Mumbai:
Delhi in a Day directorPrashant Nair, who is writing the script for Bollywood's firstvampire film Bloody Veer, said he is trying to reinvent thesupernatural concept to suit Indian audiences instead of justcopying from Hollywood.
The film is being produced by Siddharth Jain of iRockMedia and will be directed by Heeraz Marfatia, a long timeassociate of Shekhar Kapur.
"Bloody Veer is going to be India's first mainstreamvampire film. It's a coming of age story, but it's extremelyBollywood - there are song, dance and action sequences.Instead of just trying to copy from the West, I am lookingthrough Indian mythology and culture to reinvent the conceptof vampire so that it works in India," Prashant told PTI.
It was rumoured that Ranbir Kapoor would be playing thelead in the film, but Prashant said the casting process is yetto begin.
"The script is almost done and we are planning to dosome revisions close to production. We are just about to startthe whole casting process," said Prashant.
Meanwhile, the entrepreneur-turned-filmmaker is also busyworking on his new film Umrika, the script of which wasapproved by the Screenwriters Lab held by Mumbai Mantra andSundance Institute.
"It's a comedy set in the eighties. It is one of the sixchosen projects by the Mumbai Mantra-Sundance Screenwriterslab. Umrika is a French-German-Indian co-production. I amhoping to shoot it next year," he said.
Born in India and raised in Europe, Prashant turneddirector with Delhi in a Day, a satirical take on thenouveau rich in Delhi and their relationship with theirservants.
"It's a humorous and satirical look at Delhi's privilegedsocialite kind of society and how they treat people who workfor them, which I find is a troubling issue. It's about theportrayal of the lifestyle of this new rich, loud, lavishcross-section of the society, how they live and treat theirservants," he said.
The film, released to positive reviews on August 24,shows a Britisher who comes to explore India and stays with aDelhi family but eventually gets involved in the innerpolitics and hypocrisy.
"It was shot entirely in Delhi. I am most familiar withthis place since I spent quite a bit of time here. Ipersonally feel that a certain part of Delhi is pretty flashyand over-the-top. That's the premise I set my film on."Despite being a first-timer, Prashant managed to rope inindustry veterans like Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Victor Banerjeeand Lilette Dubey to star in the film.
"I am grateful that they agreed to do my film. They likedthe script and were very open during the filmmaking. There aremany new faces as well, most of them are from NSD, includingthe lead actress Anjali Patil. She is now starring in PrakashJha's new film. I am very proud of her," said Prashant.The film has already been to various film festivals bothin India and all over the world. It won Prashant the DirectorsVision Award at the ninth edition of Indian Film Festival ofStuttgart, Germany.
"It has been to 20-25 festivals. In India it was screenedin MAMI and Kerala. Outside, it has been to New York, London,Hamburg and Stuttgart - a fair amount of festivals in US andEurope."
The film is being produced by Siddharth Jain of iRockMedia and will be directed by Heeraz Marfatia, a long timeassociate of Shekhar Kapur.
"Bloody Veer is going to be India's first mainstreamvampire film. It's a coming of age story, but it's extremelyBollywood - there are song, dance and action sequences.Instead of just trying to copy from the West, I am lookingthrough Indian mythology and culture to reinvent the conceptof vampire so that it works in India," Prashant told PTI.
It was rumoured that Ranbir Kapoor would be playing thelead in the film, but Prashant said the casting process is yetto begin.
"The script is almost done and we are planning to dosome revisions close to production. We are just about to startthe whole casting process," said Prashant.
Meanwhile, the entrepreneur-turned-filmmaker is also busyworking on his new film Umrika, the script of which wasapproved by the Screenwriters Lab held by Mumbai Mantra andSundance Institute.
"It's a comedy set in the eighties. It is one of the sixchosen projects by the Mumbai Mantra-Sundance Screenwriterslab. Umrika is a French-German-Indian co-production. I amhoping to shoot it next year," he said.
Born in India and raised in Europe, Prashant turneddirector with Delhi in a Day, a satirical take on thenouveau rich in Delhi and their relationship with theirservants.
"It's a humorous and satirical look at Delhi's privilegedsocialite kind of society and how they treat people who workfor them, which I find is a troubling issue. It's about theportrayal of the lifestyle of this new rich, loud, lavishcross-section of the society, how they live and treat theirservants," he said.
The film, released to positive reviews on August 24,shows a Britisher who comes to explore India and stays with aDelhi family but eventually gets involved in the innerpolitics and hypocrisy.
"It was shot entirely in Delhi. I am most familiar withthis place since I spent quite a bit of time here. Ipersonally feel that a certain part of Delhi is pretty flashyand over-the-top. That's the premise I set my film on."Despite being a first-timer, Prashant managed to rope inindustry veterans like Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Victor Banerjeeand Lilette Dubey to star in the film.
"I am grateful that they agreed to do my film. They likedthe script and were very open during the filmmaking. There aremany new faces as well, most of them are from NSD, includingthe lead actress Anjali Patil. She is now starring in PrakashJha's new film. I am very proud of her," said Prashant.The film has already been to various film festivals bothin India and all over the world. It won Prashant the DirectorsVision Award at the ninth edition of Indian Film Festival ofStuttgart, Germany.
"It has been to 20-25 festivals. In India it was screenedin MAMI and Kerala. Outside, it has been to New York, London,Hamburg and Stuttgart - a fair amount of festivals in US andEurope."
