Bollywood play ‘Film Film Ki Kahani’ dances into The Junction

Bollywood movies are magical, fantastical, beautiful…but have you ever wondered what happens when the cameras go off and the set lights dim? Film Film Ki Kahani, a (mostly) Hindi comedy that unfolds on The Junction stage from October 6 to 8, attempts to give you a glimpse into the chaos, the madness.

Urvashi Jaswani, co-director of the play, says: “[Film Film] is a through and through Bollywood play. We are trying to highlight tropes of Bollywood and what happens behind the scenes.  How a hero is treated differently than a heroine, what happens to choreographers, how a writer is treated. There’s drama, romance, it’s a comedy genre, there are action sequences, there’s death, there’s reincarnation, a lot is happening.”

The production is the brainchild of Amit Dhawan, who wrote the script and co-directed it.  “When I got the idea, I thought it’d be really cool to do a Bollywood film in 10 minutes for Short + Sweet [festival]. It seemed impossible so I was excited to do it and once it went [off] successfully I wanted to take up the next challenge which was – how possible would it be to engage the audience in a film and making of a film in the same play?” he says.

In the play, we see ‘hero’ Amar Raj Prem going through the ups and downs of playing a protagonist on screen – and how he deals with his real-life nemesis.

The takeaway

The message the directors hope the audience go home with is a serious one. “I just think the message I want people to walk away with is, a lot of  hard work does go into this [movie making] so…just be a little kind because you never know how many people are really involved in it. We do try to show that as much as we can in the play.”

The story is also that of an underdog, he says. “It tells you that you are going to do great if your head is in the right place and your heart is in the right place, and you keep moving forward.”

Challenges

Being on the stage – or part of the crew that produces a piece – was never going to be easy. Especially when the cast is 30 strong. “There’s a huge cast of 30 members. Plus a few dancers…because you can’t have a Bollywood anything without making it super mass-y. So to bring them together as one team; 30 people 30 different lives, 30 different schedules. That was our biggest challenge,” says Jaswani.

Dhawan concurs – managing a cast of 30 is tough. But, on the creative side, it’s also a demanding job, finding purpose for each of the 30 on stage. “We really struggled with was ensuring that each person who’s on stage has a purpose and the grandness of Bollywood, to bring it to a stage, especially with a limited budget, with first-time actors, with people who don’t really know that much about set design, music, and all that just to figure out our own vision in that process, that’s been the most difficult challenge because it’s been interesting, but it’s also prepped us for a lot more,” he says.

The play sounds chaotic. It dances on screen to off screen and back again. It also travels in eras. “Another thing we are really excited about it we are going to show this film but it’s going to be through eras so it’s starting in the 70s and we end in the 2010s, so that’s something we are really excited about showcasing and that’s being shown through the choice of music, dialogues, references, so that’s something that makes our play super special,” says Jaswani.

Music and mayhem, dance and drama and so much more await audiences at The Junction this weekend. As Jaswani says: “Just come with a love for Bollywood and watch the magic that happens on screen and behind the scene as well.  All you need to do is be a Bollywood enthusiast.”

The details

Tickets to Film Film Ki Kahani, which runs at The Junction from October 6 to 8, are Dh100.