Filmmaker, translator of Sanskrit erotica, and India's famous "shaved head" Pritish Nandy is committed to making "movies that rock".
The liftman at Pritish Nandy’s office at Nariman Point is happy to take me to the eight floor. “Have you come to apply for a role?” he asks. When I reply in the negative, he tells me, “You should. They make films for young people like you.” I am just a little thrilled at his unintended compliment but more than that, taken aback: It is incredible how Nandy has become known, not just to his multiplex audiences but to the masses too, as a maker of “fresh” films for young minds. The liftman is bang on. Pritish Nandy Communications is indeed in the business of making “Movies that rock”, as their corporate tagline says.
As I make myself comfortable in Nandy’s office and soak in the ambience — antique furniture and paintings by M F Husain and Manjit Bawa — he walks in and apologises for the clutter. “There’s some repair work happening,” he says, pointing to a window that has been boarded-up, “That’s why this place looks a little dishevelled.” Dishevelled or not, this is a plush office that bears no trace of the fact that PNC came into being, in 1993, as a content boutique with paid up equity of just Rs 40,000, mostly taken out of Nandy’s personal savings earned during his stint as a journalist.
Nandy’s website, www.pritishnandy.com, describes him as “India’s most famous shaved head” as well as a “translator of Sanskrit erotica”. But, more than anything else, the Nandy of 2009 is an eager filmmaker who can’t hold his horses for too long. Getting down straight to business, he speaks aloud his intention of releasing as many as 10 films this year. “The multiplex strike had thrown schedules haywire and now every big producer will be making a beeline to release his film,” he points out.
Although Nandy does credit multiplexes with having brought in audiences who appreciate good cinema over mind-numbing comedies that Bollywood used to churn out till some years ago, “that does not mean that they (multiplex owners) can hold us to ransom before the release of every film, since not every film gets a blockbuster opening”, Nandy says, sounding very much the aggrieved filmmaker.
Elaborating on his movies and on how he chooses the subjects for these, Nandy ends up narrating an entire script to me before he realises that he’s been speaking to a reporter! “Please don’t reveal the plot in your article,” he requests, but resumes his role of a storyteller. So, we can’t really tell you about what his next few films are going to be but Nandy promises that they will be worth watching: There’s Ek Tho Chance, directed by Saeed Mirza, The Actor, by son Kushan Nandy, Fatso, by Rajat Kapoor, and 36-24-36, by Meghna Gulzaar.
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Family is important to Nandy, who insists that his movies are for people who want to go to a theatre to de-stress and come out feeling happy. His daughters, Rongita, who joined PNC nine years ago, and Ishita, who joined the company seven years ago, have co-produced some of the company’s most popular films with daddy, including Pyaar Ke Side Effects, Chameli and Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi. These are, incidentally, also films that have bought in the biggest accolades and awards, all of which sit proudly in Nandy’s office. Now, he has roped in mega-star Amitabh Bachchan for his son’s directorial project, The Actor. What happened to his commitment to small-budget movies with no stars? Nandy rises to his own defence: “The protagonist of The Actor had to be an icon, of about 55-60 years. We could not think of anyone beyond Mr Bachchan.”
On the other hand, Nandy agrees that he is finally warming up to big budget films. You can’t miss that in any case — the posters of PNC’s much-hyped Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam, being made on a grand scale, are all over his office. He gushes, “Rituparno Ghosh has done a brilliant job of directing Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra and John Abraham. Wait till you see this ambitious project in the theatres.”
Nandy believes that 2009 could be one of the best years for his company. Already, PNC is sitting pretty with a six-film deal with Los Angeles-based Motion Pixel Corporation to make animation movies based on Bollywood hits. Also, a three-film co-production deal with Hollywood major Sony Pictures will bring in Rs 250 crore to the company’s coffers. The media company has also struck a Rs 18 billion deal to co-produce and co-develop six animation films with DQ Entertainment, Asia’s top animation studio. The PNC film library itself is worth Rs 300 crore and Ernst & Young valued the first 14 PNC films for a global investor at Rs 192 crore.
Nandy smiles as we discuss his brand’s value but politely corrects me: “It’s not just the cash registers at the box office that count at PNC. Our films have stormed 75 of the world’s most prestigious film festivals — Berlin to Pusan, Madrid to Telluride, Tokyo to Florence, Palm Springs and Hamburg.”
He’ll have both the cash as well as the critics.
