Whatever happened to Kamal Ahmed, the fun loving, dusky half of that crazy, freewheeling 90s duo, The Jerky Boys? Among other things, Kamal directed and wrote the kick ass indie film, God Has a Rap Sheet, which won Best Feature at the New York International & Independent Film & Video Festival in 2002, and is out on DVD today, September 24th.
Kamal is good peoples, and thoroughly New York, as he was born and raised in Astoria, Queens, and is the son of a Bangladeshi father and Trinidadian mother. Buy it, it's righteous.
The Corsair: DVD Talk said of God Has a Rap Sheet, "I've always said the best films are the ones that really spark conversation afterwards, and this is a prime candidate for such a description." Did you go into this with a desire to provoke questions in mind?
Kamal: Well Ron, It's not like I said -- "I want to do a movie with controversial overtones." But I pretty much knew it would happen.
The Corsair: Pulitzer Prize and Emmy winner John Ford Noonan, who plays the homeless man who claims to be God in God Has a Rap Sheet, is currently in Bellevue Hospital. How did you find him?
Kamal: I met John Ford Noonan in my old neighborhood in Hell's Kitchen. We became friends when he knew I was a sports fan.
The Corsair: When did you first decide you wanted to direct?
Kamal: I first got the directing bug, when I found a super 8 camera in my closet when I was 8 or 9. It was my mother's camera. I never actually shot anything, but I fantasized about shooting something for the next couple of years.
The Corsair: What was it like when you heard the Jerky Boys were nominated for a Grammy back in the day?
Kamal: When I heard about the Jerky boys being nominated in1994, I was kind of expecting it, because of the fact that we sold so many CD's in 1993. It was a drag that we didn't win, because I thought our first two albums were classics.
The Corsair: Your father started Little India. Will you thank him for me? I've had many encounters with deliciousness there.
Kamal: My father opened the first Indian restaurant in late 1968. It did well back then because it was down the block from the old Fillmore East rock club. Back in those days, Indian culture was real big with Hippies, so the restaurant was always packed.
The Corsair: You're currently in production for a hip-hop horror movie entitled "Rapturious", what's that like?
Kamal: The film I am working on now is a horror project called "Rapturious." There about 7 types of films I want to make- Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi, Comedy, Film Noir, Action, and (this one has it all).
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