Veteran filmmaker Sudhir Mishra’s Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin completed 29 years earlier this month on June 7. The powerful drama starred Nirmal Pandey, Tara Deshpande, Smriti Mishra and Saurabh Shukla. Mishra looked back at the film in an interview with us.
Sudhir Mishra on 29 years of Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin, “At the time, Mumbai was wild; every second guy was shouting, ‘Bhai ka aadmi!’”
Sudhir, Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin is now 29. What was the trigger for this powerful exploration of the politics and dynamics of human relationships?
When my brother Sudhanshu was at the film institute in Pune, some local goons misbehaved with a fellow student. He slapped one of them, not realizing the guy was a local ganglord’s brother. Suddenly, the institute was surrounded by goons. Security stopped them, and Sudhanshu hid somewhere, while his classmates cowered in corners. The goons were screaming, “Bring out Lambu!”. Sudhanshu was taller than me.
That’s where Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin took shape?
It was a harrowing two days. Finally, local authorities stepped in, my father called someone, and things got sorted out. I always told Sudhanshu to make a film about it; I thought it was a great idea—just two days in a life.
Why didn’t he make it?
Sudhanshu did write a version called Bhaag Vijay with Pankaj Advani, another fellow student from the FTII. I don’t know what that script was like. Both Pankaj and Sudhanshu have passed away. But if someone has that script, they could make it, right?
Right.
Still, I had my own take. I wrote another film inspired by it while going through a divorce. At the time, Mumbai was wild; every second guy was shouting, “Bhai ka aadmi!” I had some close encounters myself, especially while shooting Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho with Saeed Mirza in Doo Taanki, where gangland was out in the open.
Those were volatile times
It was the 1990s, and corporate India was exploding. The economy was opening up, and I kept asking myself, “Who’s the hero?” So, I deliberately cast Nirmal Pandey as the advertising guy and Ashish Vidyarthi, slightly darker, as the gangland boss. By the end, you’re confused about who’s the gangster and who’s not, who’s the jerk and who isn’t. There’s a line where the gangster says to the corporate guy, “Tum logon ke duniya mein aise hi hota hai? Kisi ki aurat, kisi ka mard?” The advertising guy replies, “Haan, jaise aap logon ke duniya mein murder hota hai…”
Was it tough to make something as unconventional as Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin so early on your career?
It was easy to make because Mahesh Bhatt and Amit Khanna, like elder brothers to me, were the producers. I grew up in the film industry, a product of the generosity of people like Javed Akhtar, Saeed Mirza, Shekhar Kapur, Amit Khanna, and Mahesh Bhatt. When I narrated the script, they had only one suggestion.
What was that?
The suggested, “Can you add some songs?” I agreed, and we got M.M. Kreem to do the music. Songs like ‘Chup Tum Raho’, ‘Jeevan Kya Hai’, and ‘Tere Mere Naam’ are still sung today—great tracks, I think. Most of the cast was new. Sandeep Kulkarni, Kishore Kadam, and Ganesh Yadav—brilliant Marathi theatre actors—were in their early films, maybe their first. It was Saurabh Shukla’s first full-fledged role as a gangster, though he had a small part in Bandit Queen earlier. This was two years before his Kallu Mama role.
Most of the actors in Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin were fresh: Tara Deshpande’s first film, Smriti Mishra’s first released film, Nirmal’s second after Bandit Queen, and Ashish’s second after Droh Kaal. I loved working with them over 60-plus nights in Mumbai. I knew the city well by then, having made Dharavi and Main Zinda Hoon, set in a Mumbai chawl and Chikhalwadi behind Bhatia Hospital. I felt I belonged to Mumbai, and I loved it. The film turned out well, and I still get credit for it. It seems to have sparked a whole genre of filmmaking.
What do you remember of the raves that the film got?
I remember Ram Gopal Varma called me from Hyderabad, raving about the film for an hour. Anurag Kashyap and others loved it too. Ramu’s Satya came two years later. Even Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels came two years later. I disagree with the accusation that I ripped off Guy Ritchie in Yeh Saali Zindagi. I was aping myself!
More Pages: Is Raat Ki Subah Nahi Box Office Collection
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