Filmmaker Manish Gupta’s The Stoneman Murders turned 16 yesterday. Starring Kay Kay Menon, Arbaaz Khan, Rukhsar Rehman and Virendra Saxena, the movie was inspired from the real serial killings that happened in Mumbai (then Bombay) in the 1980s. Gupta looks back at the acclaimed film on its anniversary in an interview with us.
The Stoneman Murders is now not-so-sweet 16
Seems like a lifetime ago. One and a half decades have passed since my debut directorial. The Stoneman Murders released on this day sixteen years ago. This particular day was chosen for the release by producer Bobby Bedi because it was a Friday the 13th!
Is this the Bobby Bedi who produced Bandit Queen?
Yes, working with Bobby Bedi was a dream come true. I was in my early thirties and fresh out of the success of Sarkar (which I wrote) and Darna Zaroori Hai (of which one story I directed). Bobby Bedi had loved my script, and he’d signed me immediately as the director-writer of the film.
The individual producers no longer exist
That’s right. Back then, there used to be individual producers investing their own money to back a director’s vision. Today, to make a Hindi film, you mostly need approval from a studio, which has become a very complicated procedure and therefore disastrous to the creative vision of a director. Sixteen years ago, the scenario was different.
The Stoneman Murders got its due share of marketing
The individual producers back then were the owners of the film and hence put their blood and sweat into the film. Hence, the film was publicized very well, and neon signs showing the ‘Stoneman’ in a hood were put up all over the metros. The film did well in the theatres and over the years, thanks to streaming on OTT platform Amazon Prime, the film has now become a cult classic.
There was a very obtrusive item song that brought rot to the taut
The only regret I have about The Stoneman Murders is that I’d put an ‘item song’ upon the insistence of the producer Bobby Bedi, who opined that it is necessary for the entertainment of the audience. But the opposite happened. The audience in theatres was shocked and disappointed when the item song started. They felt that the item song was completely out-of-place in an otherwise realistic, gritty, edge-of-the-seat thriller film. Even today, when the film is playing on TV, and I happen to see it, I feel like hiding under my bed in embarrassment due to that cringy item song, which I am ashamed of shooting. However, this was a huge learning for me. Thereafter, I decided to stick very strictly to my own vision for a film and not to entertain any inputs from other parties, be it the producer, studio head or actors – because ultimately the onus of the film’s success rests on me.
How did you get the idea to make The Stoneman Murders?
I’d got the idea for The Stoneman Murders when I read an article about a serial killer in the 80s who stalked Bombay, killing pavement dwellers by crushing their heads with a large stone. That time, internet was not so powerful. So, my team and I went to the Times of India archives and dug out old articles about the film, based on which I wrote the film. These same articles are shown in the opening titles of the film. Since the ‘Stoneman’ was never caught and his identity remains unknown to this day, there was not much info about who he was and his probable motives. So, I had to rely a lot on my own imagination to write the script.
Your favourite sequence in the film?
There’s a sequence of Kay Kay Menon chasing the hooded killer inside the Sion subway. This scene remains one of the best scenes I’ve ever filmed. I cast Kay Kay Menon because I had worked with him on Sarkar for which I’d written the screenplay and dialogues.
from Featured Movie News | Featured Bollywood News - Bollywood Hungama https://ift.tt/g1DQbtp
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