Actor + Director = Seeking Repeat Success

In last weekend's Globe and Mail, Rick Groen raised an interesting point about the powerful collaborations between actors and directors.

But what of the relationship between directors and their favourite, frequently employed actors? This is pivotal, this has yielded some of the great pictures in cinema's history, but it tends to be examined only in passing, only within the separate contexts of individual careers. And that misses the obvious point. After all, if good directors are the sculptors of film, then good actors are their clay. Okay, maybe their granite (John Ford with John Wayne), or their wood (George Lucas with Harrison Ford). At any rate, the crucial raw material.

He mentions that if the combination works quite well, then the result is two-fold: (1) a worthy film and (2) a wish to repeat the experience and be worthy again. .

Although this collaboration does depend on how a director approaches his or her film. Rick Groen differentiates the two different styles used by Martin Scorsese & Hitchcock.

Consider, for instance, Martin Scorsese, whose finest movies are character-driven and who, by his own admission, gets “bored” directing plot. Well, if your goal is to delve deeply into character, then a great actor, flexible and nuanced, is an essential tool. Luckily for him, and us, Robert De Niro may be the greatest of his generation. In Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, especially Raging Bull, Scorsese's camera gives the work its wings, but it's De Niro's brilliance that finds, and illuminates, the riven heart of the film. This director relies absolutely on the symbiosis with his star – one is unthinkable without the other. And when the actor, his implement, gets too old for the protagonist's job, the director is obliged to find another. Which explains why, in The Aviator and Gangs of New York and The Departed, Scorsese has a new best friend in Leonardo DiCaprio.

By contrast, Alfred Hitchcock had scant interest in character and an abiding love for plot, along with the suspense that plot can generate. Consequently, he cultivated a reputation for regarding performers as little more than human props, set-dressing for his carefully planned story-boards – here insert Actress X in shower, there put Actor Y in cornfield. But shrewd ol' Hitch also had a keen eye for solid human props with commercial appeal, employing James Stewart in four of his classics (including Rear Window and Vertigo) and Cary Grant in another four (among them Suspicion and North by Northwest). These two stars are completely different actors, with different styles and mannerisms, and yet Hitchcock used them to equally strong effect. Still, while their performances enhance these pictures, they're not, like De Niro's, the essence of them. Hitchcock never really made actors' films.

The article is centered around Hollywood combinations with a line dropped in for Ingmar Bergman. So I decided to come up with a separate list of non-Hollywood films where an actor worked with the same director on multiple occasions.

Lee Kang-sheng & Tsai Ming-liang

Lee Kang-sheng has acted in all of Tsai Ming-liang's feature films, playing the same character in all the films, except in Goodbye, Dragon Inn where Lee Kang-sheng had a minor role. The two first worked together in Tsai Ming-liang's 1991 short film Youngsters after which they both ventured into their first feature in 1992's Rebels of the Neon God. Tsai Ming-liang's films contain a loose framework where the real beauty and charm lies in observing the character of Lee Kang-sheng growing up from a teenager to a young man, drifting from job to job and even indulging in few affairs. So naturally it makes sense for Tsai Ming-liang to continue to use Lee Kang-sheng repeatedly as he can count on his favourite actor to ease into any situation or location the screenplay requires. And the result is evident as their films have a consistent feel and have created their own universe set in Taiwan where all the films were shot except 2006's I Don't Want to Sleep Alone which was set in Kuala Lumpur.

In fact, I cannot imagine how the two will ever work without each other. Last year Tsai Ming-liang produced Lee Kang-sheng's directorial effort Help me Eros. The film was supposed to be a standalone effort, separate from the Tsai Ming-Liang films, yet Lee Kang-sheng plays a slight variation of the same character he normally plays in Tsai Ming-liang's films. And since Lee Kang-sheng has worked so closely with one director, it is not a surprize to see that his own directorial effort contains shades of Tsai Ming-liang.

Films and Shorts worked together:
I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (2006)
The Wayward Cloud (2005)
Good Bye, Dragon Inn (2003)
The Skywalk Is Gone (short film, 2002)
What Time Is It Over There? (2001)
The Hole (1998)
The River (1997)
Vive L'Amour (1994)
Rebels of the Neon God (1992)

Note: Of all the films, only Good Bye, Dragon Inn did not have Lee Kang-sheng in a starring role.

Jean-Pierre Léaud & François Truffaut

François Truffaut announced his arrival in an outstanding manner with 400 Blows, his directorial feature film debut in which a young 14 year old Jean-Pierre Léaud stole the show with his raw portrayal of Antoine Doinel. And almost a decade after the two first worked together, Truffaut revived the character of Antoine Doinel by using Jean-Pierre Léaud in Stolen Kisses, followed by two more films. It was a fascinating cinematic series where one could see the continuing adventures of a single character through his teenage years to adulthood.

Films worked together:
Love on the Run (1979)
Bed and Board (1970)
Stolen Kisses (1968)
The 400 Blows (1959)

The practice of using the same character in multiple films inspired Tsai Ming-liang who gives a hint of this in What Time Is It There? when Lee Kang-sheng's character is shown watching The 400 Blows. Also, near the end of What Time Is It There?, Jean-Pierre Léaud makes an appearance, tying a gigantic cinematic loop between France and Taiwan.

Interestingly, Tsai Ming-liang's next feature Visages stars both Lee Kang-sheng & Jean-Pierre Léaud.

Amitabh Bachchan with multiple directors

From the mid 1970's to late 1980's Amitabh Bachchan was the undisputed leading Indian actor who could easily mould himself to any director's need. He could play the street smart Jai for Ramesh Sippy's legendary Sholay, be the icy cold fearless coal miner for Yash Chopra's Kaala Patthar or shift gears and portray sensitive characters such as in Yash Chopra's Silsila or act in hilarious slapstick comedic roles such as in Prakash Mehra's Namak Halaal. There were multiple directors with whom Amitabh regularly worked and there were roles specifically written for Amitabh, especially to harness his portrayal of the "angry man". One director who forged a real partnership with Amitabh was Manmohan Desai. After working with Amitabh for Parvarish in 1977, Desai always found a place for his leading man in all his films until his last directorial feature Gangaa Jamunaa Saraswathi in 1988.

Just some of the major collaborations between Amitabh and his directors from the 1970's-80's.

with Manmohan Desai:
Gangaa Jamunaa Saraswathi (1988)
Mard (1985)
Coolie (1983)
Desh Premee (1982)
Naseeb (1981)
Suhaag (1979)
Amar Akbar Anthony (1977)
Parvarish (1977)

with Yash Chopra:
Silsila (1981)
Kaala Patthar (1979)
Trishul (1978)
Kabhi Kabhie (1976)
Deewaar (1975)

with Prakash Mehra:
Jaadugar (1989)
Sharaabi (1984)
Namak Halaal (1982)
Laawaris (1981)
Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978)

Klaus Kinski with Werner Herzog

Even though I have only seen two of the five features that Kinski worked with Herzog on, both these features left such an impression that I cannot imagine that any other director would have allowed Kinski to freedom to act out his demons so brilliantly like in Aguirre, the Wrath of God & Cobra Verde. There is a priceless scene near the end of Aguirre where Kinski is left on a raft with a few hundred monkeys; Kinski grabs a monkey in his hand, examines it and then throws away the animal in disgust. A simple scene but very effective. Herzog revealed that he did not instruct Kinski to toss the money away but was simply present on the raft with his cinematographer filming Kinski silently. So whatever unfolded on the raft was Kinski's improvisation. In a way, Herzog provided the intelligent spells of silence where Kinski would dive deep into his character and unleash raw emotions.

Films worked together:
Cobra Verde (1987)
Fitzcarraldo (1982)
Woyzeck (1979)
Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)

Shah Rukh Khan with Aziz Mirza, Aditya Chopra and Karan Johar

Long before he became the famous international superstar that he is today, Shah Rukh Khan started his career by working in tv serials such as Circus and Fauji. One of the directors of Circus was Aziz Mirza. When Mirza decided to direct his first feature film (Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman), he naturally turned to Shah Rukh, one of the tv serial's impressive actors. Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman was a sweet charming film about an everyday working class hero and did well enough to allow both actor and director to get a foothold in the industry. Shah Rukh Khan moved onto a variety of projects both from small budget works such as Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa and Maya (Ketan Mehta's loose adaptation of Madame Bovary) to big budget films such as Subhash Ghai's Trimurti. Shah Rukh also played an assorted set of characters from an action hero to even negative roles such as in Daar (an Indian version of Cape Fear) & Anjaam. However, all that changed when Shah Rukh Khan starred in Aditya Chopra's debut film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge released in 1995.

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge marked the arrival of Yash Chopra's son, Aditya, and its immense box office success established Shah Rukh Khan as a bankable leading man. But the most important consequence of that film's success was that Shah Rukh Khan would become the poster boy for romantic roles in Yash Raj films (production company of Yash and Aditya Chopra), starring in endless love stories and love triangles. Since 1995 Shah Rukh has hardly ventured into any serious acting roles. Even in a historic period film such as Asoka, Shah Rukh Khan's character is busy chasing a girl around trees and waterfalls. Shah Rukh has starred not only in Aditya's films such as the mammoth Mohabbatein, a 4 hour long sugary film which featured 4 love stories, but also played the romantic lead in films which Aditya penned for his father Yash to direct (Dil To Pagal Hai and Veer-Zaara ). On top of that, Shah Rukh Khan has become a critical component of Karan Johar's love sagas, featuring in all of Karan's movies. It is not a surprize to learn that Shah Rukh Khan will star in both Karan and Aditya's next ventures.

Aziz Mirza only used Shah Rukh Khan as his leading man for his first four features. This year's Kismat Konnection was supposed to be the first time that Aziz took on a new leading man in Shahid Kapoor. However, the presence of Shah Rukh is evident as he is the film's narrator and Shahid's character is just an extension of the role that Shah Rukh played in Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman. On top of that Shahid copies Shah Rukh's antics in quite a few scenes. So even though Aziz has not taken Shah Rukh in his new movie, he cannot help break free his association with his main leading man.

Films with Aziz Mirza:
Chalte Chalte (2003)
Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani (2000)
Yes Boss (1997)
Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman (1992)

with Aditya Chopra:
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008), to be released later this year
Mohabbatein (2000)
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)

with Karan Johar:
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006)
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001)
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998)

Govinda with David Dhawan

David Dhawan is known in Bollywood for his crude and vulgar comedies filled with double meaning dialogues laced with sexual innuendo and raunchy songs. Ofcourse, the success of David Dhawan would not have been possible without Govinda's presence. Govinda was the only actor who could have effortlessly carried out the rapid fire dialogues required by Dhawan and could wear the most bizarre wardrobe (including brightly coloured tight t-shirts despite Govinda having a round figure) while dancing some of the silliest moves to ever grace the Bollywood screen.

It was Aankhen in 1993 that set both Govinda & David Dhawan on the crude comedy path and it also marked the first time Dhawan's movie would feature two leading men chasing two women. This pattern was repeated by Dhawan in other Govinda films such as Partner, Jodi No.1, Ek Aur Ek Gyarah and Haseena Maan Jaayegi. A slight variation of this theme was where Dhawan's films (both with Govinda and without him) would have two men chasing one woman (Deewana Mastana, Mujse Shaadi Karogi) or would have one man courting two women (Saajan Chale Sasural, Gharwali Baharwali).

Govinda's films with Dhawan:
Partner (2007)
Ek Aur Ek Gyarah (2003)
Kyo Kii... Main Jhuth Nahin Bolta (2001)
Jodi No.1 (2001)
Kunwara (2000)
Haseena Maan Jaayegi (1999)
Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (1998)
Deewana Mastana (1997)
Hero No. 1 (1997)
Banarasi Babu (1997)
Saajan Chale Sasural (1996)
Coolie No. 1 (1995)
Raja Babu (1994)
Aankhen (1993)
Shola Aur Shabnam (1992)
Swarg (1990)

Not leading men but still vital collaborations

Paresh Rawal with Priyadarshan

Priyadarshan's Hera Pheri showed that it is possible to make an entertaining commercial Bollywood film with an intelligent script. In a way, Hera Pheri marked a distinct change in Priyadarshan's commercial film direction. After the success of that comedy, he favoured making light hearted entertaining films, unlike some of his earlier serious efforts such as the brilliant Virasat. Hera Pheri also shone the light brightly on Paresh Rawal, who stole the film with his excellent comedic timing. Rawal was at his best in Hera Pheri and since then Priyadarshan has ensured he gets Paresh involved in all his comedic ventures, albeit in small roles. And in virtually all their joined efforts, Paresh has lit up the screen with his unique comedic take.

Rawal's efforts with Priyadarshan:
Mere Baap Pehle Aap (2008)
Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007)
Bhagam Bhag (2006)
Malamaal Weekly (2006)
Garam Masala (2005)
Hulchul (2004)
Hungama (2003)
Yeh Teraa Ghar Yeh Meraa Ghar (2001)
Hera Pheri (2000)

Suet Lam with Johnny To

Johnny To has used quite a few familiar faces in his films (such as Simon Yam) but Suet Lam occupies a special place in Johnny To's trademark gangster films. Sometimes Suet Lam has a key role, such as in P.T.U where his character's misplaced gun kick-starts an entire night of events in the film, while in other films he provides a short cameo. In 2007's Triangle, three directors directed a single film with no clear marking where one director's work ends. However, one can identify when Johnny To's portion started as soon as Suet Lam's character arrived on the screen. Indeed shortly after the arrival of Suet Lam, Triangle moves into a climatic gun shoot sequence, which is beautifully filmed Johnny To style.

Films worked together:
Cultured Bird (2008)
Flying Butterfly (2008)
Mad Detective (2007)
Triangle (2007)
Exiled (2006)
Election 2 (2006)
Election (2005)
Breaking News (2004)
Turn Left, Turn Right (2003)
PTU (2003)
Love for All Seasons (2003)

Spotlight on Bollywood

Love -- Dreams, Fantasy & Heartbreak:



Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya is a combination of three sources:

Fyodor Dostoevsky's short story White Nights

a mix of Bhansali's two older films -- Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam & Devdas

Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge.

If these three elements were not complicated enough, then Bhansali has to deal with the added challenge of debuting two famous Bollywood star kids -- Ranbir Kapoor & Sonam Kapoor. Since Ranbir Kapoor is the youngest actor of the famous Prithivraj & Raj Kapoor family, Bhansali has added a few tributes to the famous RK banner films. When all these elements are blended together and garnished with plenty of songs, the end result is an uneven serving of art, drama, poetry & numbing torture. Sure, at moments the true beauty of Bhansali's vision shines through but overall, this is a pretty disappointing effort.



As far as the newcomers are concerned, they have done an outstanding job! In fact, both Ranbir and Sonam have captured the true complexities of their Dostoevsky characters perfectly. The script has only tweaked the personalities of Dostoevsky's characters slightly so it is easy to compare the actor's performances with those penned by Dostoevsky. Essentially, Raj (Ranbir) is a dreamer who tries to find happiness in life despite the lonely sadness that exists inside his heart. Sakina (Sonam) is also a dreamer but she can shift from happiness to misery in an instant. In the film, Sonam Kapoor's expressions are perfect in all scenes -- when she is laughing we can detect a hint of sadness in her smiles and when she is crying, we can detect the laughter that is about to errupt. And Ranbir Kapoor brightens up the screen with his refreshing performance and makes watching the movie bearable.

The sets and costumes are top-notch, as one would expect in a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film. There is beauty to be found around every corner of the dreamy constructed city. Ravi K. Chandran's cinematography is excellent as well. There are two shots that stand out for me -- one is a hovering crane shot when Raj is running past the bridge and the second is a shot when Sakina is running in an alley. The camera follows Sakina on her run and in that brief moment, the movie does achieve a moment of beauty and poetry. Unfortunately, the numerous songs and the pointless character of Rani Mukherjee ruins any flow in the movie. If the songs were good, then it might have made things a bit more watchable but except the title song, all the remaining songs are average and the videos are badly choreographed.

Hockey as a unifying sport:



Rarely has a predictable movie been so enjoyable! The trailers of Chak De India give away the entire formulaic story -- a disgraced ex-field hockey player takes on a coaching job that no one wants and despite all odds, turns things around to become a hero again! But thanks to a fresh and lively cast of newcomers and some smart decisions by director Shimit Amin, Chak De India is a very pleasant film to watch. Two particular scenes stand out as being good decisions by Amin and they both involve the characters of Kabir Khan (Shahrukh Khan) & Bindia Naik (Shilpa Shukla).

Scene One: Bindia Naik is a senior hockey player who does not believe in following rules and makes life difficult for her coach, Kabir Khan. After a confrontation, Kabir orders Bindia off the field. The camera follows Bindia from the field to the bench and remains focused on her face while Kabir's character disappears in the background. Normally, in other Bollywood movies this is how the sequence would have been filmed -- after Kabir would have ordered Bindia off the field, the camera would have shown Bindia's face, then cut back to Kabir Khan and then cut back to show that Bindia is seated on the bench. The rule of thumb in most Bollywood films is to always focus on the 'star' whereas other characters mean nothing. In this case, Shimit gives plenty of screen time to a cast of newcomers which is a great thing to see.

Scene Two: Bindia is upset that she is not selected as the team captain. She confronts Kabir and mentions that she is willing to do anything to become captain. The camera is only focused on both their faces. We can hear Bindia unzip her top. The camera shifts to Kabir's face. Then the camera moves back slightly but still stays focused on both character's faces. We hear Kabir unzip Bindia's top back up. What is interesting about this scene is that the camera shows the emotion on both character's faces whereas several other Bollywood directors would instead have focused the camera on Bindia's assets and would have had a close-up shot of Kabir's hand on the zipper.

Both the above scenes may seem like minor aspects but the movie is packed with plenty of such tiny details. The end result of all these shots is that Shimit has ensured that the audience only focuses on the relevant details. A truly fun film!

Drama -- Emotion & Tears:



Feroze Khan's Gandhi, My Father is an emotional voyage about a story that has rarely been told. Everyone has heard about Mahatma Gandhi but how many people have heard about his son Harilal Gandhi? Feroze Khan has based the movie on two novels about Harilal Gandhi and included a few selected events from his life. At the film's start, we see an almost dead Harilal. While lying in a hospital bed, he remembers certain key moments of his life. Via flashbacks we see some episodes from Harilal's life -- his youth, education and marriage followed by his failed business ventures to his religious conversions & eventual decline.

While the movie has some flaws (pacing mostly), it can't be ignored. Khan has set up his scenes in such a manner that we can truly focus on Gandhi's son. Even though Harilal made some wrong decisions in his life, the film tries to simply depict his gradual decline and misery without passing judgment. Sometimes, incidents in a person's childhood forever alter the course of their life. In Harilal's case, at a very early age his father's principles alienated him and shocked him deeply.

Personally, it was difficult to watch this movie because it was clear that there was no happiness around the corner. Even when people help Harilal or offer him shelter, it is clear that nothing can save him from the path of destruction. Gandhi death's shocked the nation whereas Harilal quietly disappeared from the world 5 months after his father. Credit goes to Feroze Khan for making this movie. It is not an easy film to watch but it is one that I can't get out of my mind. Even writing these words makes me shudder at the thought of Harilal's fate.

Comedy -- Ghosts, Treasure Hunts & some romance:




Did Priyadarshan get lucky with his 2000 film Hera Pheri? That movie is still one of the best comedies to have come out of Bollywood in the last decade. But since then, Priyadarshan has directed a handful of comedies with mixed results -- movies such as Hulchul, Hungama & Garam Masala had plenty of hilarious moments but the movies were also plagued with poor stories. Based on that track record, I didn't have too much hope from Bhool Bhulaiyaa but was pleasantly surprized! The movie is an easy mix of humour, horror and mystery. The first hour flows at such a leisurely pace that it is difficult to believe that this is a Priyadarshan film. But things pick up considerably as soon as Akshay Kumar enters the screen at the hour mark. In fact, within two minutes of screen time, Akshay Kumar injects more life into the film than that of the previous hour. Eventually, things settle down and head towards a very interesting climax. Not bad.

Well any good work that Priyadarshan achieved with Bhool Bhulaiyaa, he wasted it with Dhol, a terribly boring comedy about 4 friends who want to get rich quickly. Awful screenplay and bad acting.

Dhamaal is also a comedy about 4 men who want to get rich fast but it is a much better effort than Dhol. The humour in Dhamaal is good and the jokes are evenly distributed throughout the movie so that the comedy does not get too dull. Even though the movie was decent to watch, a better story with some additional editing could have made this a much better film.

David Dhawan made his name in Bollywood with crude & vulgar comedies in the early 90's with Govinda as his star. Eventually, Govinda dropped out of the pictures and Dhawan moved onto less crude comedies with Salman Khan. Over the last few years, he has tried different pairings for his comedies -- Salman Khan & Sanjay Dutt, Govinda with Sanjay. And now finally he has paired Govinda with Salman. Unfortunately, Dhawan forgot to have a screenplay. As a result, Partner is just a painful movie, even by David Dhawan's standards. In fact, Partner is so bad that it makes me long for his crude comedies from the 90's.

Cheeni Kum may have sounded like a good idea on paper but ends up being a pretty dull end product. Yawn.

Action -- Fight, Explosives & Loud Noise:



Watching Anubhav Sinha's Cash was pure torture! The pointless loud action sequences combined with awful performances and a poor screenplay made Cash a real waste of money. The best aspect of the movie is the closing credits song -- "Aye Chorrey". That last song is pleasant to hear and shot in an easy cool manner, unlike the rest of the film. Yuck!



Sholay is still considered to be one of the best Bollywood movies ever made! It is perfect in every aspect -- great screenplay, fascinating characters (the villain Gabbar Singh is still the greatest ever villain in Indian, yes Indian not just Bollywood, film history) & memorable music. So when Ram Gopal Varma wanted to remake the movie as a matter of tribute, it sounded like a bad idea. But no one could have ever imagined that the director of such cutting edge films as Rangeela & Satya would go on to make one of the worst films in Bollywood's history. It is shameful to even say Aag is someone's tribute to Sholay. Every scene is packed with mistakes -- bad acting, poor screenplay, terrible characters and forgettable songs. Unfortunately, I still can't give this movie a Rating of 0 because there are some decent camera angles in the movie. In some scenes, the camera hovers effortlessly over the characters and in most scenes, the camera is below the waist level and glares upwards towards the characters. Ofcourse, one easily forgets this good camera work when any character opens their mouth. Painful, utter torture!!!

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Film (Director): Ratings out of 10
Note: All movies released in 2007

Chak De India (Shimit Amin): 8.5
Gandhi, My Father (Feroze Khan): 8
Bhool Bhulaiyaa(Priyadarshan): 7.5
Saawariya (Sanjay Leela Bhansali): 7
Dhamaal (Indra Kumar): 6.5
Cheeni Kum (R. Balki): 5.5
Dhol (Priyadarshan): 4.5
Partner (David Dhawan): 4
Cash (Anubhav Sinha): 3.5
Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag: 2