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Lights, Camera, Scoop: The 'OG' Shahid Kapoor, 'Khauf's Goregaon Ghost, and Babil's New Love Story
The Hollywood Reporter India's weekly column 'Lights, Camera, Scoop' unravels the behind-the-scenes madness of the big Bollywood machinery.
The Originals
The joke on the street is that despite the Hindi film industry's slowdown, four filmmakers will always be found working: Anurag Kashyap, Hansal Mehta, and the director-duo Raj-DK. While Kashyap and Mehta are, expectedly, quietly mounting their next, Raj and DK are also gearing up for yet another streaming project, Farzi 2, which could have had a slightly different origin story.
The successful Prime Video series will return for its second season with Shahid Kapoor back at the helm of playing an artist who decides to print counterfeit money. But much before the media got a whiff of the show in the making, some insiders believe the OG plan of Raj and DK was perhaps not to direct the series.
Farzi, which the duo created, produced, co-wrote and directed, was a runaway hit at the streamer in 2022, and a section within the industry insists that Raj and DK were at some point considering just writing and producing the second season.
"It is not a wild thought; a lot of filmmakers in the West launch a season and then get someone else to direct the next while still being the creator. You introduce the show, set up the characters and then take it forward. So, it could have been very much possible to do the same with Farzi. But you also have a star like Shahid on board, so of course, you need the star creators to be at the helm as well," the source says.
Raj and DK will be directing Farzi 2, but sources say they might also add a new director in the season, just like they did with The Family Man 2 when they onboarded Suparn S. Varma.
A Haunted Delay
Those who have seen Khauf can't stop talking about it. Created and written by Smita Singh, the Delhi-set show has spooked the daylights of the audiences, who, in particular, have been desperately trying to uncover the location of the ominous hostel at its center.
Khauf anchors itself around the Pragati Working Women's Hostel situated on the outskirts of Delhi, where the women battle terrors of all kinds. Turns out, the makers found the perfect spot for the secluded building, located amidst a forest, not in Delhi but in Mumbai's Goregaon area.
The semi-government hostel of the show is, in fact, the New Zealand Hostel in Aarey, which lends itself as the perfect eerie backdrop of the show. The location also had an interesting story in terms of the shooting timeline.
(No spoiler) But one of the most important events that takes place on the hostel's terrace didn't happen in one go. The actors had prepared tirelessly for the said night scene, but it started raining, and the entire terrace was wet. At 4 AM, the team packed up and left, unable to film anything.
Amusingly, the crew finished the entire shoot of Khauf, but was left with this crucial sequence. Since the Mumbai monsoons began, they had no option but to wait for the season to end to resume the shoot. When they tried in December, the location was unavailable and the team could only shoot in January—a full six months after they wrapped up the series!
This iconic location has hosted several film shoots over the decades, including Madhuri Dixit's Tezaab and Shah Rukh Khan's Dil Aashna Hai (1992), where it doubled up as... a women's college.
Babil's Dil
Babil Khan had a good April, as he saw acclaim coming his way for his psychological thriller Logout. Now, one learns that the actor is gearing up for his next, which has been produced by his father Irrfan Khan's close friend and collaborator, Shoojit Sircar.
Sircar has produced the film, directed by a first-time filmmaker from Darjeeling. The movie, which also stars a female lead, has been billed as a "beautiful love story" with Sircar, in particular, praising Babil for his outstanding work in the film. The makers are eyeing to release the film this year.
The lovely coincidence is that, if Sircar manages to release the movie in 2025, this would be the first time Babil and Irrfan would have a film come out the same year, as the latter's much-loved Piku is set to re-release on May 9.