|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Madhur Bhandarkar is known for making films based on issues from real life. YOUR Jail has got a positive response? Yes. People have always expected good films from me. Jail is another eye-opener film and I am happy that people are supporting this film as they have always done from Chandni Bar to Fashion.
You have always made woman-oriented films. Jail is your first film with a male protagonist. So, who do you find more comfortable to handle — a male or a female protagonist? I think every film has its own value and I have never differentiated a film on the basis of its orientation — that it is a male or a female-oriented one. I always try to pick different subjects for my films. I could have sent a woman to Jail, but I felt there are some stories that can be shown from a man’s point-of- view too. I didn’t think too much on this issue`85it just struck me that there can be a character called Parag Dixit, who is from a well-to-do family, works in the corporate sector, has a girlfriend`85 and how one day he suddenly is sent to jail and his world changes. It is my subject who decides which gender it wants for the film and not the other way round. The jail in this film shows prison life in a completely different light. There are scenes where the audience got real jolts. In Hindi films, jails have always been shown as larger-than-life. In Chandni Bar, the jail was a juvenile one where the scenes were not very elaborately shown. But in this film, there is a complete mix of realism and fiction with 70 per cent realism and 30 per cent fiction. Are all your films 70 per cent reality? Yes`85and I think it’s a good combination. We have to take 30 per cent liberty to add fiction; we can’t let the film look like a documentary since so much money and stakes are involved. So we need to dramatise certain portions`85make them look larger-than-life. But 70 per cent of all my films is reality. Lata Mangeshkar has sung a bhajan in Jail. She did a Hindi playback after a long time. How did you convince her to do it? Lyricist Sameer Tandon and I wanted Latadidi to sing the song ‘Data shun, maula shun’, but we were a bit apprehensive. We sent her a dummy tape and when she heard the song, at once agreed to sing it for us. And know what, this bhajan is now played at Tihar Jail every morning and evening. I think it’s a great achievement. Do you want people to sympathise with prisoners through this film? I want people to feel compassionate towards the inmates of jails across the country. There is a scene in the film where an inmate says he has been in jail for two years and his case is yet to be heard. Are you pointing out at deficiencies in the legal system? This is not a preachy film. As I said, it is a Hindi film, so there is a balance of realism and fiction. The film has been dealt with a lot of properness and dignity and I don’t think the system or anyone is going to feel offended. The story is from a common man’s point of view. There are misunderstandings that happen every single day and we wanted to show the consequences. There are real-life characters behind all your films. Who has inspired the story of Jail? How can I name a single person when there are many people from whom I have been inspired with the storyline. There was news before the release of the film that the story is that of Sanjeev Nanda and Alistair Pereira. But that’s not right`85their story is there`85somewhere in legal papers. I mainly picked portions from papers cuttings, legal documents and then added my ideas to it. As I said, neither my films are preachy, nor are they a mirror to the society. I have shown an aspect of jail life`85people may or may not agree to it. As it happens with all my films`85there’s always a debate.`A0 Corporate people said they are not like the ones I have shown them; fashion industry people also said the same. Traffic signal people also complained that they don’t run as big a mafia as I have shown them in my films. But 70 per cent people agree to my films, saying "How did you portray such reality on-screen?" The nude scene in Jail is an attempt to portray realism? Nude scene is a requirement. I don’t understand if such scenes are shown in English films, world cinema, then where is the problem if you show it in India! Somewhere we have to push the envelope if we want to do a different kind of cinema and we did it in a dignified manner. I don’t think a single audience has come out of the theatre saying, "Arre, what the hell was he showing!" If some foreign hero would have done that scene in a foreign film, everyone would have accepted. But in India, you try that out and people start creating controversies. What is the next ‘reality’ that we are going to see in your film? It’s very difficult for me to say because I am a very restless person and the kind of subjects I take needs instinctive decisions. Right now I don’t have any script and am taking a break. If tomorrow I get an idea, I will start working on it`85I am not someone who will first chalk out which actors are available, what film I have to do that will cut well. There are reports that you are going to make a comedy film? Not at the moment. But I would love to make one. Are you happy with your journey as a filmmaker so far? Very happy`85I think I
am the only filmmaker, who has received critical acclamation, box
office success and national awards at the same time. And I am very
happy with the kind of films I make. — IBNS
|
|||
|
|
|||
