When casting comes before scripting

03 October,2015 06:29 AM IST |   |  Anirban Das

R Balki held the attention of cinephiles attending the Mumbai leg of the 6th Jagran Film Festival as he recounted his journey in Bollywood. Besides offering advice to budding filmmakers and sharing warm anecdotes about his career, the 'Shamitabh' director revealed his individual working style to the audience


On Thursday evening, R Balki held the attention of cinephiles attending the Mumbai leg of the 6th Jagran Film Festival as he recounted his journey in Bollywood. Besides offering advice to budding filmmakers and sharing warm anecdotes about his career, the 'Shamitabh' director revealed his individual working style to the audience. He mentioned that while writing a script, he chooses not to step out of his house and at times, visits a hill station to keep distractions at bay.


R Balki at the 6th Jagran Film Festival. Pic/Sameer Markande

Interestingly, Balki does not start writing a script before getting his actor's nod to the concept. "Once I come up with an idea, I give a one-line brief to the actor and a sort of a synopsis of how the story will be developed. For Cheeni Kum, my first brief to Amitabh Bachchanji was: 64-56-34. He seemed puzzled and then I added that a 64-year-old man falls in love for a 34-year-old girl whose father is 56. He liked the idea and only after that did I start writing the film. One has to invest a lot of energy and time into writing and it is good to have someone on board before putting pen to paper. That's something I believe in," said Balki.

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