'3 Idiots', Second Assistant Director, Karan Tejpal

0:00Karan TejpalAnd, well, a very funny incident I remember was when, the actors had to get drunk for that scene that they're shooting on the, on top of that, water tank, which in itself was a really risky shoot because there was, it was a very, fragile... I mean, not very fragile, but there was a limit to how many people could go up to that water tank…

0:22Jawad MirYeah

0:22Karan Tejpal... And what kind of equipment could go up to that water tank. The final ascent was on a ladder, so that shoot had to be really designed with that in mind very specifically. And then, I think it was Ambit who came up with this idea that, hey, let's have a couple of drinks and, you know, loosen ourselves up. And then yeah, sure enough, the actors were quite, drunk, and that really showed very beautifully in that scene. And, you know…

0:44Jawad MirYeah

0:44Karan Tejpal... So it was a, it was a very fun, sequence, actually.

0:52Jawad MirYeah. Thank you so much for joining to talk about, Rajkumar Hirani's 3 Idiots. One of, a lot of people's favorite

1:02Karan TejpalYes, it's great

1:02Jawad Mir... Even to this day, and it's been almost 15 years, if not my mistake.

1:08Karan TejpalYeah.

1:08Jawad MirYeah.

1:08Karan TejpalCame out in 2009.

1:10Jawad MirNine. I think around Christmas time. Yeah. So, you know, tell me about your involvement, on 3 Idiots. What did you do? And let's just sort of start off with that.

1:28Karan TejpalWell, 3 Idiots was my second film with, Raju sir. I actually started my film career working with... My first film was Lage Raho Munna Bhai. Then, and Lage Raho Munna Bhai, that was like literally my first job ever, and then that was followed up by I was a second AD on, 3 Idiots. And yeah, I mean, we were, I was involved in the film right from day one almost, and deeply involved in the entire process from location scouting, casting. I mean, it was a very, the… we had a sort of, kind of wholesome, system of work where everyone was, sort of involved, pitched in, and only later when we went to shoot, it became more streamlined with, taking on very specific roles. And wherever we had, you know, the AD system that we had, we had two second ADs, which we would alternate between on-set AD and off-set AD.

2:36Karan TejpalAnd, yeah, I mean, I, the, it was, it was, in that sense, it was very typically, AD role, coordinating all the departments, working with the actors, you know, the usual.

2:51Jawad MirSure. And, you know, in that process of casting and location scouting, well, specifically casting…

2:58Karan TejpalYes

3:01Jawad Mir... I'm sure there was a lot of considerations for different actors who came in and actresses for the roles. If, would you be able to share something that probably not known to mainstream in terms of what actors were considered or, you know, the casting, auditioning that you saw and everything and how that, how they went?

3:24Karan TejpalWell, Raju sir is, quite a... I mean, for him, casting is a really big, deal, actually. And, I remember that, they did some very extensive, casting for Madhi and, Sharman's role, including screen tests, repeated screen tests alone, with each other, with Amir involved in them. So they really had,.. They really went, I mean, very deep into their looks and making sure that, you know, because they were all older, actors, but making sure that they all looked sort of college age, you know, with hair, with hair and makeup, with costumes. And, even, the character of, what was his name? The guy who, sort of is like the anta… kind of the antagonist. What was his name?..

4:23Jawad MirOh, I know exactly who you're talking about. He's an American actor.

4:28Karan TejpalYes, he's an American actor. And that, I remember I was at his, screen test and, it was great working with him. He was really excited about the role and he brought so much to the table for that role. And in fact, it was very early in the process where the, after his screen test, he got cast really quickly because of his... You know, he was just so unique and so, all-round. That was, that was... And he was a fun guy to work with.

5:00Jawad MirYeah.

5:00Karan TejpalReally fun guy to work with. All of them, actually, they were really all really fun to work with. I went on to do another film with Sharman in the future, but they were all very easygoing. There was no star, tantrums on that set. You know, it was a very wholesome kind of, experience.

5:18Jawad MirYeah. No, his name was, the character name was Jetha or Silencer.

5:22Karan TejpalYeah. Jetha

5:23Jawad MirBut, you know, I, the thing is, like, you know, Rajkumar Hirani is one of those directors who's delivered one after the other. Although, you know, I… ... I, you know, respectfully, I kind of didn't like, his latest film and I walked out after watching half of it. But up until, you know, honest, anything else he's done has been quite remarkable, from scripting to, you know, getting the performances out of the actors and just the whole story and the dialogue and everything. He... Working with him, what was, what was his process like sort of dealing with him and, you know, on the set or off the set? Any stories that you can share? Specifically

6:11Karan TejpalWell, Rajeev sir is a real stickler for detail, you know? Incredible stickler for detail, and it all starts completely with his screenplay. You know, I think that's where he really, sort of puts his heart into and immerses himself, and that's something that I really have learned from him for myself as well. Repeated rewrites, repeated rewrites. I mean, he would... He was never satisfied, with what he had, and they would constantly, like, you know, changing,.. I mean, he... I mean, whatever he could do, even till the last day, changes of dialogue, changes of blocking. That was, something that he was, you know, very involved with and kind of always working on that aspect of it. The other thing that was very, was also, I mean, something very spe… special with him is he's very confident about what he wants because he's an editor. So there was no, extra moments, no external false notes, you know?

7:15Karan TejpalHe was very confident about, how much he wants to shoot, what he wants to shoot. Most of his shoots is, shoots are quite simple, I would say. They are not, you know, very complex, they're not shot in a very complex fashion, but he's very sure about what he needs. I think he already has a pre-decided edit in his mind, which, he, you know, shoots and then it's like a ma… equation, with him. He's very, he's often…

7:48Jawad MirCan you…

7:48Karan Tejpal... Very involved…

7:49Jawad MirSorry

7:49Karan Tejpal... With his performances.

7:53Jawad MirNo, go on. You kind of broke up a little bit, but go on.

7:56Karan TejpalHe's very, he's, I mean, deeply involved with his performances, and he, again, knows exactly what he wants, you know? He does... He has this thing about always taking a... He always gets what he wants and then gives the actor one or two takes to do what they want, but he definitely keeps working at it till he doesn't get exactly what he kind of wants. He doesn't shoot a lot, I would say. You know, he's, he's not... He doesn't shoot and shoot and shoot normally.

8:24Karan TejpalBut yeah, I think his, confidence in his craft, with the, you know, specificity to... I mean, he would shoot a scene, one angle of it on a day, and happily or, well, not happily, but often enough, for other reasons, he would shoot another angle on a different day, very confidently, you know? Or if there was an actor who was not available, he would shoot with a, with a stand-in or without an actor and then fit him into the scene very seamlessly. This is something that he's really, like, a master at.

8:56Jawad MirWould you be... Do you remember any specific stories, on the set, whether it was with the actors or, you know, even the crew or anything that sort of went in the direction that wasn't supposed to go but it worked out? I know it's been a long time, but do you remember any specific stories?

9:14Karan TejpalYeah. I mean, I think I don't really remember some… something very small and detailed, but one of the most, crazy things that happened to us were that we were shooting in Ladakh, and we were shooting in the middle of nowhere.

9:30Karan TejpalIn fact, the whole entire set and the crew stay and everything was all tents. There was... It was just literally in the middle of nowhere, Tso Moriri Lake. And it was, nobody had ever shot there before. I don't think anybody even knew about that, place. And we had an out-of-season snowfalls. Overnight, the entire valley was snowed in up to, like, waist-high snow overnight. It was crazy.

9:59Karan TejpalAnd that was... And we had to obviously abandon shoot. And the next day, when we wanted to get out, the whole entire crew, the cavalcade of 20, 30 cars, there was just no way out because this place where we had gone to, there was no road to it. It was like we were in, 4x4, vehicles and we... It was like, sort of make your own way to this lake kind of a road. You know, there was no... There was not even a dirt road, and everything was buried under snow. That was a really crazy day, I remember, when we were trying to find our way, and we had the army coming to help us. And I mean, we were lucky we got out of there. I mean, that could have been a situation we might have been just snowed in for maybe weeks, before we could get out. That was one very crazy experience that happened, when we were shooting in Ladakh. And, well, one very funny incident I remember was when, the actors had to get drunk for that scene that they're shooting on the, on top of that, water tank, which in itself was a really risky shoot because there was...

11:09Karan TejpalIt was a very, fragile, I mean, not very fragile, but there was a limit to how many people could go up to that water tank… ... And what kind of equipment could go up to that water tank. The final ascent was on a ladder, so that shoot had to be really designed with that in mind very specifically. And then, I think it was Amit who came up with this idea that, "Hey, let's have a couple of drinks and loosen ourselves up," and then, yeah, soon enough, the actors were quite, drunk, and that really shows very beautifully in that scene. And, you know…

11:39Jawad MirYeah

11:39Karan Tejpal... So it was a, it was a very fun, sequence, actually. But yeah, it's been so long. I mean, it's, it's just a whole lifetime, actually. But these two really stood out. If I think back now, they really stand out.

11:53Jawad MirRight. How... So what has... I'm gonna go off topic with 3 Idiots, from 3 Idiots now. What was the catalyst of you getting into the film industry? Is there a specific film that you watched, a moment? Any, you know, in that regard…

12:09Karan TejpalWell…

12:09Jawad Mir... What would that be?

12:11Karan TejpalHonestly, I was an aspirative filmmaker. I… I had friends who were working in the film industry, and, I was looking for a job, and I got this job working on Lage Raho Munna Bhai. And literally that was... It was just that really got me into the, film business. And now it's, been very, the best decision that I've made. Like, film, but now I work as a writer and director. Because in India it's very different from America. Here it's very common that you start working as an AD and then kind of find your way into what you wanna do. Some people direct, some people write, some people become DPs…

12:58Karan Tejpal... Some people become producers. You know, everyone splits into different, groups. But definitely I did, I did not get into the film business with any kind of preconceived notion about where I was gonna really land up. Totally it was an accident.

13:15Jawad MirRight. And so you worked on Lage Raho Munna Bhai, which translates to keep going, Munna Bhai, and then 3 Idiots, and then what have... Where has your life sort of taken you to where you are now? Are you working on your own projects, or have you deviated from the film industry a little bit, or?

13:32Karan TejpalNo. I write and direct. I released a film last year, my debut, which, it was, which premiered at Cannes. And it has been in 25, 30 film festivals for the last... Since last September. I've been working as a screenwriter for the last five, six years with A.R. Rahman. I worked in feature films for a long time. After 3 Idiots I did a few more.

14:03Karan Tejpal... And I finished working as a first AD on a couple of features, then branched out into writing, some advertising. Now I work... Now I'm a full-time writer and director. I work as a for-hire screenplay writer, as well as, of course, write my own work, that I direct.

14:24Jawad MirRight. So, you know, you worked on 3 Idiots, you worked on Dhobi Ghat, these six, I think at least, and then Ferrari Ki Sawaari, and then Lage Raho Munna Bhai.

14:32Karan TejpalYeah.

14:32Jawad MirSo, you know, working with that... So for me, you know, working with the... You obviously are familiar with Vidhu Vinod Chopra's work, you know, because he sort of directed all these films, the ones that you worked on. Was it something that you sort of chose to kind of, you know, go from away from the AD position because you wanted to pur… pursue directing? And have you thought about going back into that world or working with that team i, in a capacity that is probably not directing or writing?

15:10Karan TejpalI don't think I can go back to... I stopped ADing more than 10 years ago. I stopped ADing in 2011 after Ferrari Ki Sawaari.

15:21Jawad MirRight.

15:21Karan TejpalSo it's been a really long time. I don't AD any longer. I mean, it's, it really, it really brought out the worst in me, though I was quite good at it, but

15:28Jawad MirHow so? How…

15:29Karan Tejpal... I think I did not enjoy the way...

15:31Jawad MirWhy did it bring out the worst in you?

15:35Karan TejpalI think you really have to be this taskmaster that I don't like to be. You know? But to get the job done, you have to do that. And personally, I prefer more relaxed, easy environment to work in. And if you're a relaxed, easy AD, you'll never get any job, not in this country, definitely. So I mean, it was good for me in the beginning to learn to, you know, actually make my way into the industry deeply, to understand filmmaking from different perspectives, but I don't think, I would ever go back. I mean, it's been a long time.

16:09Jawad MirYeah.

16:10Karan TejpalI

16:10Jawad MirNo, I get it.

16:11Karan TejpalI've moved on from it a bit, I suppose.

16:12Jawad MirI mean, you moved up in life, right? So, with…

16:15Karan TejpalYeah

16:15Jawad Mir... This is something that

16:16Karan TejpalI moved up in life, you can say so. And also my... While…

16:20Jawad MirAnd have you…

16:20Karan Tejpal... As an AD, I only worked…

16:23Jawad MirDo you…

16:24Karan TejpalNo, it's fine.

16:26Jawad MirNo, please go ahead. Go ahead.

16:29Karan TejpalNo, I was just saying that as an AD, I mostly... I only worked on big Bollywood, productions. But as a writer and director, I mean, when I'm not writing for others, especially when I'm writing for myself, I'm more in the sort of indies, indie space. So through my journey I also discovered that I, maybe I am not a perfect fit for, Bollywood.

16:55Jawad MirHave you ever tried taking scripts that you have written to, you know, people that you worked with? I know, like, when you work with people, like, you probably don't stay in touch with them, you know, depending on if there is a connection. But have you ever tried going in that direction? Like, you know, "Hey, here's a good script".

17:11Karan TejpalActually, I have been totally in touch with, Rajeev sir especially, and my other film, all of them. I mean, which I saw with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Rajesh Notani sir. I mean, all of my directors, they... With every... I mean, I really developed a personal relationship with all of them, and so I'm totally very much so in touch with them. But I... My personal choices in filmmaking, I want to, as a choice, work outside the system and not…

17:41Karan Tejpal... Work under a big production house, a big producer, a OTT platform. I... My first film was produced independently. I want to continue to make films independently. So for my s… for my personal projects, at least feature films, it's a whole different route that I want for myself, actually. So I mean, I have not taken my scripts to them for that reason more than anything else.

18:08Jawad MirAnd I completely, and I completely understand and respect that because, you know, the studio pressure or the production... You know, independent you still have pressure, but there's different kind of pressure.

18:20Karan TejpalYeah. Yeah.

18:21Jawad MirYou know, where you're trying... You don't have, like… A big group of people to back you, but at the same time, that could be, that's a blessing in disguise. But, you know, working independently versus working for a big production company or a studio, I know what it's… that's like, but just for the audience, you know, how do you... Do you enjoy the freedom of sort of…

18:47Karan TejpalYeah

18:48Jawad Mir... Going in the... Is that pretty much it?

18:49Karan TejpalYou got it. That's it. That's it. That's the one and only thing that drives me is creative freedom. You know, because if you take on the responsibilities of just, of big productions, then you have to deliver the responsibilities of a big production, you know? And that makes, that really drives your journey in a certain direction. And for me, I think creative control was something that was very important and, I mean, I cannot... I would not change my journey for anything. I'd just go f… down this path again. I actually start from the start again.

19:27Jawad MirSo was there a specific moment or was it throughout your work when you were working on the big films that epiphany came that, you know what, you see things, right? Like, you see certain person coming in. I mean, although I don't think Rajkumar Hirani was pressured by anyone because he's had, has such a great track record.

19:46Karan TejpalNo.

19:46Jawad MirBut…

19:47Karan TejpalYeah

19:47Jawad Mir... You know, what did, what did you see that sort of made you realize that, "No, I can't"... Was it just the whole overall, scope and the grandness… ... And the stress?

19:58Karan TejpalI would say, well, I would say that I want... I mean, like I said, I slow... It was this... Part, partly it was quite slow when I started to figure out that I don't want to work under the, you know…

20:11Jawad MirBanners

20:11Karan Tejpal... Control of a star, of a big producer and, you know, you sort of go with what they wanted, and I wanted to have my choices in my own hands. That was a kind of slow process. But also I was the first AD on two first-time, filmmakers, Mrigdeep Lamba and, Rajesh Mapuskar, and their experiences certainly did inform my choice, in a big way, you know? About how I, maybe I wanted to do things differently. And also, I think it's my work, which is, which really doesn't fit Bollywood perfectly. It's slightly... I don't, I mean, it's, I mean, I don't think it's, very super art house or anything.

20:55Jawad MirYeah.

20:55Karan TejpalBut it's not, it's not the song and dance.

21:00Jawad MirYeah. And I, and I mean, there's a lot of stuff now, I mean, even in the '80s I remember, in the '90s, the art, independent cinema used to come out. But now with the advent of, you know, streaming platforms, there is a lot of stuff coming out. But even within that…

21:17Karan TejpalYeah

21:17Jawad Mir... Like, you know, like I... What was that movie, the one with, the one that just came out last year with Kareena Kapoor, and it was like a very dark murder mystery?

21:27Karan TejpalNottingham Murders.

21:29Jawad MirNo.

21:30Karan TejpalSomething.

21:33Jawad MirIt was called Janae Jan. That was a, that was a really…

21:38Karan TejpalYes.

21:38Jawad MirIt's okay. If you haven't seen it, watch it. It's a really good movie. I mean, I don't think it has any songs, maybe some background music here and there. But yeah, I mean, there is stuff being made.

21:48Karan TejpalIt's just... Yeah.

21:48Jawad MirYou know?

21:50Karan TejpalIt's based on a really famous Japanese book, which I've read, actually.

21:54Jawad MirOh, is it?

21:55Karan TejpalYeah. Keigo Higashino novel. Incredible novel. But yeah, I believe it's very good. I've heard from many people, actually. I mean, the only reason I didn't get around to watching it because I already know the source material very well.

22:11Jawad MirWell, if you've read the original material, and it's plus the Japanese, I mean, Japanese and South Korean cinema is completely different. I mean, if you've... I... Well, some of the few Japanese films that I've seen are more horror, but, you know, have you heard of, Ringu?

22:29Karan TejpalYeah, of course.

22:31Jawad MirYeah. With which they made The Ring out of, and then there was a Japanese version of Grudge. I don't remember what it was called.

22:37Karan TejpalYeah

22:37Jawad Mir... But yeah, it, there is some good stuff, from that part of the world, for sure.

22:46Karan TejpalNo, you're right. I mean, I think the one thing that definitely drew me to the film industry was that I've always been a crazy cinephile, and, a lot of my influences are stylistic influences. Aesthetic influences are certainly the South Korean and South American, filmmakers.

23:05Jawad MirYeah.

23:05Karan TejpalSo yeah, I mean, I'm, I'm kinda, I'm a bit of a film junkie, you can say it, thumbnails.

23:11Jawad MirThen you must have seen City of God.

23:14Karan TejpalOf course. Yes. It's one of my favorite movies, yeah.

23:18Jawad MirYeah. It is…

23:19Karan Tejpal100%

23:21Jawad MirIt is an incredible movie. And you know, I, you might be interested in because if it's one of your favorite film, I spoke to, the DP of that film, Cesar Charlone, and we had a great…

23:32Karan TejpalWow

23:32Jawad Mir... Conversation about that film. It's, it's a, it's an amazing film, especially the opening sequence is probably one of the best opening sequences, I think, in I have ever seen. You know, the way it just pulls you in…

23:46Karan TejpalIt's perfect

23:46Jawad Mir... With the chicken and the knife.

23:48Karan TejpalI've actually read the script. I downloaded off the internet many years ago and read the script to understand how they've written the script and how they translated into the film.

23:58Jawad MirYeah.

23:58Karan TejpalAnd the script is also very good. It's very interesting script. But of course…

24:03Jawad MirYeah

24:03Karan Tejpal... The final version is too good.

24:10Jawad MirYeah. The visually, that film is incredible, but like you said, I mean, ev… you know, everything starts with story. I was just, talking to and Sabeen Khan, which if you haven't seen, watch it's, it's pretty good.

24:27Jawad MirAnd… And the whole idea, everything starts with story, right? Like, and but the thing is…

24:33Karan TejpalYes

24:33Jawad Mir... That this is a... I think it's a problem everywhere in the world, even in Hollywood. Story is not something, and script is not something that people pay too much attention to. Probably more in the West than in the East, but still, you know, if you have a solid story, then everything else more than likely should be able to fall in place. And the script, of course.

24:54Karan TejpalYeah. I wouldn't agree anymore. I mean, something that I learned from Rajar and I definitely, my first immersion into any project is via the story, and most of my work that I've developed or are developing it is, it's years in the making, maybe years in the writing before, you know, I even like have the confidence to get onto it. So.

25:20Jawad MirYeah. True. What are you working on, next door now, or what's coming up? What's your future plans?

25:26Karan TejpalI'm, I'm doing some writing work. This year is a bit of a, I've, I've sort of classified it as a work year to write, because last year was just quite crazy with the feature. I'm writing a feature film for, it's actually an, Indian American director. I'm working on a series, a sort of, big Amazon series right now. These two projects are, one is almost at the end, the feature film. The series just kind of at the beginning. And I'm doing a little bit of rewriting on some of my old, my older scripts, which hopefully next year, I want to jump into next year. One of them is a story about a gay gangster in Mumbai, and the other one is a story of a young couple, and it's a, it's a dark romantic thriller about forbidden love stories. It's, I mean, simply put, it is a kind of a disruption of the Jod… Romeo and Juliet theme that…

26:29Jawad MirRight

26:29Karan Tejpal... Get turned on its head.

26:32Jawad MirAwesome. And I'm sure you can't talk about the Amazon series, but is it a narrative series? And when is it supposed to come out?

26:38Karan TejpalYes.

26:39Jawad MirThis year or next year?

26:40Karan TejpalNo, it's a long time. It's just, we've just started the writing process. I think, I don't think before '26 probably.

26:48Jawad MirYeah.

26:48Karan TejpalAt the earliest.

26:48Jawad MirIt's probably gonna be two, three years, probably.

26:51Karan TejpalYeah, I mean, I think '26. Hopefully, if we finish writing by next year, they can shoot it next year and maybe it can release in 2026. I would say.

27:00Jawad MirSo are you, are you one of the writers or are you the writer on the series?

27:05Karan TejpalNo, we have a writers team of, four writers. I'm leading the team, but we have a, we have a team of four writers.

27:13Jawad MirAmazing. Has the project been announced yet?

27:16Karan TejpalNot sure, actually. I mean, we've been working on it for a month, but I don't know if it's…

27:22Jawad MirOkay

27:22Karan Tejpal... Officially been announced, actually. I'm not... Actually, that's the reason why I was kind of, I was gonna say…

27:27Jawad MirYeah, don't worry

27:27Karan Tejpal... And then I was like, "Oh, I don't..." Yeah.

27:29Jawad MirDon't. Don't, don't. I get it. I'm, I'm, I'm similar way. I mean, unless, yeah, it, you, there's so many things involved in everything, you don't wanna reveal that until it's official. But, listen, Karan, you know, thank you so much, man. This has been great. I appreciate your time.

27:44Karan TejpalThank you so much, Joel. Thank you for having me.

27:47Jawad MirAnd…

27:47Karan TejpalI really appreciate it. It was great

27:49Jawad Mir... And maybe we can do another one down the road about some of your other past work, and as the series comes out and other work, we can chat about that too.

27:58Karan TejpalAbsolutely. That would be great.

28:00Jawad MirPerfect.

28:01Karan TejpalThank you so much, Joel.

28:01Jawad MirThank you so much, Karan. Have a good…

28:02Karan TejpalHave a good…

28:02Jawad MirTake care.

28:03Karan TejpalYeah. Have a good day. Bye

28:41Jawad MirBye