When Karan Johar Yelled, ‘Are You Mad?’

‘When Bad Newz was given to me to direct, the first thing I did was go back to my childhood.’
‘It’s an ode to Hindi cinema.’

IMAGE: Tripti Dimri and Vicky Kaushal in Bad Newz.

Anand Tiwari broke out as an endearing Bunny, the third wheel of the hilarious troika in Director Raj and DK’s zombie comedy Go Goa Gone.

He went on to star in Finding Fanny, Charlie Kay Chakkar Mein, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!, Chhapaak and Nail Polish.

But acting was only part of his plan, as Anand simultaneously worked as director and helmed OTT projects like the popular Love Per Square Foot, Maja Ma and Bandish Bandits.

Making his leap to the big screen with Big Newz, Anand says his vision was always to become a film-maker.

Starring Vicky Kaushal, Tripti Dimri and Ammy Virk, the film is a creative marriage between Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions and Leo Media Collective, a production company owned by Anand and his business partner, Amritpal Singh Bindra.

“Nobody would trust me to direct because I was largely acting. I had no film school degree, no real experience of assisting directors. Why would anybody back this guy who is roaming around with a script?” he shares with Mayur Sanap/Rediff.com.

Kunal Kemmu directed Madgaon Express. You are coming up with this film and Vir Das is directing Happy Patel. Did the Go Goa Gone trio make a pact about turning to direction?

(Laughs) It’s a very funny question.

I met Raj and DK (Director duo of Go Goa Gone) a few months ago at the Amazon event and told them that look, so many directors have come out of that one set!

Besides Kunal, Vir and me, Amar Kaushik (director, Stree, Bala, Bhediya) was the chief AD (assistant director) on that film.

Kemmu and Vir are very creative minds. Vir has been running Weirdass Comedy for the longest time. He is the OG English stand-up comic in India.

Kemmu had script ideas from the word go.

Actors backing their subjects as directors is something that is done across all industries. I don’t consider myself in that realm.

I consider myself a director first and then an actor because that’s what I always wanted to do.

Acting is something that ran my kitchen.

For me, personally, I always wanted to become a film-maker.

I started directing in 2015. While I was shooting for Go Goa Gone, Love Per Square Foot was already written.

IMAGE: Anand with Naseeruddin Shah on the sets of Bandish Bandits. Photograph: Kind courtesy Anand Tiwari/Instagram

Have you drawn inspiration from directors you have worked with in the past?

I would shadow Raj and DK, and try to understand how they ran their sets.

I got to assist Sai Paranjpye ma’am for something, a bit for Vikramaditya Motwane, Dibakar Banerjee, Anurag Basu with whom I worked as an actor in Kites. I learnt from all my directors.

Even makers like Homi Adajania and Meghana Gulzar, who, in random conversations, offered me roles.

I took small roles, it didn’t matter to me. I just wanted to be on those sets to understand how different directors operate.

Are you still in touch with Vir and Kunal?

Very much.

I’m happy to say that when they started their journey to direct, they called me excitedly and I told them, ‘F*****s, you don’t know what you are in for. Forget your vanity vans, you are f***ed from here on.’

Pardon my French. (Winks)

Eventually, they called me and realised what a gruelling experience a director has to go through because you really have to champion it.

Both have fantastic minds.

Kunal has made a fantastic film. I read Madgaon Express many years ago, when he had just envisioned it.

I am very much in touch with Vir and what he is making. Let him speak more about it.

How did you get on board to direct Bad Newz?

Somen (Mishra; Creative Head at Dharma Productions) found an article and he got Ishita (Moitra, writer) to write a draft.

Karan sir sent a draft to Amrit (of Leo Media Collective) and me. I read it and thought it was a great concept.

I also googled ‘Heteropaternal Superfecundation’, wondering if this really happens. I discovered it is a true thing.

Then I took Ishita and Karan sir’s permission to add a few things to the script because I feel comedy is personal and one has to vibe with it.

How involved is Karan as a producer once a project is greenlit?

The beauty about Karan Johar is that he trusts you a lot. It’s very spoiling.

Once he sees your vision and has you on board, he wants to see the film eventually. Until then, he’s never interested in being involved in the little things.

Yes, if you want his involvement, he’s there for you.

There’s a funny story.

Amrit and I are ’90s kids. We have seen legends like Amitabh Bachchan and Subhash Ghai giving the muhurat claps on the first day of shooting.

I thought why not get Karan sir to give us a clap?

So we told him that the first clap should be yours and he said, ‘Are you mad? In the history of Dharma, I have never done this!’

We insisted, saying that it would mean the world to us.

Apoorva (Mehta; CEO of Dharma Productions) and he sweetly came and gave us the first clap of this film.

IMAGE: Vicky Kaushal, Tripti Dimri and Ammy Virk in Bad Newz. Photograph: Kind courtesy Anand Tiwari/Instagram

What are the challenging aspects of making a commercial Hindi entertainer?

So many! My biggest challenge was to go back to the cinema lover that you are.

I come from Matunga in (central) Bombay, which is not at all connected to the part of Bombay that is the Hindi film industry.

It’s a different Bombay altogether.

I grew up watching Govinda-David Dhawan films, Anil Kapoor, Shah Rukh Khan… films like Andaz Apna Apna, Dil Hai Ke Maanta Nahin and also Karan Johar’s work.

Later, I got exposed to Hollywood films, world cinema and to films that were more related to the fine arts and the indie world.

When Bad Newz was given to me to direct, the first thing I did was go back to my childhood.

As an audience, I liked watching Simmba, Rocky Aur Rani or a Rajkumar Hirani film. When I see great makers make big commercial films, I enjoy it as an audience.

I went back to those learnings. That’s the kind of tonality I have tried to put in this film.

It’s an ode to Hindi cinema.

The trailer gives you hints of hat-tips and odes to various cinematic jokes. There are many more surprises that I hope you catch in the film.

At the trailer launch of Bad Newz, Tripti talked about opting for acting workshops with you. What was the process like?

I do some amount of workshop with all my actors because I come from theatre.

With Vicky, Tripti and Ammy, we did a lot of readings. Ammy, I knew, was set because he has done comedies in Punjab.

Vicky hadn’t done this kind of commercial comedy. Just like Tripti.

So we made a safe environment for us to try different things and those trials and errors is what has helped them feel comfortable on set.

The thing is, a film set is a very chaotic place. Sometimes a clapper is in the frame or light dada is doing some adjustment or your dress dada is fussing with the costume.

To not get affected by it, your core should be strong.

The censor board reportedly ordered to trim a few intimate scenes…

I don’t know where is this coming from because the film that you will see is the film that the board saw.

We are a U/A film. You can bring your kids with parental guidance.

There are no cuts in the film.

People are reacting negatively to the song remix of Mere Mehboob Mere Sanam by calling it ‘unnecessary’. How do you address such criticism?

If people think the remix is unnecessary, it’s fine. No stress.

Any piece of content you put out will be talked about, that’s the nature of the Internet. I am just happy that people are talking about our film.

This is a fully meta film with thousands of Hindi film references.

The song Mere Mehboob, Mere Sanam has been re-used like that and it just fits into the film. We also got Udit sir (Narayan) to sing it.

Some references you will catch, some you will not.

Gen Z will not understand something, millennials will not understand something.

But I have put all my joys of Hindi cinema into this film.

IMAGE: Anand during his theatre days. Photograph: Kind courtesy Anand Tiwari/Instagram

You said you always wanted to become a director and acting was a path that led there. What inspired this pivot?

I studied advertising as my graduation. I applied to FTII but I failed.

I didn’t have money for private film schools.

I was doing theatre as an actor and really enjoying that.

I started getting ads, and it was running my kitchen.

I got film offers like Aishaand Udaan.

I made short films; they are available to watch on YouTube.

I almost said no to Go Goa Gone and Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!

The vision was always to direct and I had pinned all my hopes on Love Per Square Foot.

IMAGE: Angira Dhar and Vicky Kaushal in Love Per Square Foot. Photograph: Kind courtesy Anand Tiwari/Instagram

How difficult was it to get your first directorial job?

I wrote Love Per Square Foot about seven years before it actually got made. It was a very difficult period.

At that time, nobody would trust me to direct because I was largely acting.

I had no film school degree, no real experience of assisting directors. Why would anybody back this guy who is roaming around with a script?

Most people thought I wanted to act in it.

I got the opportunity of working with Anurag Basu as an AD (on Barfi) and he was the one who pushed me to start making short films. Once I started doing that, it gave me the confidence to direct more.

Bad Newz marks your first theatrical release as director. What’s the joy of seeing your work on the big screen?

It’s still sinking in.

When the trailer was playing at the Raj Mandir in Jaipur or when it gets played at the different places that Vicky, Ammy and Tripti are going, that feeling is crazy.

Amrit and I always wanted to be film-makers.

OTT happened at the same time we started making content and because we were a new company, we did that first. But the dream was always to make big Bollywood films.

With theatrical release comes the Friday pressure. Are you nervous?

I am not dealing with any pressure, Amrit is.

It’s a very easy marriage between Amrit and me, and he takes care of the commercial, logistical and financial hassles.

I focus on the product because if the product lands, those will be taken care of. But he has to do those things so that the product lands.

The marketing has to be right.

The number of screens has to be right.

The reach has to be right.

IMAGE: Team Goa Goa Gone: Raj Nidimoru, Anand Tiwari, Kunal Kemmu, Vir Das and Krishna DK. Photograph: Kind courtesy Anand Tiwari/Instagram

Finally, any update on Go Goa Gone 2?

Please ask Dinu (Dinesh Vijan) and Raj and DK.

Kunal Kemmu and Vir Das are still looking the same but Bunny (Anand’s character in the film) has definitely grayed.

Before Bunny grays more, they should make it.