Latest news with #JaggaJasoos
Hindustan Times
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Was multi-starrer Metro… In Dino made for ₹85 crore? Here's what the real budget was
Rumour mills have been buzzing with speculation about the budget of Anurag Basu's latest movie, multi-starrer romance drama Metro… In Dino. A Republic report mentioned that the film has been made on the budget of ₹85 crore, a massive amount for any romantic film produced in Bollywood. Therefore, doubts are rising over hit or flop status of the film as well, considering it has minted ₹30 crore in eight days. Metro In Dino stars Anupam Kher, Ali Fazal, Pankaj Tripathi, Sara Ali Khan, Aditya Roy Kapur, Konkona Sen Sharma, Fatima Sana Shaikh and Neena Gupta.(Sunil Khandare ) What is the real budget for Metro In Dino? However, we have learnt that the real budget is about half of what is being speculated. 'Contrary to what many might assume, Metro…In Dino was made on a fairly modest scale with ₹40 crore for production and ₹7 crore for print and advertising,' said a source close to the project. 'It's a film that relied not on size, but on sincerity and substance.' About the movie The musical romance drama stars Aditya Roy Kapur, Sara Ali Khan, Pankaj Tripathi, Konkana Sen Sharma, Ali Fazal, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Anupam Kher and Neena Gupta. It revolves around the bittersweet relationships of four couples in a contemporary setting and released in theatres worldwide on June 4. According to the box office tracking site Sacnilk, "Metro…In Dino" opened with ₹3.5 crore nett. The film went on to earn ₹6 crore nett and ₹7.25 crore nett on the following days at the domestic box office. "Metro…In Dino" is a follow-up to Basu's acclaimed 2007 film "Life in a… Metro", starring late actor Irrfan Khan, Kay Kay Menon, Sharma, Kangana Ranaut, Shilpa Shetty Kundra, Shiney Ahuja and Shiney Ahuja. Sharma is the only actor who featured in both films. The film is produced by Bhushan Kumar of T-Series and Anurag Basu Productions Pvt Ltd. HT Review Metro In Dino is a shining example of what goes on inside Anurag's head. Frames lit with bright colours, chaos that ultimately comes together beautifully, and music that complements every moment. Jagga Jasoos, his 2017 film, was an experiment that didn't quite work at the box office, a musical in an industry already known for its song and dance routines. Metro In Dino, in that regard, is perhaps Anurag's gutsiest film so far, because here, music doesn't just complement the story- it is the story. A lot of the dialogue is sung, and one can only imagine how this ambitious vision came together.
Mint
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
Pritam and Anurag Basu's enduring musical partnership
Zico Ghosh As Hindi cinema retreats from music, director Anurag Basu and composer Pritam continue to build films around it A still from 'Jagga Jasoos' Gift this article In Hindi cinema, where full-fledged song sequences are quietly vanishing, Anurag Basu and Pritam remain proudly defiant. Their director-composer partnership—now two decades strong—has not just endured but deepened with time. Instead of chasing trends, they've doubled down on musicality. Their latest, Metro In Dino (released on 4 July), features more than 20 songs spread across two volumes. Half of them appear in the film as musical-style numbers—where characters sing their feelings instead of speaking them—a form Basu fully embraced in his misunderstood passion project Jagga Jasoos (2017). In Hindi cinema, where full-fledged song sequences are quietly vanishing, Anurag Basu and Pritam remain proudly defiant. Their director-composer partnership—now two decades strong—has not just endured but deepened with time. Instead of chasing trends, they've doubled down on musicality. Their latest, Metro In Dino (released on 4 July), features more than 20 songs spread across two volumes. Half of them appear in the film as musical-style numbers—where characters sing their feelings instead of speaking them—a form Basu fully embraced in his misunderstood passion project Jagga Jasoos (2017). Pritam may be known as a certified hit-machine, but it's with Basu that he is at his most experimental and playful. And whether it's Basu's darker phase pre-Barfi (2012) or his current brand of whimsy, Pritam has been there to give musical form to his ideas. (The only time Basu and Pritam did not work together was when the director was commissioned by the Roshans to make the 2010 film Kites). Two days after Metro In Dino released, Lounge caught up with the duo over Zoom. Edited excerpts from the interview: How did you two first meet? Pritam: I had just finished FTII (Film and Television Institute of India) and was living in a 1RK in Thakur village, Kandivali. I'd set up a makeshift studio there. One day, a school friend called and said, 'You have to make a ghost song for a serial. It needs to be delivered in an hour." The director was Anurag. Kamlesh, who was writing the show, saw Anurag walk in wearing a red gamchha. This must have been around 1999 or 2000. Pritam: Could be. That was my first memory of Anurag. Later, we did a lot of serials together—Manzilen Apni Apni, and others. Basu: I still remember that tiny kitchen studio of yours— like 6x6ft—where you'd hung haanris (cooking vessels) to create reverb. Pritam: And egg shells. I'd keep the speaker inside the haanri to boost bass—a trick from hostel days. What was the serial with the ghost song? Basu: I don't even remember the name or the channel. We were doing Gosaibaganer Bhoot, I think. A bunch of different ghosts singing together — very weird and fun. So 'Gangster' came much later. Pritam: Yeah, we had done quite a few shows before Gangster (2006). He was always busy. I remember Saraswati Puja in his old office. We were neighbours too, which helped. Basu: I'd come home from work, call him and say, 'Up? Come down, let's have adda." Pritam: There was this park in Vasant Galaxy between two wings with a swing—that's where I heard the scripts for Metro, Gangster… You've worked together on films as varied as 'Gangster', 'Jagga Jasoos' and 'Life in a Metro'. What's your process? Basu: Ever since I met Pritam, I've been pretending I have music sense. Pritam: Lies! And I pretend I understand scripts. That's how it works. Basu: Pritam does whatever he wants. Pritam: Not true—I blindly follow Anurag. His briefs are clear and instinctive. Basu: We hardly clash. We share the same ideas of right and wrong, good and bad. Pritam: Also, there's shared musical history. For instance, Prithibi—by the Bengali band Mohiner Ghoraguli—or James, the Bangladeshi artist, Anurag already knew them. That blew my mind. He's from Bhilai, and yet he followed Bangla bands. During Ludo, he gave me a reference from Basu Chatterjee's films—a favourite of mine, which turned out to be one of his too. We speak the same musical language. What kind of music do you listen to, Anurag? Basu: Everything. Any genre, any language. Pritam: He's musically very updated. Whatever's happening globally, he's on top of it. His thought process is very youthful. Many artists I love now, I discovered through him. Was there any pushback to making 'Metro In Dino' almost a semi-musical? Basu: We discussed it. The first 10 minutes are crucial—it sets the tone. Some people may feel lost, but it introduces the characters and tells you what kind of film it is. Pritam: He broke the fourth wall right at the start. It was gutsy. Basu: When Pritam first played me the songs, it was in Bengali. He usually composes in Bengali first. Pritam: I need rough lyrics to sketch melody—mostly gibberish Bengali, sometimes Urdu. It's phonetic. Pritam and (right) Anurag Basu Are you drawing from Indian storytelling traditions more than Western ones? Basu: Totally. Our films have always been musicals—even 1970s-1980s films had characters conversing through songs. We draw from traditions like jatra, nautanki, pandavani. Songs as storytelling. Pritam: Today's filmmakers seem to lack confidence in that form. But we believe in it. Basu: (Satyajit Ray's) Hirak Rajar Deshe is a huge inspiration. It shaped our childhoods. Do you see 'Barfi' as a turning point? It seems to have unlocked something in both of you. Pritam: For both of us, yes. Anurag was more angsty before. Post-Barfi, his tone shifted—sweeter, more hopeful. Basu: Barfi softened the darkness in my films. Pritam: I was stuck in a certain industry loop before Barfi. It opened up my head. KK and Irrfan Khan were integral to 'Life in a Metro'. Did their absence affect this film? Basu: Yes. Dil Ka Kya would have surely been sung by him—no one can replace KK. Pritam: KK had that rare mix—massy, rock, sweet, balladic. Now Arijit can carry that zone, but KK was special. Basu: Irrfan came to my office terrace once for a smoke and said, 'Make 'Metro 2'. I want to take my character forward." That planted the seed. You've named Pankaj Tripathi's character Monty—the same name Irrfan had in 'Life in a Metro'. Basu: When I sent the script to Koko (Konkona Sen Sharma), the character was originally named Debu or something like that. She read it and asked me to call him Monty. It was entirely her suggestion, and a brilliant one. Tell us about the 'ghazal'-rock blend in 'Metro In Dino'. Pritam: What we did in the original Metro was pure rock— grungy, guitar-driven. But globally, even bands like Coldplay and Imagine Dragons have shifted to alt-rock, blending in synths and other instruments. That raw rock sound isn't exciting anymore—and even alt-rock has become overused in films. So we asked: what feels fresh now? And the answer was ghazals—reimagined through rock and pop. Zamaana Lage is an old ghazal sung by many. So is Yaad by Momin Khan Momin. One version of Zamaana was bluesy, one like John Mayer. We picked the pop version for wider reach. Basu: We had explored a bit of that in Ludo too, but didn't have enough room to go deeper. Pritam: We tried a ghazal-meets-EDM sound in Ludo, with tracks like Aabaad Barbaad and Hardum Har Pal. We'd label early drafts Ghazal EDM 1, 2, and so on. It's not pure ghazal, more like nazm with electronic textures. Over time, that sound crept into the mainstream. You can hear hints of it in Besharam Rang and Aaj Ki Raat. You've retained certain musical elements from 'Life in a Metro', like that zitar-like sound in 'Metro In Dino'. Pritam: That is a zitar, played by Niladri Kumar. Basu: And there's a little riff in there that's mine. Pritam: We had to rope Niladri in again—couldn't imagine a Metro sequel without him. I told him, 'You have to do this—it won't be complete without your zitar." He'd just wrapped a show at 10.30pm, came to the studio at 11.30, and played all night. He was such a key part of the first Metro—his leads in In Dino and Rishtey are unforgettable. Was 'Metro In Dino' always meant to be a quasi-musical? Basu: Even before Jagga Jasoos, I had started thinking of Metro as a musical. I just couldn't crack the story back then. So that musical instinct ended up in Jagga instead. But the original impulse was always with Metro. When I finally returned to it, I knew I had to keep that semi-musical structure, just dialled it down a bit to avoid indulgence. In a way, that's a continuation of what you did in 'Life in a Metro', where the band was like a 'sutradhar'. Basu: Absolutely. Pritam: I remember him saying — if Metro is evolving, Metro 2 has to upgrade that language. This film is the next step—the band is still there, but now the storytelling itself has become more musical. What's it like composing for a musical vs a regular film? Pritam: It's way more exciting. In regular films, you compose to fit a scene. Here, you build an entire soundscape. Even in Barfi, the whole film was designed sonically. Basu: I have said this before: in this Metro, I have shot scenes between Pritam's songs. Zico Ghosh is a Kolkata-based journalist. Topics You May Be Interested In
Mint
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
Pritam and Anurag Basu, brothers in songs
In Hindi cinema, where full-fledged song sequences are quietly vanishing, Anurag Basu and Pritam remain proudly defiant. Their director-composer partnership—now two decades strong—has not just endured but deepened with time. Instead of chasing trends, they've doubled down on musicality. Their latest, Metro In Dino (released on 4 July), features more than 20 songs spread across two volumes. Half of them appear in the film as musical-style numbers—where characters sing their feelings instead of speaking them—a form Basu fully embraced in his misunderstood passion project Jagga Jasoos (2017). Pritam may be known as a certified hit-machine, but it's with Basu that he is at his most experimental and playful. And whether it's Basu's darker phase pre-Barfi (2012) or his current brand of whimsy, Pritam has been there to give musical form to his ideas. (The only time Basu and Pritam did not work together was when the director was commissioned by the Roshans to make the 2010 film Kites). Two days after Metro In Dino released, Lounge caught up with the duo over Zoom. Edited excerpts from the interview: How did you two first meet? Pritam: I had just finished FTII (Film and Television Institute of India) and was living in a 1RK in Thakur village, Kandivali. I'd set up a makeshift studio there. One day, a school friend called and said, 'You have to make a ghost song for a serial. It needs to be delivered in an hour." The director was Anurag. Kamlesh, who was writing the show, saw Anurag walk in wearing a red gamchha. This must have been around 1999 or 2000. Basu: Maybe even 1998. Pritam: Could be. That was my first memory of Anurag. Later, we did a lot of serials together—Manzilen Apni Apni, and others. Basu: I still remember that tiny kitchen studio of yours— like 6x6ft—where you'd hung haanris (cooking vessels) to create reverb. Pritam: And egg shells. I'd keep the speaker inside the haanri to boost bass—a trick from hostel days. What was the serial with the ghost song? Basu: I don't even remember the name or the channel. We were doing Gosaibaganer Bhoot, I think. A bunch of different ghosts singing together — very weird and fun. So 'Gangster' came much later. Pritam: Yeah, we had done quite a few shows before Gangster (2006). He was always busy. I remember Saraswati Puja in his old office. We were neighbours too, which helped. Basu: I'd come home from work, call him and say, 'Up? Come down, let's have adda." Pritam: There was this park in Vasant Galaxy between two wings with a swing—that's where I heard the scripts for Metro, Gangster… You've worked together on films as varied as 'Gangster', 'Jagga Jasoos' and 'Life in a Metro'. What's your process? Basu: Ever since I met Pritam, I've been pretending I have music sense. Pritam: Lies! And I pretend I understand scripts. That's how it works. Basu: Pritam does whatever he wants. Pritam: Not true—I blindly follow Anurag. His briefs are clear and instinctive. Basu: We hardly clash. We share the same ideas of right and wrong, good and bad. Pritam: Also, there's shared musical history. For instance, Prithibi—by the Bengali band Mohiner Ghoraguli—or James, the Bangladeshi artist, Anurag already knew them. That blew my mind. He's from Bhilai, and yet he followed Bangla bands. During Ludo, he gave me a reference from Basu Chatterjee's films—a favourite of mine, which turned out to be one of his too. We speak the same musical language. What kind of music do you listen to, Anurag? Basu: Everything. Any genre, any language. Pritam: He's musically very updated. Whatever's happening globally, he's on top of it. His thought process is very youthful. Many artists I love now, I discovered through him. Was there any pushback to making 'Metro In Dino' almost a semi-musical? Basu: We discussed it. The first 10 minutes are crucial—it sets the tone. Some people may feel lost, but it introduces the characters and tells you what kind of film it is. Pritam: He broke the fourth wall right at the start. It was gutsy. Basu: When Pritam first played me the songs, it was in Bengali. He usually composes in Bengali first. Pritam: I need rough lyrics to sketch melody—mostly gibberish Bengali, sometimes Urdu. It's phonetic. Are you drawing from Indian storytelling traditions more than Western ones? Basu: Totally. Our films have always been musicals—even 1970s-1980s films had characters conversing through songs. We draw from traditions like jatra, nautanki, pandavani. Songs as storytelling. Pritam: Today's filmmakers seem to lack confidence in that form. But we believe in it. Basu: (Satyajit Ray's) Hirak Rajar Deshe is a huge inspiration. It shaped our childhoods. Do you see 'Barfi' as a turning point? It seems to have unlocked something in both of you. Pritam: For both of us, yes. Anurag was more angsty before. Post-Barfi, his tone shifted—sweeter, more hopeful. Basu: Barfi softened the darkness in my films. Pritam: I was stuck in a certain industry loop before Barfi. It opened up my head. KK and Irrfan Khan were integral to 'Life in a Metro'. Did their absence affect this film? Basu: Yes. Dil Ka Kya would have surely been sung by him—no one can replace KK. Pritam: KK had that rare mix—massy, rock, sweet, balladic. Now Arijit can carry that zone, but KK was special. Basu: Irrfan came to my office terrace once for a smoke and said, 'Make 'Metro 2'. I want to take my character forward." That planted the seed. You've named Pankaj Tripathi's character Monty—the same name Irrfan had in 'Life in a Metro'. Basu: When I sent the script to Koko (Konkona Sen Sharma), the character was originally named Debu or something like that. She read it and asked me to call him Monty. It was entirely her suggestion, and a brilliant one. Tell us about the 'ghazal'-rock blend in 'Metro In Dino'. Pritam: What we did in the original Metro was pure rock— grungy, guitar-driven. But globally, even bands like Coldplay and Imagine Dragons have shifted to alt-rock, blending in synths and other instruments. That raw rock sound isn't exciting anymore—and even alt-rock has become overused in films. So we asked: what feels fresh now? And the answer was ghazals—reimagined through rock and pop. Zamaana Lage is an old ghazal sung by many. So is Yaad by Momin Khan Momin. One version of Zamaana was bluesy, one like John Mayer. We picked the pop version for wider reach. Basu: We had explored a bit of that in Ludo too, but didn't have enough room to go deeper. Pritam: We tried a ghazal-meets-EDM sound in Ludo, with tracks like Aabaad Barbaad and Hardum Har Pal. We'd label early drafts Ghazal EDM 1, 2, and so on. It's not pure ghazal, more like nazm with electronic textures. Over time, that sound crept into the mainstream. You can hear hints of it in Besharam Rang and Aaj Ki Raat. You've retained certain musical elements from 'Life in a Metro', like that zitar-like sound in 'Metro In Dino'. Pritam: That is a zitar, played by Niladri Kumar. Basu: And there's a little riff in there that's mine. Pritam: We had to rope Niladri in again—couldn't imagine a Metro sequel without him. I told him, 'You have to do this—it won't be complete without your zitar." He'd just wrapped a show at 10.30pm, came to the studio at 11.30, and played all night. He was such a key part of the first Metro—his leads in In Dino and Rishtey are unforgettable. Was 'Metro In Dino' always meant to be a quasi-musical? Basu: Even before Jagga Jasoos, I had started thinking of Metro as a musical. I just couldn't crack the story back then. So that musical instinct ended up in Jagga instead. But the original impulse was always with Metro. When I finally returned to it, I knew I had to keep that semi-musical structure, just dialled it down a bit to avoid indulgence. In a way, that's a continuation of what you did in 'Life in a Metro', where the band was like a 'sutradhar'. Basu: Absolutely. Pritam: I remember him saying — if Metro is evolving, Metro 2 has to upgrade that language. This film is the next step—the band is still there, but now the storytelling itself has become more musical. What's it like composing for a musical vs a regular film? Pritam: It's way more exciting. In regular films, you compose to fit a scene. Here, you build an entire soundscape. Even in Barfi, the whole film was designed sonically. Basu: I have said this before: in this Metro, I have shot scenes between Pritam's songs. Zico Ghosh is a Kolkata-based journalist.
Pink Villa
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Pink Villa
Amid rumors of Aamir Khan playing Kishore Kumar in his biopic, filmmaker Anurag Basu shares BIG update
Anurag Basu, best known for films like Barfi and Jagga Jasoos, recently helmed Dino, a sequel to Life in The director has been working on the biopic of the legendary playback singer Kishore Kumar for years. Amid rumors of Aamir Khan playing Kumar's role, Basu is now keeping his 'fingers crossed' this time to ensure that he doesn't jinx it. Anurag Basu is keeping his 'fingers crossed' for the Kishore Kumar biopic In a recent interview with Mid-Day, Anurag Basu opened up on directing the Kishore Kumar biopic, saying that the project underwent a lot of 'ups and downs'. "I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it happens this time and I go on set with the story, which I've been trying to tell for the last decade," Basu said. The filmmaker added that he doesn't want to jinx the project by speaking about it. Is Aamir Khan a part of the biopic? Anurag Basu also reacted to if Aamir Khan is on board with the Kishore Kumar biopic. Basu chose not to divulge any information about the project "until everything is finalized and the contract is signed". All about the delay in the Kishore Kumar biopic The Kishore Kumar biopic has been delayed as the project was put on hold after his family objected to the movie, citing copyright issues. The biopic on the late legendary singer was announced after the success of Barfi in 2012, with Ranbir Kapoor being a part of it. In 2024, Pinkvilla exclusively learned that Anurag Basu offered the biopic to Aamir Khan. The director and the actor had four to five meetings regarding the project at that time. The official announcement is yet to be made by the team. This wasn't the first time Basu approached Khan to collaborate on a project. The filmmaker was supposed to cast him alongside Ranbir in a two-hero movie; however, the project didn't materialize at the time. On the work front, Aamir Khan was recently seen in RS Prasanna's directorial venture, Sitaare Zameen Par. Khan made his theatrical comeback after the failure of his 2022 film, Laal Singh Chaddha. Stay tuned to Pinkvilla for more updates.
Pink Villa
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Pink Villa
After Jagga Jasoos' disastrous box office log, Ranbir Kapoor cuts down fees for Anurag Basu's Rs 130 crore budget film
Ranbir Kapoor and Anurag Basu share a great bond. The duo have worked on two movies- Barfi and Jagga Jasoos. While their maiden project together was a success and was even sent to the Academy Awards from India, the latter couldn't lure the audience into cinemas and ended up being a box-office failure. Basu, who is currently on a promotional spree for his latest movie, Metro…In Dino has opened up about the failure of Jagga Jasoos. Anurag Basu states that all his movies recover their budget In a recent chat with Galatta Plus, Anurag Basu noted that all his films have been financially successful. That's the first thing he assures the producer whenever starting a new project. Although the movie might not have performed well at the box office, they recovered their production costs from non-theatrical deals and subsidies. Talking about the same, Anurag Basu said, "It (budget) is always covered. None of my producers will complain about that. So, I know this is the budget I should play with. Metro is made on a modest budget because I knew this is an ensemble cast, no big stars. That I am very conscious about. And the industry is very ruthless". Anurag Basu reveals how he and Ranbir Kapoor slashed their fees after Jagga Jasoos' failure Anurag Basu went on to reveal that he and Ranbir Kapoor had slashed their fees so that producers wouldn't bear the loss for the box office failure of Jagga Jasoos. "Jagga didn't make a lot of money, but we were just quite there. Ranbir took less money. He cut down his fees, I cut down my fees—all of us. Because we were passionate about the project, we were not running behind money. But we made sure that we cut down on our fees so that the producer doesn't suffer. Because it was our vision, our project," Basu concluded. For the unversed, Jagga Jasoos was mounted on a big budget of Rs 131 crore. It opened with just Rs 8.21 crore and ended its theatrical run with a net of Rs 52.60 crore at the Indian box office. The Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif starrer was a big box-office disaster. Although it was planned as a trilogy, the plans never continued further, as the first movie itself bombed. Stay tuned to Pinkvilla for more updates.
