Kundan Shah speaks on Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron

I don't know how Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro happened. It was shot in the spirit of a home video. We were all young, excited and penniless. The script was so crazy that Romu Sippy who has produced some really important comedies like Chupke Chupke, Gol Maal, Khubsoorat and Khatta Meetha and who was supposed to at some point, produce Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron, said to me that my script was absolutely crazy.

I doubt I'd be able to sell the idea even today to any producer. Hats off to the NFDC for believing in my script. And the way Naseeruddin Shah and Ravi Baswani caught on to the mood of reckless adventure, was just the incentive the film needed.

None of us was doing the film to get rich or famous. We believed in it. There was a script I have about a prostitute and politics. It is in the same league as JBDY.

It's the story of a prostitute on the run who lands up in a town where by-elections are on and ends up becoming the chief minister. I feel today one can attempt such a subject independent of market forces.

Every creative artist attempts one theme in various moods and permutations. Guru Dutt made the same film about the tortured protagonist in conflict with society, over and over again. Each time the artiste tries to make his story more perfect in its telling.

In comedy, when you make your first film you put in as many gags as possible. With time you make sure the gags diminish. Finally, there should be comedy without laughter. Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu made transcendental cinema. He made comedies that reduced the laughter.

JBDY is definitely a hard act to repeat. One editorial after Ravi Bawsani's death said JBDY was like a home movie. Once the script had been approved by the NFDC all we had to do was make sure we delivered the film within the budget.

There was no creative interference and there was absolute freedom from audiences' expectations because during those days NFDC films were never released in theatres.

We were liberated from expectations. If another JBDY is expected from me then I have to have that spirit of anarchy. We need a free market. We shot JBDY in 16 mm. Today, it can be shot on the digital format and on a very basic budget and technique.