'Kundan Shah thought Kirron Kher was too beautiful for Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro'

Two months ago, Kundan Shah and I were on a radio show talking about Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983). What is it that makes the film do the festival rounds 34 years after its release? Why is it still the subject of discussion by film buffs? Why have people watched it multiple times, and can see it again? Why is it considered a textbook on filmmaking? The answer to all these questions is Kundan Shah and his fantastic screenplay sense. He was wedded to cinema. He had a nervous energy about him and would always appear anxious. We would wonder what he is up to, what was going on in his mind. This was his way of working, and this ensured that every scene of Jaane Bhi... remains memorable.

My first association with Kundan was during the shoot of Rabindra Dharmaraj's Smita Patil-starrer Chakra (1981). He was an assistant director along with Rajkumar Santoshi, and I had a small role in the film. Later, I met him at the home of writer Ranjit Kapoor (actor Annu Kapoor's brother), who suggested that I should come on board Jaane Bhi... as dialogue writer. Kundan and he were toying with the idea of a satire on red tape and bureaucracy. We stayed at his home in Sion for months working on the script.

His obsession knew no bounds. We would recite every line, he would tape it on a cassette recorder, play it, and keep improving on it till he was satisfied with every word. He selected every cast member with care. Initially, we had suggested that Kirron Kher play the character played by Bhakti Barve. When we went to meet Kher at Prithvi, where she was performing, he said she was too beautiful and glamorous to be part of the film. He would not know how to handle her beauty in the film. The script was the real hero of Jaane Bhi. We also shot at great places -- we used real footage of the Byculla Bridge collapse, shot at a set where Heera Panna stands today in Haji Ali, and a bit in Alibaug.

It was the most expensive NFDC film with a budget of R7 lakh. It was also the first NFDC film to be picked up by an exhibitor (Romu Sippy). I was not supposed to act in the film, but while reading the cross-connection phone sequence, Shah thought I could do with a role, too. On day one of the shoot, he made us shoot in a makeshift lift at an under-construction high-rise. We thought he was mad and was risking our lives. It was all this, what we as actors called madcap behaviour, that made it such a cult, classic film.