"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.)

vishal nuggets from a strange place

In a post over at PFC dedicated to Sushil Rajpal, the director of the National Award-winning Antardwand, Hansal Mehta looks like Forrest Gump as he drops one destined-to-be-famous name after another. A very interesting nugget surfaces when he writes about Amrita, a short film he had made in 1995. It turns out that the music director was none other than Vishal Bhardwaj. Hansal Mehta offers nothing more except But that is another story, another fond relationship and maybe another emotional blog. One awaits that post eagerly.

now it's 7: husband one locked in

If the buzz is to be given credence, Vishal's next will be called Seven (or 7) and not 7 Husbands. Given the insurmountable strength of David Fincher's moody piece on the Internet, one can see problems when using Google to find out more. The buzz also tells us that Vishal has, after much persistence, signed up the first of the seven: Mohanlal. Given Vishal's track record, this might undo the damage done by RGV's fiery in-sippy-d flick and bolster the ouevre established with Company. Now muster your best Malayali impression and repeat after me लोहा गरम है

from 12 to 7: vishal gets the raashee rash

If articles floating online are to be believed, Vishal Bhardwaj is working on a script called 7 Husbands and seems to have to roped Priyanka Chopra in to play 7 brides for 7 men. Since the rushes of What's Your Raashee? are mentioned, one is inclined to dismiss this as another case of striking the hot iron. Satte pe Satta becomes Ek Sati Saat Pati?

oil be damned!

Why am I not surprised that someone named Ramnarain Sahu, a Samajwadi party MP, who happens to be the president of the Rashtriya Teli Rathore Chetna Mahasangh, has decided to nurse objections to the use of the word telii in Kaminey's catchiest song. First the naaiis and now the teliis. All Gulzar needs for a hat-trick is to tickle the ire of another occupational sect. I can't resist thinking of maaliis.

Vishal to remake The Departed?

Subhash K Jha, writes about latest buzz that Vishal Bharadwaj is to remake "The Departed". He writes,

Apparently, a big production house has bought the copyright of Martin Scorsese’s 2002 American crime drama The Departed and has approached Vishal to direct it. Having directed dark gangster films like Omkara, Maqbool earlier, they have chosen Vishal to handle the desi Departed.

Considering that The Departed was a remake of Infernal Affairs, shouldn't they have brought the right from the makers of the original? Beats me.
Certainly, the Hindi version by Vishal would be something to look forward to. Wondering if Saif will be the vitriol spewing Det. Sgt. Dignam, played with a vile ferocity by Mark Walhberg. And will the censors allow Hindi versions of anything close to these dialogues?