Exclusive: On the sets of Bhoothnath Returns
Film: Bhoothnath Returns
Producer: Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Renu Ravi Chopra, Abhay Chopra
Director: Nitesh Tiwari
Artists: Amitabh Bachchan, Parth Bhalerao, Boman Irani, Usha Jadhav, Sanjay Mishra
Location: Versova Village, Mumbai
Story: Bhoothnath (Amitabh Bachchan) has to return to the earth. This time, he meets Akhrot (Parth Bhalerao), who lives in Dharavi, Mumbai's famed slums. The two become good friends, but trouble looms in front of them in the form of a corrupt politician (Boman Irani), testing their friendship. According to writer-director Nitesh Tiwari, “The basic plot of Bhoothnath Returns is a wish coming true for the nation. It's also about friendship.”
What's the Scene?
An emotional scene is being shot between Akhrot and his mother (Usha Jadhav). Akhrot knows what's about to happen in the days to come, but he can't tell this to his mother because he knows that she'll stop him. So he's just giving a hint to her. The mother wonders why Akhrot is talking this way.
Usha Jadhav and Parth Bhalerao
The congested lanes of Dharavi, tiny hutments surrounding the lanes, water drums standing in front of the hutments, rooftops overflowing with broken stuff, household items scattered all around, tiny shops... as we pass through all this, it is difficult for us to believe that we are on a set. Wasiq Khan has taken care of the minutest of things while designing the set of Bhoothnath Returns. Producer Abhay Chopra is extremely happy with Wasiq Khan's work, “He has made this set of Dharavi in just 21 days! We were surprised to see his work.” But what surprises us is the fact that even though he is shooting the film in Mumbai, he has chosen to create a set of Dharavi in Versova instead of shooting at the real location of Dharavi. Abhay unravels this puzzle, “We couldn't have shot in Dharavi with Amit Uncle (Amitabh Bachchan). People would have gone crazy.” He goes on to share an experience, “We shot in Dharavi for a day with Boman Irani, and it was terribly tough to control the public. In Versova, we shot one day in a boat with Amit uncle. And such a huge crowd gathered that we had a harrowing time controlling it.” Another reason for creating a set in Versova was that for Amitabh Bachchan traveling from Juhu to Versova was less time-consuming than to Dharavi.
The Dharavi slums set up in Versova
Director, Nitesh Tiwari with family
After looking around the set, we meet Nitesh Tiwari, who is busy preparing to shoot a scene in this bright afternoon with Usha Jadhav and Parth. The room is completely covered with black sheets so that no light can enter the room. Nitesh tells us, “We are shooting a night scene with Parth and his mother, and that's why we have covered the room this way.” Nitesh adds, “It's quite a difficult scene. Initially, we had planned to shoot it on the very first day at the set, but later I rescheduled it because it's a very important scene in the film and its pitching had to be right. I wanted the actors to be comfortable on the set. When you come to a set for the first time, you are a bit awkward. I wanted them to be absolutely comfortable. That's why we are shooting this scene after having completed the rest of the shooting. We have shot many of Akhrot's scenes at his home, and by now he feels absolutely at home here.” Usha and Parth complete the scene in five retakes and come out of the room. Nitesh tells us happily, “Parth is a very mature actor and quickly understand things. Retakes were bound to happen because even though his pitching was correct, I wasn't getting the graph.”
Amitabh Bachchan prepares for his scene with Parth Bhalerao
We meet Usha Jadhav, who has received the National Award for Best Actress. She's playing the role of Akhrot's mother, Meena. This is her first Hindi film. When we question her decision of playing a mother in the very first film, she says, “In the film Dhag (Marathi), for which I got the National Award, I played a mother of two kids. Meena is not very old. If you are married early, you become a mother at an early age. I liked this character and so said yes to do it.” In this films, Usha has most of her scenes with Amitabh Bachchan. Sharing her experience of working with the stalwart, she says, “I'm surprised that he doesn't keep any distance with anyone. He comes and sits with everyone and chats around. Yesterday I, Sanjay Mishra and Bachchan ji were sitting here joking about how his fans get carried away by his image.” Usha tells us about an incident when Big B helped her during a scene, “When I hear his voice for the first time in the film, I get scared and pull Akhrot toward myself. It is a comic scene. Bachchan sir suggested, 'Don't take so much time to pull the child, because you are seeing a ghost.' He enacted the entire scene and showed us how to do it.”
Amitabh Bachchan interacts with Nitesh Tiwari and his kids
Nitesh Tiwari gets busy preparing for the next shot. He first rehearses the scene with Parth and Amitabh Bachchan's duplicate, and then Amitabh is called on the set. A sad Akhrot sits and Bhootnath appears in front of him. The shot is okayed in just two takes, and Big B returns to his vanity van. Nitesh informs us that Mr. Bachchan is not feeling well today, but still he is somehow here for the shooting. He says, “Yesterday he was flying kites here. One day he was playing cricket. Another day we had a shot of a game of carom, and he just sat there playing carom! Sometimes he brings his music collection and even lets us listen to it.”
Amitabh Bachchan, Parth Bhalerao and Sanjay Mishra
Nitesh shares an interesting anecdote, “When I was studying in 10th, I had told a friend in jest that one day I'll make a film with Bachchan sir. I didn't know that it will really happen one day! You won't believe it, but that friend called me up and said, 'See, you had joked with me in the 10th, but now you are making a film with him.'” Bhoothnath was directed by Vivek Sharma, and news was that the sequel too will be made by him. But later Nitesh Tiwari came in. Talking about it, Abhay Chopra says, “Yes, we didn't like Vivek's story. We had tried to make it with him, but we wanted the story to move in a different direction and that was possible only with a different director. Nitesh has given the same dimension to the story.”
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