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The J P Dutta Chat

Welcome Mr Dutta to the Rediff Chat. Hope you enjoy the experience..

Wow! Great... Welcome Mr Dutta.

Hello Mr. Dutta

Mr Dutta, I do have to tell you that one of your pictures Yateem was the only picture that I have ever had to walk out at halftime, it was terrible. I have seen a couple of your movies and they are much better what went wrong in Yateem ?

Mr. Dutta: Has the movie with Bobby Deol, Tabu, and Mamta been shelved?

Hi everyone, I'm here to answer your questions on Border.

Bindiya: For the time being yes.

good question ravi- an hour ago somebody had posted a good q for JPD on whether he proposed to distribute largesse to the hapless audience at the cinema theatre in Delhi who died watching his movie!

Mr. Dutta: How difficult was it to shoot war scenes? Are those scenes based on any real conflict between India & Pak? Ven

I have noticed a distinct decline in the standards of Hindi movies. South Indiam films have been much better. Can you explain the trend ?

How do you think has Dolby Digital and DTS affected film makers, especially you?

Mr Dutta...? Only that? Only Border? Nothing else? Not about yourself? Aw C'mon!!!

Ravi: It is a matter of identification, with a certain subject or a character, which seems in your case you did not identify or relate to the subject or the character. That is why you left halfway.

Mr Dutta, I saw border in the theatre in chicago It was great, The songs are soothing. The audience was clapping for many of the dialogues

Mr. Dutta: Why is Sunny Deol in most of your movies?

Mr J P Dutta.. now that Border is a hit, how do you feel?

Were some of the "extras"in border really par military? esp the air force pilots? They looked liked they were?

Mr. Dutta, I give you one wish, you can pick any three actors actresses from past /present Hindi/English/Tamil, your pick, who would you choose to act in your movie ?

Border has been criticised as being stridently anti-Pak.

Who is Sunil Shettys wife in border? She was very pretty? Everyone was going gaga over her? Where did u discover her\ ?

Brawn: I have re-enacted the battle of Longewalla 1971. The structure of the battle is based on true happening. Yes it was one of the most difficult films I have made. The reason being the battle scenes had to be shot in the right background -- the location being the desert. And the filming was done in December at 0 degrees temperature. So you can well imagine filming with 40 tanks, 1,000 army men and a unit of three hundred and five cameras.

thanks for taking a shot at pakistan! finally someone had the courage to do so.. GREAT WORK! after purab aur paschim and aakraman, border brought out the patriotism in all of us

How do you think has Dolby Digital and DTS affected film makers, especially you?

Jayesh: She is Sharbani Mukherjee, Kajol's cousin. Comes from the same breed. ... JOGESH: On the contrary it is an effort on my part to bring both India and Pakistan closer to each other the last part of the film shows first the Pakistan flag then the Indian flag fluttering alongside each other. And the message is conveyed through Javed Akthar's lyrics, where he says " Let us live together as brothers and grow in prosperity."

Border out in video yet in North America .. Anyone know ?

bad timing for Pak bashing isn't it? And just when the PM is making cooing noises?!

Rakesh Rai: Well a war film without digital or dolby stereo is unthinkable today.

Good- I stand corrected

Why was Border's trailer so bad technically?

I just saw the Telugu version of the proposed "Chikni Chachi" by Kamalhasan. It was hilarious, one of the better movies I have seen in a long time. Hindi films in my opinion havent had a good wholesome comedy in while, they are passing off vulgar/double meaning as comedy .. Why is that so ?

Mr Dutta... Why do you choose one sylable names like Yateem, Batwara and now Border.. why not a long name like Yash Chopra does?

Why was Border's trailer so bad technically?

Jogesh: It is an anti-war film, the last part of the film is a file for our PM to carry when he talks to his counterpart. This was suggested by Bhupen Hazarika after he saw the film.

Mr. Datta, I felt that the end of the movie was too abrupt. Don't you think there should have been some comentary about the overall war and how it transpired and what resulted from it. There are many in your viewing audience who would not know the history of that war.

Yateem: Hindi and Urdu are languages which are quite pregnant; a single word can convey my entire subject. Thank you.

Do you feel that the decision made by the commanding officer at Longowalla was correct? He sacrificed so many lives to save that border post. Couldn't they have retrieted and when morning came, the Air Force could have destroyed the enemy tanks and personnel without taking heavy loss?

Dear Mr. Dutta,I have been a great admirer of your films(seen every single one of them) and I hope that I am not alone in appreciating what in my opinion is their most appealing feature-the fact that somebody would have the vision to combine a non-frivolous approach to cinema with the charisma and magic of big stars.

You and Ram Gopal Varma are the first two filmmakers to use both Dolby Digital and DTS together. I think that deserves a compliment.

Hi ! Mr.Dutta !

Why was Border's trailer so bad technically?

Anurag: Feature films in our country compared to the West are too long. A single chapter from the '71 war was difficult to squeeze in three hours. For the history of the'71 war, please pick up a book on it, read it and pass it on to the young generation like you, the country and self will be thankful.

Trailers are important to films these days. Why was Border's trailer so bad technically? You should have given Crest the job of producing the trailers.

Why did you select Anu Malik as the music director? There is a rumour that the music for the most popular song in Border - Sandese aate hain, which by the way, is a lovely number - is not Anu's tune. That it was composed by some bright, upcoming talent and has been whacked by Anu?

Rakesh Rai: I didn't make the trailer. ANURAG: Losing a post to the enemy even for a minute is the biggest disgrace to a army of any country. I hope that explains it.

I don't mean that you needed to go into details but, some kind of closure would have been nice. I just felt that the end was not as good as the rest of the movie. Furthermore, the soldiers dancing on the tanks didn't look realistic. There were tens of their comrades lying dead besides them and these soldiers were dancing? I don't think this is natural. Would you do it differently, if you had a choice?

I had the opportunity to see your long awaited release Border on the 14 th June. I must say it is one of your most complete films to date - Music, Performances, Technical Brilliance, Direction, Cinematography, Art direction are way above any above average Hindi Film. GREAT JOB !!

Mr Dutta, Thought you may be interested. You have a filmography entry at the Internationa movie database. Your entry is located at http://us.imdb.com/cache/person-exact/f8306

Paras: Anu in my opinion is a natural composer, very talented but very insecure because of his past struggle to reach the top. Sandese aate hain is his composition and proof of his genius.

Are you thinking of making any Biographical Movies? What about Musicals? By watching your movies I see that you have a good ear for music.

Why do commercial Hindi films always insist on recording 'fighting' sounds using the 'Dhishum Dhishum' style. It is really irritating. And it isn't the sound recordists's fault, because the same recordist does a good job in a not-so-commercial film. Please comment.

Do you not think that Rajputs were your inspiration for the film Khashtriya?

Mr Dutta, whats the next movie in the pipeline ? Some details ..

Thanks, Mr Dutta. What about making and out-and-out fun film, a light-hearted comedy?

Anurag: Soldiers dancing on the tank is a exact depiction of the photographs published after the battle was won. In that photograph the bodies of dead soldiers was clearly visible, a copy of this photograph was presented to me by the 23 Punjab regiment. This photograph was carried by every newspaper in our country, its history. Not a vision of my mind. Thank you

You manage to extract great performances out of your cast. In case of Border I would like to mention Sunny Deol, Sunil Shetty and in particular Akshaye Khanna who has done a great job in only his second film. I was wondering if there was a scope for a longer role for Jackie Shroff !!

Mr Dutta, Do you think someone will be bold enough to make a Hindi movie without songs ? Will you consider something like this ? Or is that not commercially viable ? A moview without songs and a strong story will be a welcome change from the routine fare . I mention this because of late I have seen contrived situations purely to inject a song.

Paras: Every film-maker is a product of his experiences thats what reflects on his films. I hope you understand why my films are serious in nature.

Why do commercial Hindi films always insist on recording 'fighting' sounds using the 'Dhishum Dhishum' style. It is really irritating. And it isn't the sound recordists's fault, because the same recordist does a good job in a not-so-commercial film. Please comment.

It would have been nice if you had included (in the end, a brief synopsis and actual footage of the actual people who faught that war (i.e. upon whom the movie was based). I'm sure some of these fine patriots are still alive. This would have made the movie better (in my humble opinion)

Why you made so many buushit movies before this one.Without any sense.

Mr. Dutta, I have seen almost all your films and what i feel is that you have tried to pictureize Rajput lifestyle and their proudness in everyone of them. No other clan had more braveness and honesty, other that Rajputs, which is the main content of your films.

Sunil Shetty, Akshaye Khanna and Puneet Isaar were awesome in their roles. I hope you utilize them again in the future. How about a biographical movie on Col. Thappa?

Sabby Singh: Good performances from actors is easy to extract once they trust you completely in the sense your vision of their respective characters. Once the trust is there it is a cakewalk, my actors in Border trusted me and believed in what we were doing was worth giving their best shot, so the result which you see now. As for Jackie Shroff, ground battle is much more difficult to fight than from the air. Cinematically you can't do much with air battle so the reason for Jackie Shroff's limited role.