Jalsa , Mumbai Sept 13 , 2011 Tue 11 : 53 PM
As another day passes on the set of ‘Department’ a certain comfort begins to engulf you. You now seem to enjoy the experience, the fear of incompetence, the apprehensions of the first day seem to fade away, and primarily because the director gives a reassuring call by the end of last night.
There are times though when it becomes inevitable for the actor to assess his work himself. I have often wondered which is more correct - the actor or the director in his take on the take. Professionally we always want to give the credit of discipline to the ‘captain of the ship’. But there are indeed moments when clashes of difference do take place. I would avoid that at all costs. I would have all disagreements or points of conflict with the ‘captain’ before landing up on set. Once there, its the directors call. Unless of course there is such a great level of understanding between the two that mutual discussions on set could result beneficial to both. I would argue if I felt utterly uncomfortable with something that I was being asked to do, and I have been very fortunate that those that I have worked with have given me that liberty to express.
Some of the suggestions have worked wonderfully well. The impromptu attitude in front of the mirror in ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’, the idea of dressing up in drag for the ‘mere angane’ number in Lawaris .. song situations and their tunes, the entire Agnipath attitude and style of speaking - something that I suggested onset for the very first shot on the very first day of shoot… and some more. But they have all been not imposed, they have been mutually agreed upon and then and only then executed. And there shall be many such incidents in the lives of artists that shall remain unknown and shall eventually get buried in the overall impact of the film. There is no desire I think or an inclination for the documentation of such events in our system. It is so in the West, particularly in the USA. It could be something to do with the fact that they are the youngest nation around, and therefore have had the desire and the need to be documenting all that the country has been through in as much detail as possible. I am certain each country has such systems in place, its just that perhaps there is no particular access to them. Or maybe there is and we in our ignorance have never desired to seek them !!
I believe the whole business of documentation, especially in our film industry has been completely missing. It is a shame that such archival works that would give all students and professionals of the craft a dedicated lesson in such mechanics, is sadly not readily available. In this age when storage or saving an account is done and accomplished by the push of a button, we are still hesitant to record for posterity.
I try and have been trying for some years now to document some of my events that appear on newspaper and in film and still photography through personal means. There are agencies and company’s that take on this task of filing all the news all over the world for you, and many contribute to such system. But I do not know why, I find that doing this job singlehandedly and personally, is a different exercise altogether. The intensity and personal approval of what needs to be kept and what not, has more meaning for me when I mark and cut and paste myself. Or I photograph personally. It is much like many asking me whether my entire team of people that run my Blog stay up as late as I do to type and download and post pictures and articles for me. Ridiculous ! There is the satisfaction of doing all this with my own hands and that joy and satisfaction is irreplaceable ! With age I know matters shall slow down, but so long as the going is good … the going is good !!
The joy of doing it on your own has its great merits. The impersonal nature when assistance takes over is and has never been accepted by me and never shall ..
And so another post another day comes to an end … personally designed and executed by yours truly ..
Amitabh Bachchan
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