Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro director Kundan Shah dead
NEWDELHI:Kundan Shah, the acclaimed director of films like Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro and Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, died of a heart attack on Saturday. He was 69.
According to reports, Shah breathed his last in Mumbai. Director Subash Ghai tweeted about his death and remembered him for his stellar work. “Good bye Kundan Shah. We all @FTIIOfficial @Whistling_Woods shall remember u for your great films with us n in history Indian cinema,” he wrote in a tweet.
Shah also directed episodes of TV series like Ye Jo Hai Zindagi, Nukkad and Wagle Ki Duniya. His biggest success, however, is considered to be 1983’s Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron. A satire on the rampant corruption among police, civil authorities and journalists, the film is called one of most intelligent films of Bollywood.
The film did not become a box office success but Shah received his first and only National Award — Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director — for the movie which went on to become one of the most celebrated dark satirical comedies in the history of Indian cinema. He was also instrumental in Shah Rukh Khan’s early success whom he gave one of his first films Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa. He then directed Preity Zinta in Kya Kehna and Dil Hai Tumhara. His last film as a director was P Se PM tak in 2014. He was one of the 24 directors who returned their National Awards in 2015 in support of protesting FTII students.
Kundan Shah was such a simple man that you won’t even believe that he’s the director of a cult comedy like Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro. I had been to his house, met his wife and kids and they are very simple and sweet. It was great to know a man like him.
I remember when we were shooting for the film in 1983, we were all newcomers and in fact, Kundan was also a newcomer, in a way. It was an NSD (National School of Drama) street film and a very low budget film, so we were not really getting paid. We used to take our own auto rickshaws and go for the shoot. We rehearsed for many hours a day. And we knew all the people, as they were all mostly from theatre, so it was like doing theatre in the movie.
Also, what you see in the movie, like how much fun it is, that much fun we also had during the shoot. But we had to really shoot hard. I remember once we were in Alibag for a schedule and we shot for 48 hours at a stretch. So, we used to sleep whenever our shot was not ready. We used to sleep in one bed and there were like 10 people on it.
Vinod Pradhan was the cameraman and I remember seeing him falling asleep with the camera in his hand. So we shot like that because it was a very low budget film. But Kundan would not care and he was just totally focused on the film. He won’t take any tantrums. Since we actors were all known to each other, we used to joke around and he used to get bugged because we had to work, but it was such a nice and memorable experience. Sadly, I wasn’t in touch with Kundan for all these years. But we met at Nehru Centre when the film was redone and its digitised version was released. So, that’s when all of us were called for a special screening and we got to catch up after so many years. It was great fun. Kundan was planning to make a sequel and I even got to read the script around two years ago. Kundan wanted to have the same star cast as the original film and my part was much bigger, and only Ravi Baswani and Bhakti Bharve would not have been there, as they have passed away. Some big producer was producing it and Kundan was supposed to direct, but unfortunately that won’t happen now. I am sad this generation won’t get to see another Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro.