(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Filmmaker Kundan Shah, who gave Indian cinema a different brand of humour with the cult black comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro and subsequently television shows like Nukkad and Wagle Ki Duniya with the common man at the centre stage, died in Mumbai yesterday, a family member said. He was 69.
'He died in his sleep, the relative said. Satish Kaushik, who wrote the dialogues for Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro and also acted in the film, said Shah suffered a cardiac arrest.
Shah's last rites were performed at Shivaji Park in Dadar West here in the evening.
The filmmaker, hailed by the Indian film fraternity as a 'master storyteller, would have turned 70 on October 19.
His tryst with learning about film direction began at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune. Just last week, he was at the institute for an event. He had even paid a tribute to actor Tom Alter, who died on September 29, and had spoken about a tentative script that he wrote for part two of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, his debut directorial in 1983.
In an interview to IANS, Shah had said he had applied for a loan of Rs400,000 to make the movie, but then the production cost went up and finally it was made at a budget of Rs725,000 as the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) came on board as producer.
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro narrated the tale of two simple and honest photographers, who witness a murder and get dragged into the corrupt real estate circle where politicians and bureaucrats are involved. The film, laced with slapstick comedy, didn't fetch good box office, but achieved cult status with time.
'When I was making the film, I never thought it would be such an acclaimed movie. Every filmmaker has some dreams and this film has given me more than I dreamt of. It surpassed my expectations, Shah had told IANS.
He received his first and only National Film Award - Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director - for it. This was the same award that Shah returned to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting during student protests in FTII in 2015 over Gajendra Chauhan's appointment as its chairman.
The movie featured actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Ravi Baswani, Om Puri, Pankaj Kapur, Satish Shah, Satish Kaushik, Bhakti Barve and Neena Gupta. And Shah believed it gave 'a lot to the entire cast and crew and its success is beyond their imagination too.
After making Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, Shah moved to television and worked there for seven years - giving such gems as Nukkad, Wagle Ki Duniya and Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, all of which gave the Indian audience a reason to laugh away their worries with stories of everyday struggles.
With its simple yet compelling narrative, the Doordarshan show Nukkad, told stories of lower income people battling issues while trying to survive in a tough social and economic climate.
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