The success of the black-and-white silent film The Artist seems to have goaded the makers of the brand new Pankaj Kapoor film Happi into action.
Like The Artist, Happi featuring Pankaj Kapoor in a Charlie Chaplinesque avatar, was originally shot in colour and was converted into black-and-white. There's now talk of turning Happi right into a silent film, identical to The Artist.
However, Bhavna Talwar denies being inspired by The Artist in any direct way.
Says Bhavna, "We did convert our film into black-and-white. But that happened long before The Artist was completed and released. After we selected the conversion, we had never heard of The Artist. But yes, it's great to look some another filmmaker in another a part of the sector thinking at the same lines."
In fact, it may possibly now be revealed that post the success of The Artist, Bhavna Talwar is planning to ready a version of Happi for the international market.
"Why not? If the French can do it, make an international impact with a warm and emotional black-and-white film, so can we," reasons Bhavna.
Bhavna now leaves for LA to explore the marketplace for her film. As for converting Happi right into a silent film Bhavna says, "THERE IS A practical problem with that. Pankajji plays a person who either speaks an excessive amount of or under no circumstances. Once he starts he can't stop. But let's see."
