When they first met in engineering college, Andhra boys Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK would team up to compete in quizzes and cultural events. After they moved to the US as software consultants, the duo started making “random short films” even though Raj lived in Detroit and DK was based in Minneapolis. In the early 2000s, they decided to give filmmaking a shot. The duo, who go by Raj & DK, have made four feature films — 99, Shor in the City, Go Goa Gone and Happy Ending since they moved to Mumbai in 2006. Their latest, A Gentleman, starring Sidharth Malhotra and Jacqueline Fernandez, is their most mainstream film yet. t2 met the director duo at Taj Lands End in Mumbai to chat about the film and what works for their partnership.
A Gentleman was initially supposed to be a sequel to the Hrithik Roshan-Katrina Kaif film Bang Bang...
Raj: When they brought us on, there was talk about it being a sequel. When they called us in for a meeting, they didn’t have a script. So we told them that we had a script for an action film. It’s a completely different script but the genre was the same. Instead of retrofitting a story into that genre, they decided to go with a fresh script.
DK: On the first day of shoot, the clap said ‘Not Bang Bang’. We tweeted that photo out and it went viral.
You’ve switched genres with every film. Is that a conscious decision?
Raj: Yes. We want every film to be different from the previous one.
DK: It’s more challenging and satisfying. This is the reason why we left our safe jobs in America and took the plunge into the unknown. We thought it would be worth all the risk we’ve taken only if we do something fresh every time.
Raj: There is a common thread that runs through all our films and that’s humour. Our sense of humour is slightly off-centre and quirky. Most of our films also have an element of action.
DK: Our need to switch genres is a reflection of the fact that we are essentially film fans. As an audience, we loved films of every genre. So, when we got an opportunity to make movies, we didn’t want to restrict ourselves to any specific kind.
Would it be correct to call A Gentleman your most commercial film yet?
Raj: Yeah. It is our most mainstream film but we have tried to infuse our independent sensibilities. This film is 99 on steroids but it looks commercial. We always knew that we were going to make a large action film but there are enough quirks in the script to keep our indie cred alive.
What are you like as collaborators? Is the process seamless now?
DK: Yeah…we’ve been working together for nine years now and we’ve made four films. There is no protocol or an office to go to. You get an idea, you call the other person. We are constantly writing and discussing ideas. We’ve got so used to working with each other.
Raj: We write and direct all our films. By the time we go on the floor, we have directed the film on paper.
DK: For this film, we even spilt up units to shoot separately. This movie looks big but it’s not very expensive. The budget of this movie is similar to a romcom shot on foreign locations with big stars. We would shoot action pieces separately. So, Raj could be shooting in a skyscraper and I would shoot on the streets. We would even exchange actors at the end of scenes. Once in a while we’d send a scene grab to each other just so we were both in the loop. It was very economical.
DK: We could shoot for 20 hours in a 10-hour day.
That clearly is a big plus for two people directing together. Are there cons?
Raj: There are disagreements but nothing very major. Like I said, we spend so much time with our script before we start shooting that most creases have already been ironed out by the time we go on the floor.
Nine years ago when you moved to Mumbai from the US, you didn’t know anyone in Bollywood. Do you feel like you belong now?
Raj: When we look back, we realise what a tough place this was to break into. We didn’t even have friends in Mumbai. We didn’t recognise producers or know which studios were making films.
DK: Forget knowing people, we didn’t even know the city. We were perpetually lost! The only thing that helped us was that we had these two proper scripts all written and bound. We could send those to people along with a short film that showed the kind of filmmakers we are. We even had a quirky two-minute trailer that was just text and sketches. It look us three-four years to get our first film (99).
Raj: I still think of ourselves as outsiders. We only know the people we work with. We haven’t met the most iconic people from the industry....
DK: Like Mr (Amitabh) Bachchan. Or Aditya Chopra.
What’s next for you guys?
Raj: Farzi is happening next. We haven’t finalised the entire cast. Once we are done with A Gentleman, we’ll be able to work on Farzi. It is one of our favourite scripts. It’s a… (long pause)
DK: We always find it tough to describe our films in genres. It’s a thriller but not a thriller.
Raj: It’s an action…crime-drama-thriller with a bit of humour. Compared to our previous films, it’s more socially relevant. It’s Shor in the City on steroids.
DK: Really?! (Both of them laugh) Apart from Farzi, we are also working on an Amazon series. We’ve averaged one film in two years. I think we need to pick up the pace.
Karishma Upadhyay
