The acclaimed cinematographer of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, Manu Anand, has a great body of work. He was also the lensman of the two ambitious projects of Shah Rukh Khan, namely Fan (2016) and Zero (2018). The superstar celebrated his 59th birthday on November 2 and a few days before this big day, Manu Anand spoke exclusively with Bollywood Hungama on working with Shah Rukh Khan and a lot more.
Manu Anand began by saying, “We all know that Khan saab jaisa koi nahin hai. His amazing quality is that he can make everyone feel special. He will talk to you with a lot of tameez and tehzeeb. He’s also a great actor and a technician at the same time. His knowledge of filmmaking and VFX are unparalleled.”
He further said, “I have a background in science and was always interested in VFX. Hence, I didn’t get intimidated while doing Fan. That is also the reason why I was able to do the film, which is due to my understanding of VFX. After working on Fan, this understanding increased and after working on Zero, it went on another level.”
He also admitted, “Some of the scenes we shot in Fan and Zero were highly memorable. Though they didn’t work as intended, they do have a small cult following. The makers tried to do something new and possess a novel imagination. The technical team also gave their heart and soul to the films.”
He added, “At times, we would joke that Shah Rukh Khan is a ‘human motion control’! At times, when he has to double role, he would get the timing right perfectly. This is something that only a practised and experienced artist can do.”
Manu Anand then shared his experience of filming the memorable chase sequence on the rooftop of Dubrovnik, Croatia for Fan. It involves the superstar chasing the fan. Incidentally, both roles were played by Shah Rukh Khan.
Manu, at first, revealed, “It was an exciting part of the shoot. We shot Fan there before Game Of Thrones. We were doing the recce on the streets but when we saw the rooftops from the Outer Wall of the Inner City, director Maneesh Sharma said that we had to shoot the chase sequence on the top. He said, ‘Jo nazara hum dekh paa rahe hai, uska mazaa humein audience ko dena padega’.”
He continued, “It was difficult as you have to shoot two characters chasing but both are played by the same actor. The ADs planned the scene meticulously and as per the position of the Sun so that the audience would feel that it was happening at the same time. For instance, we want to shoot Gaurav running in a lane. But Shah Rukh Khan had to devote 3 hours to turn into Gaurav. So we had to take all these factors into consideration.”
Manu Anand sighed, “People under-value VFX-heavy films. Fan and Zero had the most difficult VFX ever. Chehre pe aur body pe VFX kiya gaya tha. In Fan, we reduced Shah Rukh Khan’s weight by 25 pounds for Gaurav’s character. He was also shorter by 2-3 inches by Aryan, the superstar. The VFX team made it clear that he shouldn’t look like a complete humshakal. There was a difference in their faces and yet, they look the same in certain lighting. It was no cakewalk.”
Manu explained, “In Zero, Redchillies.VFX went one step ahead and reduced Shah Rukh sir’s height. In every shot, 4-5 VFX plates had to be used. When he would stand, there was a difference of 12 inches compared to his original height. But when he would sit, there was a difference of just 6 inches. All these calculations were done. Yet, when some people saw the film, they remarked, ‘Isko chota kar diya. Isme VFX kahaan hai?’. But when somebody has done their work so well that the VFX gets invisible, that is the biggest achievement. In my opinion, nobody in the world has been able to pull off such a seamless level of VFX!”
He signed off by saying, “At times, people criticize that Bollywood nayi kahaani nahin dikhata. No director and creative person ever thinks, ‘Main purani, ghisi piti kahaani sunaunga’. Of course, there are people who work on remakes but those are exceptions. Otherwise, everyone wants to offer something to the new audience.”
More Pages: Zero Box Office Collection , Zero Movie Review
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