20 Years of Being Cyrus EXCLUSIVE: Homi Adajania reveals Censors were offended by Boman Irani's fiery "I'll rip your dead father's ar** apart, motherf****r" dialogue: "Not just the line, I was asked to even cut out the visual. It made LITTLE sense"

Being Cyrus (2006), which completed 20 glorious years on March 24, was a rare Bollywood film to be made in English. Despite the experimental nature, it starred popular names like Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia, Naseeruddin Shah, Boman Irani, Manoj Pahwa and Simone Singh. It marked the directorial debut of Homi Adajania, who later went on to make memorable films and shows like Cocktail (2012), Angrezi Medium (2020), Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo (2023) etc. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, Homi Adajania spoke about the film’s memories, casting and a lot more. In the first part of the interview, he explained about the casting process. In the second and final part, he revealed some more fascinating trivia.

 

20 Years of Being Cyrus EXCLUSIVE: Homi Adajania reveals Censors were offended by Boman Irani's fiery "I'll rip your dead father's ar** apart, motherf****r" dialogue: "Not just the line, I was asked to even cut out the visual. It made LITTLE sense"

 

How many days did it take to shoot the whole film?

 

32 days. I remember this because one of the producers told me that they had done a 36-day package and wanted me to shoot something extra, which I refused to do. My crew had achieved the shoot before schedule and, in my mind, all they deserved was a bonus holiday.

 

Was it tough to convince investors that you wanted to make such an experimental film, that too in English?

 

Yes and no. I did several narrations trying to raise money. I remember one investor died a month before we were to shoot and then again, the producers were rushing from pillar to post to drum up an investment. Why it wasn’t tough for me was because all I had to do was narrate, which I quite enjoyed the theatrics of.

 

How did Jon Harris come on board as the editor?

 

First film, no restraint — I threw in every idea my addled brain coughed up and ended with a bloated, meandering cut. I was offered a choice of three international editors to re-look at the material and jumped at the chance of working with Jon, who was Guy Ritchie’s editor on Snatch (2000). That was it, really. I remember we chatted after he saw the indulgent cut. He told me that we had a good film in there somewhere and he felt he could find it. Yup, so Jon Harris appeared and quietly made the film coherent.

 

How did CBFC react to the film, especially since it had abuses and the ‘breast contact’ dialogue?

 

I don’t think they got half of it at that time. Though I do remember Boman, in a volatile argument with a neighbour, had ad-libbed a lot of choice abuses in typical Bawa fashion and someone from the Censor viewing asked me to transcribe these lines. They were not happy with most of the ad-lib, but the line that really pissed them off was fantastic. It literally translates to “I’ll rip your dead father’s ar** apart”! Then, after a creative pause, it continued with a conclusive “motherf****r”. They were so offended that, forget the line, I was asked to cut that visual out of the film. It made little sense and they gave me an ‘A’ rating anyway.

 

Under ‘Special People’, you have mentioned Farhan Akhtar, Zoya Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani and Mahesh Manjrekar. Please tell us the reason behind it…

 

No clue. All good peeps who must have helped by virtue of being good peeps I guess (smiles).

 

Do you think an English film like Being Cyrus, featuring popular names, is possible to be made in today’s times and get it released in cinemas?

 

Only if it’s made for free! A cinema release for an English-language Indian film is a tough sell. The math doesn’t add up. With OTTs, there is a much wider audience, but like most people, I am still confused on how their business models actually work.

 

Also Read: 20 Years of Being Cyrus EXCLUSIVE: Homi Adajania recalls first meeting with Dimple Kapadia: “She was screaming at Twinkle Khanna’s dog for pooping on her treadmill!”; reveals Naseeruddin Shah had no idea he was directing his first film: “He didn’t know I was a scuba diving instructor!”

Catch us for latest Bollywood News, New Bollywood Movies update, Box office collection,New Movies Release, Bollywood News Hindi, Entertainment News, Bollywood News Today & upcoming movies 2024 and stay updated with latest hindi movies only on Bollywood Hungama.