"Vishal's World" - an article in Mint Lounge

"When 19-year-old Vishal Bhardwaj returned from cricket practice that morning, his home had been emptied out on the street. Chairs, tables, utensils, clothes, photo frames—everything lay strewn on the road outside his home in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. In the midst of it, right there on the street, his poet father—for long his best friend—lay sprawled. And lifeless."

Mint Lounge has an insightful interview with Vishal about life, cricket, his family, and music. It's small, but tells us a something about the self-learning streak, the influences, and the journey so far.

(The board behind him in the photo is pretty interesting - among other things, I picked out references to names such as Wadia and Nadia - remember that Vishal was once planning to make "Julia" a film on 'Fearless' Nadia, and in talks with Franka Potente then.)

"Julia" on hold?

News is that "Julia", Vishal Bhardwaj's next planned venture, is in some trouble. The news report could not pinpoint what the problem is, which is variousy attributed to problems with UTV or with dates of some of the leads. The film, rumoured to be based on yesteryear star "Fearless" Nadia was also to star Franka Potente.

"Julia" would have been a change for Vishal, whose 4 directorial features have been children's films or Shakespearean adaptations. We'll watch this item in the coming days.

Previously on "Julia": George's post on the announcements.

Update - 3 Jan 08
Sudarshan points to this Rediff page which suggests that the film's production may be stretched, but there's no mention of shelving the film, which is good news.

Update - 8 Jan 08
Put the shelf back up again. This article says Julia is not happening, talks (rather scarily of an Omkara prequel), and says Vishal is in Pune to write. (I could go find out if someone knows where he is.)