Chhaayaageet #121 - “We will shoot this love song in true colors with no camera tricks.”

The filmmaker is sitting at a cafe in London deep in his thoughts. Almost a ritual by now. Every new film, every new story prompts travel to unknown spots to get those creative juices flowing. Helps to think through stuff. Also keeps him far from the fandom.

His coffee is about half done and now he is working on his sandwich. The couple behind him is speaking in a normal tone. He tries to ignore and filter out but still hard not to eavesdrop.

He stops eating so he can catch everything between them. It’s a breakup. And they are married. But it sounds so civil. She explains really calmly to her partner. “We have been married for so many years now. I feel the love that used to bind us and bring us close but it’s lost now. It’s time for both of us to move on.” The filmmaker is amazed at how amicable the whole discussion is. One thought leads to another. Several thoughts make up a story.

This will be an unusual film. Some may like it, some may not and others might really hate it. Human relationships are complicated and the institution of marriage is hard. Same person, same partner for that long. And without any love.

He is working with his regular choreographer. They are finalizing one of the songs which happens to be a love song. His mentor and guru used to be the king of romance back when he made films and a master at presenting love songs. They don’t do such love songs like him anymore, thinks the filmmaker.

What should be the theme? He keeps going back to his mentor’s films. The love songs were in the woods, in the snow, or even among tulips. Love always blossoms in nature. And then there is that color.

After some discussion, they finally agree. The filmmaker is excited. “We will shoot this love song in true colors with no camera tricks.”

Blue

Today they are going to shoot the first segment of the song, with everything in blue. As the lead male and female actors meet at Penn Station in New York City, the color starts to shift. They move on to the giant staircase at Columbia University. All the people walking around them are in blue. Even the props such as paper files and balloons are in blue. The university houses some of the brilliant minds of the time and they are all watching the shoot with a puzzled look. Is this how Hindi films are made? So bluey.

Yellow

The filmmaker wants to capture the yellowness through the cabs in New York City. The plan is to schedule this on a Sunday on Wall Street. There is a backdrop of cabs driving around while the lead actors do their thing. The cabs are instructed to keep circling around one after another. It takes some time for the cabs to complete their route and get back into the frame. The shoot comes to a standstill until the cabs come around. It's a slow arduous shoot. This intermittent shooting goes on for over 10 hours for a scene that is a few minutes long.

Orange

The crew moves to upstate New York to the mountains. It is fall weather. The leaf colors are beautiful and orange is in full bloom. The filmmaker wants to recreate the Kabhi Kabhie moment when Amitabh and Rakhee are in the woods sitting next to a set of burning logs. How can he miss this opportunity to recreate his guru’s creation and pay homage.

The filmmaker is excited to get going. And action! The actors get ready to lipsynch but there is no sound. The filmmaker is upset. “Where is the sound?” A technician identifies a technical issue. “Sirji, the machine has stopped working.” How do you lipsynch if you don’t have sound? The technician has an idea. “Sirji, let’s use the tape recorder and blast it at the top of the volume.” The filmmaker is half-impressed and moves forward with the jugaad solution.

Pink

From the outdoors, the party moves indoors. They are all in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan now. No more dramas hopefully. The churches are so nice and peaceful. They almost lend themselves to iconic scenes in the Hindi film industry. The crew and lead actress show up in pink.

Red

The scene shifts to the next morning. The plan is for everyone to be in red along with red umbrellas. 200 umbrellas have been ordered and there is a plan to produce rain for the shot.

But wait, it is 12 below zero and it's really sunny out there. “I don’t care. I am the filmmaker and if I want rain in my shot then I get rain in my shot.” Six heavy-duty rain-producing machines are brought in. The filmmaker is relieved that at last, he is getting the rain. “Let’s put those umbrellas to use and shoot some film.”

They turn on the machines. The rain does get created but by the time it hits the umbrellas, it's an icicle. The icicles are bouncing all over the place and hitting the crew. It's a commotion on the set. “Shut it off.” The filmmaker orders the technicians. The cameraman is nervous. They haven’t really thought of a plan B. “What are we going to do with all these umbrellas now?”

The choreographer is known to think on her feet. “Don’t you use umbrellas when the sun is out?” The shooting begins. There are red umbrellas all over the place on a bright sunny day at the Manhattan harbor. The lead actress is in a red chiffon sari. Even when the lead male actor holds her tightly at the end of the shot, she is shivering like a leaf. It’s so cold.

Green

This is the final color and the venue shifts to Union Station near Yale University in New Haven. Same drill. The lead actress and everyone around her are supposed to be green. About 200 extras have been called to be in the shot.

“It’s time for the shot but I don’t see a lot of people here.” The filmmaker looks around and is eager to finish this last piece of the song. The cameraman walks towards him with a face like he has some bad news to share. “Sirji, only 15 people showed up. What do we do now?” The filmmaker feels like he has been thrown one wrench after another while shooting this song.

He decides to consult with his choreographer. She exclaims “Koi baat nahin. Agar extras nahin hai to hum logon ko shot me le lo.” No worries. If there are no extras, just include us in the shot. The rest of the crew from behind the camera puts on green and ends up delivering the shot.

Karan Johar and Farah Khan directed and choreographed the song Tumhi Dekho Naa from the film Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. The music was composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, lyrics by Javed Akhtar and sung by Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik. Like previous Karan Johar films, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, and Kal Ho Naa Ho, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna had a four-word title that started with a "K".

Karan Johar was passionate about creating this love song as a tribute to his mentor, Yash Chopra. Yashji had delivered numerous love songs in amazing surroundings making them all immortal. Karan Johar felt that somewhere the industry had lost its mojo in regard to true love songs. It was time to deliver a comparable love song back to the fans.

The song was done at multiple locations and ended up being extremely time-consuming. The blue section of the song was shot at Columbia University in Upper West Side, the yellow section was shot at Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, the orange section at Bear Mountain State Park, the pink section at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Midtown Manhattan, the red section at the Pier A Park in Hoboken, New Jersey, and the green section at the Union Station in New Haven.

The plot and story of the movie was quite controversial. The film explored themes of marital infidelity and dysfunctional relationships. In fact, the film when it was launched, was promoted with the tagline "A Love... That Broke All Relationships".

The film was nominated in several Filmfare award categories but only Abhishek Bachchan received the Best Supporting Actor award.

Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Lyrics: Javed Akhtar
Singers: Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik
*ing: Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji
Director: Karan Johar
Producer: Hiroo Yash Johar
Film: Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006)