Saw Metro last week. Very well made movie, the effort on the part of the director Anurag Basu is commendable, he has made his characters look believable and close to life. Only if the director was gracious enough to accept that he has copied a very famous play of National School of Drama. Throughout the story of Sharmaan Joshi and Kangana, I kept clutching my fist in anger. I could not believe how a director of his stature could copy frame to frame and to top it all, accept the critical acclaim. Refer to his recent interview given after the successful release of Metro:
http://in.movies.yahoo.com/070427/24/6f2fr.html
Excerpts from the interview: “On questioning him about his earlier films that were more or less a copy of English films he says 'agar main ab copy karoonga toh Meri biwi maar degi' he further explains saying "I could not help making copies as I was asked to make them. Murder though was a copy of English film Unfaithful, I took up writing in my hand with that film and tried to make it different." – Anurag Basu in an interview.
One of my favourite plays, Shortcut directed by Ranjit Kapoor, NSD Repertory, is a better version of Sharmaan and Kangana’s story. It is a wonderful play with soulful music and amazing artists. This play can put any hindi movie to shame, in terms of songs, acting, and story. Every year, we wait for this play to be shown in the Summer Theatre Festival, NSD, Delhi. It is truly sad to see how people steal stories and bask in the glory of the success of the movie, without feeling guilty or ashamed.
The least Anurag Basu could have done was accept that he has taken the story instead of snatching the credit from the talented director of NSD, Ranjit Kapoor. Wonder what Anurag’s wife would be thinking now?
Shortcut was shown in the present Summer Theatre Festival also on May 31st, June 1st and 2nd.
Log on to http://nsd.gov.in/nsd_fesrep1.htm for more details.
