves the way he does. I am very fascinated by human beaviour and feel people are all very f*** up. It’s just that the majority dictates what ‘normal’ is and if that’s the case, then why is the world so abnormal? It should not be. So obviously there is a huge push and pull. I like to look at these things and I don’t consider them as quirky. Instead I like to explore them and play up in my characters, which I find is a nice fascinating facet of human behaviour.

What made you give Dimple the unusually huge backside?

Oh God! There are so many women who have such big backsides. It’s a very specific characteristic where they get pear shaped around the bum as they age!

— Compiled and edited by Geety Sahgal

Photos by Prakash Yeram