Raj and DK have established themselves as one of the most exciting voices of the generation. With their hugely popular work in the OTT space, which includes The Family Man, Farzi and Guns and Gulaabs, the director duo are all set to present Citadel: Honey Bunny starring Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Varun Dhawan in lead roles. But did you know about their very first film Flavors? The romantic comedy revolving around a bunch of Indian immigrants in America is now available to watch on Prime Video. (Also read: Raj & DK say The Russo Brothers watched Stree, The Family Man before offering them Citadel Honey Bunny)
Raj and DK on Flavors
Raj and DK took to X a few days ago to post how they made their first film Flavors. “Years ago… We were two engineering classmates, working as Software Engineers. But that wasn’t enough. So we alt-tabbed at our workplace to write our first screenplay about the lives we know,” they began.
The director-duo did not go to any film school and improvised on set, writing characters they knew the best. Flavors tells the stories of 13 different main characters in four parallel storylines. “We didn’t want to do a cultural clash or fish out of water kind of story, which was the norm. We wanted a non-linear snapshot of the diaspora. But we didn’t know shit about screenwriting, nor could we fully comprehend Syd Field’s screenwriting books, nor did we have time to go to film school nor access to any filmmaker to work under them. What we knew, we realised was, reverse-engineering,” they added.
What’s more? The director-duo spent their entire savings on the film and went ahead with their shared passion for telling stories. “So with a screenplay written in a way we knew, we decided to pool in all our savings… and our friends pitched in. And we created our own film school: shoot-as-we-learn school. Armed with all first timers, some 10-12 crew, bundled in two cars and crammed in a 2 BHK apartment, we shot all around the city – pure guerrilla style. We decided to do most of it ourselves — writing, directing, producing, editing, filming, posters etc — it was our film school after all!” they wrote.
The cast
Flavors starred Anupam Mittal, best known as one of the sharks of Shark Tank India, or the founder of Shaadi.com. The ensemble cast included Jicky Schnee, Reef Karim, Pooja Kumar, Anjan Srivastav, Mohit Shah and Gaurav Rawal, among others.
In the post, Raj and DK concluded by saying: “Flavors was our hobby project in a way. A small digital film with some veteran and mostly amateur actors and amateur crew. That it went on to win awards in a some film festivals around the world and even managed a theatrical release in the US and in India, gave us the shot in the arm needed to send us on our journey to becoming filmmakers.”
Although Flavors, a beautiful and heartwarming film with the imprint of a distinct filmmaking voice, found a select few audiences when it was released, the film premiered at several international film festivals, where it was warmly met.
Raj and DK’s Citadel: Honey Bunny will be released on Prime Video on November 7.
