Rensil D’Silva breaks his silence on the Kishore Kumar project

By Subhash K. Jha -

August 18, 2008 - 12:00 AM IST

The hype and the hooplah not to mention the monstrous amounts of moolah that has apparently exchanged hands to put Kishore Kumar's life on celluloid, seem drastically premature. Says a source, "The whole idea of announcing the project long before things had even begun to fall in place was to cash in on Kishoreda's 79th birthday. The fact is, nothing is ready yet. It would take at least a year, if not more, for this ambitious project to concretize." The bio-pics's distinguished writer Rensil D'Silva best known for his sterling and startling historically-challenged screenplay of Rang De Basanti and currently in the process of directing his untitled Saif-Kareena-Vivek Oberoi thriller for Karan Johar, is a little puzzled by the haste shown in announcing the project and his name as the ambitious bio-pic's writer. "I'm currently in New York finalizing locations for the film that I'm going to direct for Karan Johar. So I really don't know what's going on back home." Shouldn't Rensil have been present when the Kishore Kumar project was announced? "I guess so," the reticent write seems unsure. "They must've their reason for announcing the project when they did. I haven't started any work on it. I've just heard that I'm doing it. The film's director Shoojir Sircar and I have known each other for years. When I was told he was helming the project I didn't hesitate. But yes, it is a daunting task to put together a man as colourful, versatile, adventurous and unpredictable as Kishore Kumar." Rensil doesn't know how to approach the mammoth task. "How do I telescope a life so flush with genius? Do I go back and forth in time? A linear narrative seems impossible. But one thing I won't do is official research. I don't want to harp on well-known myths about Kishore Kumar, like his eccentricity, etc. I'd rather dwell on unknown facets of the man. For this I'd have to meet the people who knew Kishore Kumar intimately." Here again there's a hitch. Rensil cannot connect with the generation that knew Kishore well. And that would include Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey, music composers Pyarelal and Rajesh Roshan, movie baron Pritish Nandy, Kishore K'd two wives and sons, etc. "I guess I'd first have to know the people who knew Kishore Kumar before I can find out about him. So yes, this project will take a great amount of time. And I won't be rushed." Does he feel up to the task? "Well, most pople who saw Rang De Basanti felt connecting Bhagat Singh to a contemporary context was something they'd have never imagined. I know chronicling the life of Kishore Kumar won't be easy. But who said I want to take the easy way out?" And who in Rensil's opinion can play Kishore Kumar? "Ha. That's a tough one. We need someone who can dance, sing act and look like the great man. But our industry is full of surprises. Please don't forget, when Robert Downey Jr was selected to play Chaplin in the Richard Attenborough bio-pic people thought it was the worst injustice to be done to the comic genius. Kishoreda is our comic genius. And there must be someone equal to the task of portraying a man so versatile."