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