Anubhav Sinha, whose Netflix series IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack ran into controversy, says for the first time he was not blaming anyone when he made the series
Nonika Singh
Each time he picks up the directorial baton, he takes us to the world hitherto not seen before on silver screen. Even though acclaimed director Anubhav Sinha picks up stories very much from the milieu around him and us, but gives it a new spin each time. So, Thappad becomes a stinging slap on the face of patriarchy, Mulk a sharp anatomy of what nationalism stands for from the perspective of minority community and Article 15 a scathing look at the glaring social inequality and discrimination.
With his latest series IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack, he may have stirred a hornet’s nest and naysayers may have picked up unwanted cudgels. But the tribe of those who loved his recreation of the longest hijack in Indian aviation history is no less vocal, or enthusiastic. Anyway the gifted director feels that with the Netflix series he was not really flowing against the current so much. Rather, he avers, “This is the first time, I am not blaming anyone.” He adds, “Indeed, the moment when the plane landed in Amritsar, the situation could have been handled differently by the authorities. But who knows what disastrous consequences it would have entailed.”
Even otherwise he feels that we tend to view war and aggression especially in our cinema as “an act of bravado, while it’s many things and fail to see the collateral damage that comes along with it.” Interestingly, when the series written by Adrian Levy and Trishant Srivastav came to him, his first thoughts were; what was happening outside while these passengers were being held captive? Thus many facets of the hijack drama fleshed out.
The challenge of making the series steeped in factual reality lies in not only sticking to facts but equally importantly the VFX effects. Today, he is tickled pink that no one is talking about it which means it blended so well with the narrative. On his initial reaction of refusal to direct IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack, well, it had nothing to do with the politics or lack of it. He says, “I am happy making films. Unlike movies where I can control the experience of viewers, on streaming platforms I am not so sure about how to make people watch the way I have designed it. People may not like what you have created for they could be watching on their small mobile phone screens or their speakers are not good enough. ”
No he doesn’t think the audience for OTT is any different from cinema, only the attitude is. He says, “While in cinema halls you have the unwavering attention of viewers, on OTT they could be distracted by what’sapp status or messages or they can just go into the kitchen to make a cup of tea.” Yet, as he is receiving nearly 20 calls every day on how people have binge-watched the six episode series, he has realised that his misgivings on the power of storytelling on OTT were perhaps misplaced. And our doubts on how he managed to hold together such a stellar cast sans ego clashes are belied too. Every single actor in the series, be it Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Arvind Swami, Vijay Varma or Yashpal Sharma is a name to reckon with. On the casting coup, he reveals, “There was no desire for one-upmanship among actors. It was the first time I saw actors working like one unit.”
Manoj Pahwa, seemingly his favourite, who once again got a meaty part in the series after Mulk, is special to him, but it’s not like, “We hang out together.” In an otherwise serious series, Sinha gave Pahwa a few tongue-in-cheek one-liners for he believes, “Audiences’ appetite for humour is boundless.” While it is for others to comment on his inclination towards meaningful and hard-hitting subjects, the Bheed director says, “I guess I have a point of view on society, on economy, on geopolitics. Often this could be at variance with others and whenever you have a contrarian point of view you are questioned.” Indeed, he has no problem with people asking questions as long as these are legitimate and relevant and not a question mark in themselves.
On questions of his next being a superhero film, he reveals he is certainly writing one. Since all his heroes have a super-heroic quality in a relatable sort of a way, he shares, “My superhero would be like any other of similar genre.” He nods in the affirmative that we could be inching close to creating our own universe on the lines of MCU, he is not sure whether his Shah Rukh Khan produced and starrer Ra.One would have worked better today. He quips, “Who can say, such thoughts are a little pretentious.” And, Sinha judging by his cinema wears no blinkers, only a sharp lens that makes us relook and reanalyze the world we inhabit.
