http://ibnlive.in.com/news/id-love-to-make-another-film-in-india-danny-boyle/84728-8-single.html
For Slumdog Millionaire the India release is a homecoming, the film weaves in
all the elements of a Hindi film to all the elements of the life in Mumbai. The
result is a cross-cultural cocktail, which has taken the world by storm. For
director Danny Boyle a self-confessed city junkie, Slumdog is an ode to both
the resilience and the unlimited possibilities of the city. In an interview
with CNN-IBN the director spoke about the experience of shooting in Mumbai, the
film’s success and the 10 Oscar nominations that its received.
Anuradha SenGupta: The movie starts with a question, where the protagonist is
on the verge of winning Who Wants to be a Millionaire? The question is has he
cheated, is he plain lucky, is he a genius, or is it written. Why has Slumdog
Millionaire seen this kind of incredible international affection and acclaim
which one of the options would you pick?
Danny Boyle: It’s incredible, the mystery of the way it’s taken off the way it
has. It’s a tribute to everybody who’s made it and his or her love, devotion,
hard work and graft that has gone into it. I’ve done films before and have had
that kind of dedication, hard work and graft but there’s something extra, some
extra spice added somewhere that went into it and it just makes it flower in
its right.
Anuradha SenGupta: So the option you’re picking is written?
Danny Boyle: I’ve grown to understand destiny a little bit more and value it
really. I don’t fully understand it. I don’t think anyone from the West really
can, where we view it as a charming thing or a cute thing. But I’d say there’s
something much more profound.
Anuradha SenGupta: Even in the West, as a filmmaker I would believe that you
would be a little more conscience. Because Slumdog Millionaire almost didn’t
see a theatrical release?
Danny Boyle: That is one of places where the process was accused of destiny. It
looked like the film was only going to come out on DVD only because the
distributor in America closed down. What is extraordinary is that they passed
it with great grace to the other distributor. They are also the people who are
brilliant, who have grown this small film slowly. You benefit from a disaster,
as not being released is a disaster for the film. We were lucky to get Anil
Kapoor for the film and it’s only now I realise how lucky we were to get Anil
and how much we have benefited from his presence in the film. It may suggest it
to KBC but he also lifts it away from it as well.
Anuradha SenGupta: I’m interested in the way you’re reacting to the fact that
the film was a slow starter in the US and UK and then it picked up momentum,
but in India it’s being treated like a really big film?
Danny Boyle: It started very small in the US, but because of the work they’d
done which culminated the Golden Globes, which meant that any subsequent
release like the one in UK and the one in India could be much bigger. Because
there is a built in media attention one is guaranteed, so that helped it. I’m
absolutely delighted that it’s being released quite wide here; I’d love as many
people get to see it. Although I think people might find the beginning of the
film very tough, it’s the heart of the film, which has enormous affection.
Anuradha SenGupta: It’s very important for you to make this point isn’t it,
because there are and will be some people who will be touchy about the picture
of India that is portrayed in the film?
Danny Boyle: I had the privilege of making the film in India and we made the
best we could. I tried to include as much of the city as possible. It’s also a
privilege to accept what people say about the film in the end. One must not
fight it, because as a filmmaker I’ve had the privilege of making the film. And
then it’s the people’s chance to say what they like about the film. I think
when people see the film, the spirit they get from the end of the film will
transcend any difficulties they’ve had with it. When you’ve worked in the
slums, what you learn from it is, you wanted it to come out.
They are not places of abject suffering, they may look poor to a Western
audience but actually they are breathtakingly resilient places. And if we all
live as resourcefully as they live given how little they’ve got, the world will
actually be a little place in the sense of community and sense of self-support
that they give which was one of the big surprises to me. There are people in
the West stressing over the poverty and it’s true there isn’t enough
infrastructure but as a filmmaker I found the experience exhilarating. The
energy of the places and the sense of pride and optimism in limited
circumstances were exhilarating.
Anuradha SenGupta: Having lived in Mumbai all my life, when I saw the film I
didn’t feel it’s been made with an external gaze. You’ve captured the beauty
and ugliness of the city which everyone is familiar with. How did you get that
point of view?
Danny Boyle: It’s because of the people I worked with. I hired a lot of very
good people from the city to work with. Three people in particular, Loveleen
Tandon who was originally the casting director and who we effectively made the
co-director of the film. Also my first assistant director Raja Chari who’s
liven in Mumbai his whole life and knew how to film here. I wanted to film here
and he made it possible. The crew helped us beyond the call of duty.
There’s some advantage to being an outsider sometimes, because a local may take
the city for granted. I love cities and this is the maximum city they say.
There is so much life in it just vibrating in front of you. For a director that
is heaven, A local may not take their city to be heaven but to a director it
is. Because you have so much drama, stories and life everywhere.
Anuradha SenGupta: There have been Hindi filmmakers like Ram Gopal Varma who
have showcased the city exactly the way it’s meant to be. It’s just that a
worldwide audience hasn’t seen their movies, but you’ve managed to bridge that
gap?
Danny Boyle: I’ve been trying to promote Company and Anurag Kashyap’s film
Black Friday because these are wonderful films, which will appeal directly to
Westerners.
Anuradha SenGupta: You had said somewhere that being a filmmaker is as much
about making compromises as it’s about not making compromises. Amplify this
statement in the context of shooting in a city like Mumbai?
Danny Boyle: You realise very quickly, that you’re not going to be able to work
the way you do. I thought we’d waste our money if we do it in the city and will
also avoid the essence of the city in a way. There is something extraordinary
about the city which isn’t controlled . And it’s the free movement of people
everywhere we tried to capture that by going with the flow of the city.
You do have to compromise on the classical nature of filmmaking; the benefit
you get in the end is far away from those compromises because you get a sense
of the city. It’s a strange thing because you can never quite get it.
Anuradha SenGupta: What is the one thing or the several things that you didn’t
compromise in the context of Slumdog Millionaire?
Danny Boyle: I didn’t compromise anything else; I deliberately didn’t exclude
anything and tried not to be taste regulator. What is extraordinary about the
city is its constant clashing together. There are these extremes that you see,
some wonderful and some disturbing and I’ve tried to include everything. And
then you hope in the end that people find it satisfying and clearly they do.
They feel like they’ve been on a real journey and this character has been on a
real adversity. He’s not an easy hero; he’s overcome his background and what
everybody thought of him, television and money, which doesn’t become his god.
He sits there at the station in the end and you can see he’s isn’t really
bothered about the money. Because what matters to him is the girl and finally
and thankfully she turns up.
Anuradha SenGupta: Was it a given that you would pick A R Rahman, because he is
someone who picked the song for the Inside Man?
Danny Boyle: I remember hearing Chaiya Chaiya at the end of Inside Man. I
always stay for the credits and when I heard it at the end of the Inside Man, I
loved it. When I came here I rang him up, and he was wonderful. He doesn’t talk
very much which I love about him because his music talks. I remember showing
him apart of the film and he said he liked it. He did a wonderful job and I was
so proud when he won the Golden Globe because I knew what it meant here for him
to be acknowledged by Hollywood.
Anuradha SenGupta: We see him as a national treasure and his Golden Globe win
was the ultimate as far as the industry is concerned?
Danny Boyle: I don’t know about that. In terms of Hollywood and Bollywood,
these are huge tech tonic plates of filmmaking in the world. It’s wonderful to
see one say you’ve got the greatest composer in the world.
Anuradha SenGupta: In India we use this word called Jugaad, which means things
simply just get done. So any instances of Jugaad while shooting of Slumdog
Millionaire?
Danny Boyle: I’m sure there were plenty of them. Thankfully we had this
extraordinary company called Indiatech productions by these guys who we called
the three musketeers who kept all the issues away from me. Everyday was
exhilarating; I used to think what are we going to face today, and I used to
think when we do hit problems do not just accept them. It’s a question of
trust, which taught me a lot watching these guys.
Anuradha SenGupta: You’re not ready to live in Mumbai isn’t it?
Danny Boyle: I find it very easy to get lost in. I would get lost in it.
Anuradha SenGupta: Trainspotting made the world take notice of you. In 2004 you
made Millions which not many have heard of. So what are the kind of movies you
make?
Danny Boyle: What I try to do each time is that I try to start as naively and
innocently as possible on a subject and that is why I tend to genre hop.
Because the danger of being a filmmaker is you learn how to do it which isn’t
really a good thing to telling a story sometimes. Each time I try to do
something very different. I try to start at the bottom so you learn as we make
the film as you go along. And then it becomes a real journey. In a way I was at
school here learning how to make a film. And I think that’s a wonderful place
to be. But the thing is it’s got a wide-eyed wonder about it and that’s what
love about cinema.
Anuradha SenGupta: When you read Simon’s script what made you decide on making
the film, given that it would be quite a challenge?
Danny Boyle: It’s like a stray dog picks you. You get chosen by a film, it
happened to me withTrainspotting when I read it I knew I was going to make that
film. So there’s something organic that you have to trust going on with your
instincts. You can’t quit rationalise. But if you want to look it rationally I
would say Simon’s impression of the city in the first 15 pages is what enticed
me.
Anuradha SenGupta: As a filmmaker how do you stay focussed and not get involved
with the reality of the context you are shooting?
Danny Boyle: To be honest, all filmmakers are magpies. We take bits of people’s
lives and use it in our stories. Sometimes it’s more morally debatable and you
do question you decisions. But also nothing should be excluded from films and
so the story should happen everywhere. I’m a great believer in the underdog, in
the people who apparently don’t have much to offer. I come from a very simple
background and so my heart is really in that story.
Anuradha SenGupta: So as a filmmaker you don’t feel exploitative instead you’re
optimistic that the films and the stories you tell will be engendering more
compassion, understanding and hope?
Danny Boyle: I believe so and I don’t expect everybody to believe that. And I
can understand people thinking that filmmakers to exploit where they come from.
I think you have to maintain some kind of responsibility. You can’t go directly
into people’s lives, like the two kids in the film, we’ve put them in school
and are trying to keep them in schools till they are 16. Because in five years
time the film will be history but their lives go on, And I want them to have
gained something from the film.
Anuradha SenGupta: What is this incredible success you’re seeing with this
film. How is that going to change things for you?
Danny Boyle: I know what I’m best at which is working on this kind of scale of
film. Though in the West it’s quite a limited project but those are the kind of
films I like to make. I like to get a group of people around me and I try to
inspire them to make the film as big as possible. To make it look like $100
million and those are the kind of films that I’m better at and what I’m not
good at is making a $100 million film look like $105 million. So I’ll tend to
stay in this kind of arena really.
Anuradha SenGupta: Will the $100 million films come knocking on your door? How
does it work?
Danny Boyle: They definitely do that, but I don’t live in Los Angeles, I live
in London and I’m very delighted to live there. It keeps me away from some of
the daily pressures people face in the middle of the industry there. I’d love
to make another film in India and I’d love to make a thriller in India. I’m not
just saying that I think it’s an amazing city for a thriller. I’ve only crossed
my fingers about the Oscars because it’s an extraordinary thing to get 10
nominations. It’s also a finale to the journey of making this film.
