The success of the black-and-white silent film The Artist seems to have goaded the makers of the new Pankaj Kapoor film Happi into action.
Like The Artist, Happi featuring Pankaj Kapoor in a Charlie Chaplinesque avatar, was originally shot in colour and was converted into black-and-white. There is now talk of turning Happi into a silent film, just like The Artist.
However, Bhavna Talwar denies being inspired by The Artist in any direct way. Says Bhavna, “We did convert our film into black-and-white. But that happened long before The Artist was completed and released. When we decided on the conversion, we had never heard of The Artist. But yes, it’s great to see some another filmmaker in another part of the world thinking on the same lines.”
In fact, it can now be revealed that post the success of The Artist, Bhavna Talwar is planning to ready a version of Happi for the international market.
“Why not? If the French can do it, make a global impact with a warm and emotional black-and-white film, so can we,” reasons Bhavna.
Bhavna now leaves for LA to explore the market for her film. As for converting Happi into a silent film Bhavna says, “There’s a practical problem with that. Pankajji plays a man who either speaks too much or not at all. Once he starts he can’t stop. But let’s see.”
