Long thread... Was reminded that on 7th Aug, it'd been 5 years since my first film, Bangistan released. You probably didn't see it, and if you did you may have forgotten to mention it to me :) I don't ever rewatch my own work once out, but it's 2020 and anything can happen.

So I got together with Vatsal N (DA/asst on the film, co-writer now) over a drink and Zoom and decided to give it a go. We realized that we'd done some really fun, quirky, inside-y touches in the film that merited chronicling. So here we go.

For eg background action. Inspired by Roy Anderson's films (writer @SumitPurohit is a fan), there were all sorts of mini-stories going on. Here a bunch of sadhus are playing badminton by the ghats. There's also a blimp in the air.

Later on a bunch of Muslims turn up and they too are badminton fans. The Keep Calm idea came from something similar I saw on the Tube in London. Writer @PuneetKrishna (second from right) in a cameo.

The 'neutral' newspaper in the film is called Bangistan Mirror. Before filming started had been I had a super fun run writing film reviews for Mumbai Mirror. I remember the art dept had a hard time finding matching fonts.

The not-so-neutral paper was called NKT. Where the K stood for...

We wanted a stretch limo for this guy but a regular white Ambassador turned up on shoot. It had a working horn, but we added a couple more... (could we still do this?)

The good Imam's Skype list had all the heads of religions of the time... and Richard Dawkins.

On the cover of the magazine is actress Joanna Kulig. She had auditioned for and selected to play this one-scene part, but it didn't work out. It was nice to still have her in the film in this odd way.

Crazily, Kulig ended up acting in Cold War, which won Best Foreign Film at the Oscars. Fun fact - we got to hang out with Pawel Pawlikowski, the director, while filming.

This was an incisive scene where a chill, high, lib Ravan drops truth bombs. The C-board didn't think it was chill and blunted the dialogue (like much of the rest of the film). But maybe they missed this bit where Ram and Laxman are protecting him from an enraged H.

FcDonald's was quite visible, but my favorite bit was their real, live Ronald-type mascot and their delivery 'mules'...

The mules re-appear in a dream about what jannat might be like (maybe its Scandinavia, where the Northern Lights are). Yeah, we took a few chances.

Inside, as an aside, we learn that Hafeez ( @Riteishd) is a feminist and a gentleman!

This poster was inspired by the iconic Uncle Sam's I Want You for the US Army poster, completing the ironical setting with the burgers and the leader's penchant for diet cola.

There was a running theme of entries to key locations. Above ground, they were small and and unremarkable. But once inside, the scene underground was expansive and quite the contrary. The BPO of the Mountains-

Bobbitsky's lair - a potato field and barn topside, a Star-Trek-inspired alien spaceship basement he calls Area 52.

The Bull and Boar. A bar named after two things the boys can't eat (or drink at, because haraam).

A few dates were mentioned. The C-board saw through 2 of 3. Still, easy to figure out what they could've been. Trying to sneak these in was ambitious on our part, I agree. DM for clues.

On a lighter note... this book on 'The Hindoos' is authored by a British gentleman who goes by the name D. Viders.

"birader"

Ah, Goya's The Third of May 1808 inspired this moment. Subverting history to serve a mangled perspective, et al.

Tamim's card unfolded into a large list of his professions, including matchmaker, sausage deliveries, and BDSM services. We shot him ( @IamRoySanyal) in a bunch of these avatars but they didn't make the cut.

His jacket was a straight up tribute to what Ryan Gosling wore in Refn's Drive. Because he was in that moment a, uh, driver.

Lots of play on this one. Ermm, thanks GnR and @axlrose?

Banksy in Poland. Anti-war, anti-hate. But on the fringes...

The numbers dialled are 786786, 108108.

Russian bomb infomercial. Spudnik - coz potato farm+Russian+Friends tribute; the Crimean invasion was on at the time. That's the alien from Ridley Scott's classic in the background.

Self-explanatory. Shot by @MihirBDesai, who helmed the second unit.

Posters inspired by Shepard Fairey's Hope artwork.

The cops were called Wai Kar Wong and P Jackson.

Praveen ( @PulkitSamrat) channeling Taxi Driver. I'll never get over that film. Joker can take a walk.

Jesus watching from the sidelines as the Hindus and Muslims 'cross'.

Tribute to 70's Hindi filmmaking technique of letters being read out, but with a twist: you can see their backs from behind.

That kid doesn't look happy...

Some thought was put into colors and framing. (DoP @SzymonLenkowski)

And to cap it off, the big one (for me) - Bangistan was the first film to feature the crossguard lightsaber, even before Kylo Ren was seen swinging it in The Force Awakens. Fun times.