Vikramaditya Motwane: What I Was Reading While Writing Bhavesh Joshi Superhero

In this series, we try to get a glimpse into artistes' creative process by asking them what books, movies or music they turn to for inspiration. Here's what the Jubilee director told us

Updated on:

06 Apr 2023, 8:53 am

Vikramaditya Motwane's Bhavesh Joshi Superhero, a film about vigilante justice, is slated to release on June 1. To capture the film's grim aesthetic and its protagonist's steely determination, Motwane says he read "every comic book I could get my hands on". He said this research helped him understand how heroes operated in that universe. Motwane also drew inspiration from graphic novels. "I read a ton of those, mostly about superheroes." Here's a list of comics he read and recommends:

Batman: Year One (1988) by Frank Miller

The Dark Knight Returns (1986) by Frank Miller

Gotham Central (2002) by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka

100 Bullets (1999) by Brian Azzarello

Daredevil: The Man Without Fear (1993) by Frank Miller

Daredevil: Born Again (1986) by Frank Miller

Bruce Wayne: Fugitive (2002) by Ed Brubaker

The Sigur Rós influence

The director says he also listened to Icelandic band Sigur Rós' discography while he worked. "That's pretty much all I listened to at that point. I found their music very bleak, cinematic, and also very emotional," he says.

The three-member band is arguably best known for their haunting version of the Game of Thrones' song 'The Rains of Castamere', even making a guest appearance on the show's season 4 episode 'The Lion and The Rose', to perform the tune for King Joffrey. While Motwane's playlist comprises entire albums by the band, from Ágætis byrjun (1999) to Takk (2005) to Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (2008), one of songs he recommends is Olsen Olsen.

You can listen to the band's music here.

Vikramaditya Motwane

Bhavesh Joshi Superhero

What I was doing when