Access denied
Films with stories rooted in the politics of a certain time and place face many stumbling blocks trying to acquire permissions to shoot.
Filmmakers have time and again faced hurdles of all kinds while shooting outdoors. Even as we admire the picturesque and authentic backdrops we see on celluloid, seldom do we ponder over the back-story of how the crew got there. But therein lies some of the most fascinating behind-the-scenes stories, often more interesting than the tailored nuggets of liaisons between actors and actresses that float around closer to a film’s release.
Films with stories rooted in the politics of a certain time and place are the ones that commonly run into a wall while securing permissions to shoot. It appears that star filmmakers and actors don’t have much clout on the matter — irrespective of how big or small a name you are, your chances of being denied permission are equal.
Rangoon and Sarbjit are two big-ticket films that faced many stumbling blocks trying to acquire permissions. Vishal Bhardwaj’s Rangoon was denied permission to shoot in Rangoon, former capital of Myanmar (Burma), where the story is based. Even as their efforts are still on, the crew has already made alternate arrangements in Mumbai where two sets have been erected, recreating Rangoon. One would imagine things to be smoother closer home. But the Sarbjit crew found out just how long drawn a process can it be when they camped themselves on the Wagah Border for over two weeks waiting for the papers to come through. Finally things did move forward, but not without their own set of complications.
The barriers are strong on the other border too. Vipul Shah cannot enter China with his Force 2 crew because the government there has issues with his script. The film has some content involving China’s state security department and the story revolves around the Intelligence of several countries including India’s Research and Analysis Wing.
Reasons for denial are often political, rarely having anything to do with logistics of infrastructure. However, it always pushes filmmakers to a corner and they are forced to compromise on the authenticity of locations. We present some first hand accounts of instances both old and new that would illustrate how diverse and deep-rooted the problem really is for the makers.
Director Omung Kumar during Sarbjit: In October last year, director Omung Kumar had gone location hunting at the Wagah Border for the film. In January, he and his crew had camped themselves in Amritsar for nearly two weeks waiting for the green signal from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the shoot had to be stalled at that time.
Omung said, “We had sent the application much in advance but the country’s situation was difficult at that time and the permission was delayed. Had we not got the permission we would have made a set in Delhi and it would have been disappointing for the crew. But luckily at the last minute things worked out. There’s nothing better than shooting at the original place but yes, that has its own set of challenges and one must be prepared for the drill.”
Bobby Khan during Leela: For Leela, director Bobby Khan and his team had short-listed a few palaces in Rajasthan but the one they liked the most was in Jaisalmer. “We thought of finalising that but the palace authorities denied permission as they were not comfortable with Sunny Leone’s screen image. They said that it is a heritage property and they cannot allow Sunny to shoot within the premises,” he says. The crew had to finally move to Bikaner and that’s the palace we see in the film.
Vipul Shah during Force 2: Vipul Shah went through the necessary procedure to secure permissions to shoot his film in China but still returned empty handed. The Force 2 producer says, “The procedure there requires one to go through the line producer and submit the script. After a scrutiny, the authorities will decide if your film is fit to be shot in China or not. When our line producer submitted the script, we came to know that we couldn’t shoot there. I don’t know the reason but honestly, I see no point in making a producer’s life difficult. I will go to some other place and make it look like China. When Deepa Mehta had issues shooting Water in Varanasi, she shot it in Sri Lanka and made it look like Varanasi.”
Vipul and his team have already begun scouting for alternate locations. “My film has nothing to do with how China would be portrayed. It has an interesting episode at the start. But China had a different point of view. It is never easy to find a replacement in such cases. Of course, it is not like I cannot change the country in the script, but why should I curb my creative liberties?” says Vipul who also had trouble with the locals while shooting Singh Is King in Egypt. “But thankfully, the government and ensured we had a smooth run,” he adds.
Kabir Khan during Kabul Express: The very adventurous Kabir Khan who has traipsed around the world with his film crew for multiple projects came very close to real danger once, while shooting for Kabul Express in Kabul, Afghanistan. “We had got a death threats from the Taliban. The Indian ambassador called us to warn us about a security threat. He said that five men have been sent to attack us,” recalls Kabir. He sent the film’s lead actors John Abraham and Arshad Warsi back home.
“It began to look like I would need to stop shooting altogether. A few suicide bombings happened and there was firing as well.” The film was a Yash Raj production and Kabir recalls a very reassuring phone call from Aditya Chopra at the time. “He said to me, ‘I know the trouble you are going through. It’s just that none of us know Afghanistan the way you do. But I want you to know one thing, as this if your first film, that no Yash Raj film has ever stopped mid-production and Kabul Express won’t be the first one. I will re-create Kabul in any part of the world you want. Know that and then make up your mind if you want to continue to shoot in Kabul or come back’. So I took five days, met all the people from the Intelligence. We figured that we had the required security, so we could continue. John and Arshad came back and hats off to them — no actor would have agreed to come back. They stood by me and the government too gave us protection.”
Vivek Agnihotri during Junooniyat and Freedom: Vivek and his crew were shooting for Freedom in a part of Jaisalmer, close to the Pakistan border when locals vandalised the sets. “About 100-200 people just barged into the shooting premises and began to loot our equipment and food, leaving the set is a huge mess. Later they asked us to stop shooting, claimed that was their area and shooting there would be a punishable offence,” says Vivek who was forced to shift to another location.
He recalls another instance while shooting for Junooniyat in Kashmir. “I was shooting with Pulkit Samrat and Yami Gautam and in the middle of the sequence, we got surrounded by some people who had sticks in their hands. They looked ready to beat us. They said that we couldn’t shoot with Kashmiri girls in the film, and we had some of them as part of the shot because the story needed that.”
Shivaji Lotan Patil during 31st October: “My film 31st October focuses on the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination so naturally, it is a very sensitive topic to address,” says director Shivaji Lotan Patil. He along with his cast and crew had a few close brushes during the filming.
“When we were shooting in Ludhiana, Punjab, for an important sequence with Soha Ali Khan and Vir Das, some people forcefully entered the sets and within minutes a riot broke out right then and there. I asked my crew to be safe and assemble at the rescue area. I had to declare an off for a couple of days, which affected our production budget too. We were wondering who were the people who created such a mess. Later, we were also threatened by few political goons to stop the shoot, since the sardar community was targeted in 1984 riots. But fortunately, the locals rescued us from further trouble,” says Patil.