Crew’s control
As Crew breaches the ₹100 crore mark, Tabu opens up about her work and staying relevant to audiences Sanjeev Kumar Bijli talks about the rise of independent films and the many hues of entertainment
he Hindi heist comedy Crew, which breached the ₹100 crore mark at the box office recently, dispelled notions that post pandemic, only malecentric action dramas could rake in big numbers.
Standing tall at the centre of the film’s success is actor Tabu, who shared the screen with Kareena Kapoor and Kriti Sanon in director Rajesh Krishnan’s film produced by Rhea Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor and Anil Kapoor. “The film had several elements that the audience enjoyed and while working on it, I believed it would do good numbers,” says Tabu.
She should know. Crew is the latest in her series of hits, after Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and Drishyam 2. She also played the central parts in Kuttey, Bholaa and the Netflix original film, Khufiya. At 52, the actor is quietly showing how a female actor can be age and generation agnostic, and call the shots.
Tell her that a few trade pundits have pointed out that she is the only actor, apart from Shah Rukh Khan and Ranbir Kapoor, to have delivered more than two hits post pandemic and she guffaws, “So I have now become a hero?”
She then pauses and says, “Honestly, this is a good chapter in my career; I am happy and grateful that people are coming to theatres and watching my films. A film is a combination of aspects — it is never only the script, the director or the actors. Everything has to work; if we give the audience something new, they will accept it in any genre and language.”
TFaith in normalcy
The last decade has seen Tabu reinventing herself. Post director Vishal Bhardwaj’s acclaimed Haider, in which she delivered a sublime performance, the more mainstream films such as Drishyam, Andhadhun and De De Pyaar De, among others, saw her frequently courting box office success.
Tabu remembers the conversations during lockdowns when the film industry wondered if the audience would frequent theatres again, after being habituated to consuming series and films on digital platforms. “People were making assumptions overnight and it annoyed me. I used to wonder if I am the only one who does not agree with their notion.”
Reverting to Crew, which has been witnessing girl gangs heading to theatres anjeev Kumar Bijli, executive director of multiplex chain PVR INO◣ saw the script of Civil War at the American Film Market last year and found the story incredible. Later when he watched it at the Berlin Film Festival he felt the Alex Garlanddirected dystopian film about journalists travelling across the United States during a civil war is a strong film that should be shown to Indian audiences too.
At a special screening in Delhi this week, prior to the release of Civil War in India on April 19, he said independent films in foreign languages have found a resonance with Indian audiences. Excerpts
SQuestion:
Is your focus going to be more on indie films?
Answer:
Independent movies are slightly niche, but they are incredible with amazing storylines, rich in content, powerful and hard hitting, and the special effects are fabulous. Some of them break out winning awards. We need to champion good nontraditional film narratives too.
Q:People seem to be liking all kinds of movies. Bollywood releases from the violent Animal to the entertaining Rocky aur Rani, Gadar 2 and Pathan did well last year. What does your road map look like?
did 15 crore admissions in FY 2023. If a movie is made well
A:We
to soak in the fun locker room conversations between the three female leads as they pull off an improbable heist, Tabu says, “Rhea (Kapoor) was intelligent and smart to get this cast together. Certain scripts can only work with certain actors. The casting can bring in a new element.”
Crew was written by Nidhi Mehra and
Mehul Suri and many of the zinger lines hit the mark.
Some of the lines, Tabu reveals, were improvised on set. “Nidhi and Mehul had worked on the writing for four years and were particular about what they wanted. In consultation with the director and the writers,
A poster of Sanjeev Bijli of PVR INO◣.
I changed a few words that I felt would not land well and generate laughs. Comedies are always alive on set and things change according to actors since it is not an intensely dramatic script.” She describes how the core team observed the mood on the sets to gauge if the comedy was working. “Accordingly, original lines were retained or changed.”
Tabu wanted the different facets of her character, Geeta Sethi, to come through. “She is fun but there is gravitas to her. She is a former beauty queen (of Karnal), has seen the vagaries of life and has inner strength; to the best of my abilities I tried to bring all that on screen.”
The character is also prone to anxiety, popping pills and wiping away sweat in crucial situations and all this adds to the comedy. The trick was to find the sweet spot that made Geeta appear innocent, vulnerable but daring enough to be part of a heist. “We kept experimenting… we wanted to make her interesting, entertaining and palatable.”
in any genre, with good script, acting and direction, people will come for it. That is the beauty of cinema; it is difficult to predict the trends in the world of entertainment. No one genre will keep clicking.
Q: A:Do good films need marketing? You do need the trailers, promotions and star visits. In our retail interest it is important to give the audiences an immersive experience. We have to create a good environment and keep evolving our screen formats and hope for acceptance from the audience.
Q: A:How do you choose your films? Lot of feedback comes from social media and directly from people about what they want. For instance, our audiences asked for anime films. Last year, the Japanese anime movie Suzume
grossed 10 crores. The KoreanEnglish bilingual film Past Lives had an excellent run and got Oscar nominated. We have to take the small risks for our audiences.
Q:What expansion is in the pipeline?
We will be rolling out 90 more screens across the country and majorly in Tier 2 and 3 cities such as Rourkela, Machilipatnam, Coimbatore and Kanpur. We have introduced the new ticketing price called Passport which buys four movies a month at ₹349.
A:◣ hits.
Of late, she has been having a blast playing characters that are not too serious or grim as in Chandni Bar, Astitva, The Namesake, Maqbool or Haider. And yet, in films such as Andhadhun, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, Drishyam 2 and Crew, she is central to the drama. “This is a great phase of a different kind. The responsibility and what I need to bring to the table does not change, irrespective of whether it is a serious or a fun film.”
Staying relevant
Having been a part of cinema for nearly 40 years (she debuted as a child actor in the 1985 film Hum Naujawan), Tabu has the knack of keeping abreast with changes. “It is tough to point out what has worked. It is a combination of factors — the years of work and the relationship I share with the audience across generations. You are considered relevant only if you can connect with the immediate younger generation.”
Up next is Auron Mein Dum Tha, a love story by director Neeraj Pandey, in which Tabu shares the screen with Ajay Devgn for the 11th time. “It is a film I am looking forward to. Neeraj has done something interesting.”
Comedies are always alive on set and things change according to actors since it is not an intensely dramatic script