Last Train to Mahakali

Last updated

Last Train to Mahakali
Written byAnurag Kashyap
Directed by Anurag Kashyap
Starring Kay Kay Menon
Nivedita Bhattacharya
Vijay Maurya
Lovleen Mishra
Shrivallabh Vyas
Music byShaarang Dev
Country of originIndia
Original languageHindi
Production
ProducerManish Tiwari
Cinematography Natarajan Subramaniam ("Natty")
Editor Aarti Bajaj
Running time45 min.
Budget INR 400,000
Original release
Network StarPlus
Release1999 (1999)

Last Train to Mahakali is a 1999 Indian Hindi-language thriller film written and directed by Anurag Kashyap, produced by Manish Tiwari and Saket Bahl. It was made for the Star Plus television series Star Bestsellers and was first telecast in 1999. The film won the Special Jury Award at the 8th Annual Star Screen Awards. [1] In 2005, it was one of the four short films screened at an event organized by Films Anonymous at Hyderabad. [2]

Contents

The film tells the story of a doctor on death row who claims to have discovered a permanent cure for any virus-based disease. It stars Kay Kay Menon and Nivedita Bhattacharya.

Production

Anurag Kashyap got an opportunity to direct Last Train to Mahakali in a moment of disenchantment. Producer duo Manish Tiwari and Saket Bahl were looking to produce quality content with potential talents in different capacities. Anurag Kashyap who showed both the potential and desire to debut as a director, discussed a few stories with the producers. After a lot of deliberation, the story of 'Last Train to Mahakali ' was finalized among them. Manish Tiwari, Saket Bahl and Anurag Kashyap narrated the script to Star Plus. The channel liked the script but they were skeptical about the final product and they said that they would give their final decision only after the film is completed. Despite the risk involved in this process, the producers Manish Tiwari and Saket Bahl went ahead with the production by having a strong conviction on the script and Anurag Kashyap's abilities as a director. This film had not only introduced the talented and successful director Anurag Kashyap but also successfully introduced few more distinctive talents to the hindi film industry such as Cinematographer Natarajan Subramanyam and Production Designer Wasiq Khan. Star Plus saw the final product and happily agreed to screen it on the channel as a part of the series – Star Bestsellers – which showcased the work of young and upcoming producers, writers and directors.

Kashyap contacted cinematographer Natarajan (Natty); he had liked Natty's work in the music videos of the band Euphoria. Producers flew Natty from Delhi to shoot the film and gathered the entire passionate and creative crew to match up with the vision of Anurag Kashyap and the conviction of Manish Tiwari - Saket Bahl. They shot the entire film in over four days. The shooting inside a train was done using a DV camera that Kashyap borrowed from a friend who was working as a producer at MTV, after promising him a role in the film. [3]

Reception

The film was aired on Star Plus and was well received by the audience; the shooting style, more than the story, was appreciated. [3] It won the Special Jury Award at the 8th Annual Star Screen Awards. [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>No Smoking</i> (2007 film) 2007 Indian film

No Smoking is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language thriller film written and directed by Anurag Kashyap and co-produced by Vishal Bhardwaj and Kumar Mangat. The film stars John Abraham, Ayesha Takia, Ranvir Shorey and Paresh Rawal in the lead roles, while Bipasha Basu appears in an Item number. The film is loosely based upon the 1978 short story "Quitters, Inc." by Stephen King, which was previously adapted as one of three segments featured in the Hollywood anthology film, Cat's Eye (1985). It became the second Indian film after Julie Ganapathi and the first Hindi-language film to be adapted from Stephen King's work. The story follows K (Abraham), a self-obsessed, narcissist chain smoker who agrees to kick his habit to save his marriage and visits a rehabilitation centre, but is caught in a labyrinth game by Baba Bengali (Rawal), the man who guarantees he will make him quit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vikramaditya Motwane</span> Indian film director and producer

Vikramaditya Motwane is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who works in Hindi cinema. He is known for films like Udaan (2010), Lootera (2013), Trapped (2017), and Bhavesh Joshi Superhero (2018).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anurag Kashyap</span> Indian film director and screenwriter (born 1972)

Anurag Kashyap is an Indian film director and actor known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of four Filmfare Awards. For his contributions to film, the Government of France made him a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natarajan Subramaniam</span> Indian actor (born 1971)

Natarajan "Natty" Subramanian is an Indian cinematographer and actor who has worked in blockbuster and highly acclaimed Hindi and Tamil films. As an actor, he achieved recognition through his performance as a con artist in Sathuranga Vettai (2014).

<i>Om-Dar-B-Dar</i> 1988 Indian film

Om Dar-B-Dar is a 1988 Indian Hindi-language postmodernist film directed by Kamal Swaroop and starring Anita Kanwar, Aditya Lakhia and Gopi Desai. The film, about the adventures of a school boy named Om along with his family, is set in Ajmer and Pushkar in Rajasthan, and employs nonlinear narrative and an absurdist story line to satirise mythology, arts, politics and philosophy. The film won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie in 1989.

Saturday Suspense is an Indian television suspense thriller series aired on Zee TV, which premiered on 5 April 1997. The series ended on 1 May 1999. Each episode of the series was 1 hour long, and produced by a different production company. Some of the noted producers and directors that have produced/directed Saturday Suspense stories are Shyam Ramsay, Manish Tiwari, Saket Bahl, Homi Wadia, Anant Mahadevan, Vivek Agnihotri, Mahesh Aney, Anurag Basu, Deepak Tijori, Ashutosh Gowariker, Raj Tilak, Vikram Bhatt & Ashok Shekhar.

Rajeev Ravi is an Indian cinematographer, director, and producer from Kochi, Kerala. He's best known for his work in Hindi and Malayalam films. After graduating from Film and Television Institute of India, Pune in 1997, he started his career by assisting in the Malayalam film, Pranayavarnangal (1998) shot by Santosh Thundiyil. He debuted as a cinematographer with the film Chandni Bar (2001), when he was launched by producer R. Mohan when the original cinematographer Venu had date clashes. The film was directed by Madhur Bhandarkar.

<i>Udaan</i> (2010 film) 2010 film by Vikramaditya Motwane

Udaan (transl. 'Flight') is a 2010 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age drama film directed by Vikramaditya Motwane in his directorial debut. It was produced by Sanjay Singh, Anurag Kashyap and Ronnie Screwvala under their production companies Anurag Kashyap Films and UTV Spotboy respectively. Written by Motwane and Kashyap, the film stars debutante Rajat Barmecha, Ronit Roy, Aayan Boradia, Ram Kapoor, Manjot Singh and Anand Tiwari, and follows the story of a teen who is forced to live with his oppressive father back home after he is expelled from boarding school.

<i>Mumbai Cutting</i> 2008 Indian film

Mumbai Cutting is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language anthology film comprising eleven short films, telling eleven different stories based on life in Mumbai, which are directed by a host of eleven directors: Anurag Kashyap, Sudhir Mishra, Rahul Dholakia, Kundan Shah, Revathy, Jahnu Barua, Rituparno Ghosh, Shashanka Ghosh, Ruchi Narain, Ayush Raina and Manish Jha. Music for one of the stories was composed by Ilaiyaraja.

<i>Ugly</i> (film) 2013 film by Anurag Kashyap

Ugly is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language thriller film written, co-produced and directed by Anurag Kashyap. Jointly produced by Phantom Films and DAR Motion Pictures, the film stars Rahul Bhat, Ronit Roy, Tejaswini Kolhapure, Vineet Kumar Singh, Girish Kulkarni, Surveen Chawla and Anshika Shrivastava in the lead roles. It also features TV actor Abir Goswami in his last film appearance before his death in 2013. Told in the course of a week, Ugly follows the story of a struggling actor Rahul Varshney (Bhat), whose daughter Kali (Shrivastava) disappears, and the events that follow.

<i>Bombay Velvet</i> 2015 Indian film

Bombay Velvet is a 2015 Indian period gangster film directed and co-produced by Anurag Kashyap, based on historian Gyan Prakash's book Mumbai Fables. It stars Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Karan Johar in lead roles, with Kay Kay Menon, Manish Choudhary, Vivaan Shah and Siddhartha Basu appearing in supporting roles. The film was released on 15 May 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phantom Studios</span> Indian film production and distribution company

Phantom Studios is an Indian film production and distribution company established by Madhu Mantena, Anurag Kashyap, Vikas Bahl, and Vikramaditya Motwane. It was founded in 2011 by all four of them, and was cited as the "directors' company". In March 2015, Reliance Entertainment picked up 50% stake in the company.

Wasiq Khan is an Indian production designer and art director, who works in Bollywood. He has two daughters. He is known for his gritty realism in Anurag Kashyap's films such as That Girl in Yellow Boots (2011) and Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), and Masala films such as Dabangg (2010), Raanjhanaa (2013), and Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (2013) directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vikas Bahl</span> Indian filmmaker

Vikas Bahl is an Indian filmmaker, best known for directing Chillar Party (2011), Queen (2013), Super 30 (2019), and Shaitaan (2024).

Meraj Shaikh is an Indian film producer and Line Producer and the founder of Wingman Pictures, He was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra in 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anurag Kashyap filmography</span>

Anurag Kashyap is an Indian filmmaker and actor, known for his work in Hindi cinema. After writing a television series Kabhie Kabhie (1997), Kashyap co-wrote Ram Gopal Varma's crime drama Satya (1998). He later wrote and directed a short television film, Last Train to Mahakali (1999), and made his feature film debut with the yet-unreleased film Paanch. He next directed Black Friday (2007), a film on the 1993 Bombay bombings. Its release was barred by India's Censor Board for two years, but was eventually released in 2007 to positive reviews. The same year, he directed the critical and commercial failure No Smoking. Return of Hanuman (2007), an animated film, was Kashyap's next directorial venture. In 2009, he directed Dev.D, a modern-day take on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's Bengali novel Devdas, along with the political drama Gulaal. Despite positive reviews, the latter was a box-office failure.

<i>Mukkabaaz</i> 2017 film

Mukkabaaz, released internationally as The Brawler, is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language sports drama film co-written, co-produced and directed by Anurag Kashyap. Jointly produced by Aanand L. Rai's Colour Yellow Productions and Phantom Films, the film stars Vineet Kumar Singh, debutant Zoya Hussain, Ravi Kishan and Jimmy Shergill in the lead roles. It follows Shravan Kumar (Singh), an aspiring boxer, who falls in love with the niece of the boxing federation head, Bhagwan Das Mishra (Shergill). Kashyap, Singh, Mukti Singh Srinet, K.D.Satyam, Ranjan Chandel and Prasoon Mishra wrote the script.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ritesh Shah</span> Indian screenwriter (born 1976)

Ritesh Shah is an Indian screenwriter who works in Hindi films. He has written the screenplay and dialogues for films like Kahaani (2012), Pink (2016), Airlift (2017) and Raid (2018). He won the Filmfare award, Star Screen Award and Zee Cine Award in the Best Dialogue category for Pink.

In the Indian state of Jharkhand, films are produced in various regional and tribal languages including Kudmali, Hindi, Nagpuri, Khortha and Santali. Film industry in state of Jharkhand is also known as Jhollywood.

<i>Manmarziyaan</i> 2018 Indian film

Manmarziyaan is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama directed by Anurag Kashyap and written by Kanika Dhillon. Starring Abhishek Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, and Vicky Kaushal in lead roles, it is jointly produced by Phantom Films and Aanand L. Rai's Colour Yellow Productions.

References

  1. 1 2 8th Annual Asian Paints STAR SCREEN Weekly Awards Archived 24 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Short films show
  3. 1 2 The 'Pahli Seedi' Anurag Kashyap interview Excerpts from an interview (in Hindi) conducted by Pravesh Bhardwaj and Ajay Brahmatmaj
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.