Punjabi to Hindi films

A random report that I’d read a few years back about an old man committing a murder remained on my mind for long and became the subject of my first Hindi directorial debut, ‘Vadh’. It took me and my co-director Rajeev Barnwal four months to write the screenplay and grasp the story, but we left the climax as we were not able to crack it. It was while doing the technical recce of the locations that the climax came about organically. The film was completed in a single schedule of 24 days.

The film had a limited release in theatres in December with Yash Raj Films placing it in some pockets. While it got a mixed response then, it was on the digital platform recently that the film found much appreciation. I have been asked if I should have released the film on OTT directly. But for me, theatre is where a film belongs. ‘Vadh’ was shot keeping the big screen in mind. The setting, visuals, lighting, sound effects, cinematography were all meant to complement the big screen. The subject and treatment were bound to induce extreme reactions. And this is evident in the response to the film. The making of the film has been an experience in itself.

I belong to Gwalior. Old Gwalior, where the film has been shot, is full of rustic flavours and beautiful textures, and I wanted to capture these in my film. However, the harsh summer heat of Gwalior, with temperatures crossing more than 45º C, made it difficult to shoot. Capturing the emotional scenes was tougher. I’m lucky to have had talented actors like Sanjay Mishra and Neena Gupta in the lead roles. They took it in their stride and added so much to the film. I wouldn’t want to change anything about the film, even that the couple may have appeared a little too old compared to their son, but I didn’t want to compromise on the natural looks of Sanjay Mishra and Neena Gupta (who play Shambhunath Mishra and his wife Manju Mishra, respectively) at any level. I took the creative liberty of presenting an aged couple with one dear child for whom they would go to any level to make him happy, even taking a loan of Rs 15 lakh from a loan shark like Prajapati Pandey (played by Saurabh Sachdeva), who makes their life miserable to the extent of their taking such a big step. Making a crime thriller was a risk, compared to a comedy and romance, which have more takers, but I wanted to be honest with the story I wanted to tell.

‘Vadh’ is my Hindi debut but I have a long association with Punjab and Punjabi film industry. I live in Gwalior but my roots are in Punjab. My family had moved from Pakistan to Tarn Taran, where my grandparents settled initially. I am often asked about my shift from Punjabi to Hindi films. The language of storytelling is the same everywhere.

While I enjoyed making and producing Punjabi films, but the kind of genres I wanted to tell stories in cannot yet be explored in Punjabi cinema. Though some serious cinema is being made, the focus is on romance and comedy, the major audience being catered to is the diaspora. Already, a lot of good work is being done in Punjabi industry, but it needs to diversify and experiment in more genres. Also, I wanted to reach a wider audience that I could only get with the Hindi cinema.

Compared to the Hindi movie industry, the Punjabi movie industry is very closely-knit. There are lesser number of contractual formalities and it is more fun because of the bonhomie. With a huge diaspora watching Punjabi films, the niche audience is what most Punjabi films focus on. Movie production in Punjabi film industry is also slightly different. A producer has to be totally involved and cannot be a mere spectator. For my films like ‘Angrej’, ‘Love Punjab’, ‘Bambukat,’ ‘Vekh Baraatan Challiyan’ and ‘Lahoriye’, I was involved at all levels, including the writing sessions.

The biggest challenge as one moves to Hindi cinema is that even if you may have done good work in regional cinema, Bollywood doesn’t recognise it. Punjabi films have been setting a very high standard and good content is coming. However, there is still a kind of bubble which the Hindi film industry has been wrapping itself in. I feel lucky that I have been able to enter this industry, despite the fact that I have had no formal training in filmmaking. I have a degree in computer engineering but making films was my calling.

For the past many years, many deserving films haven’t been getting commercial success and it was not unexpected, but ‘Vadh’ did get appreciation. Since the pandemic, people have gotten used to watching films at home on digital platforms. Thus, it has to be a stressbuster like ‘Pathaan’ which can pull the audience to the theatres.

— The writer is the director of Hindi movie ‘Vadh’

(As told to Seema Sachdeva)