The Thinker

By Rinky Kumar

Published: Volume 15, Issue 7, July, 2007

Sudhir Mishra has carved a strong niche for himself with thought-provoking, sensitive and highly original films like Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin and Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi. The passionate director, whose latest film Khoya Khoya Chand releases in August, talks about his cinematic journey, his vision as a film-maker and his take on the current state of Indian cinema

I make films about issues that interest me. My films are of a certain quality and always have a viewpoint. Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi was about a generation of people whom I adored but who had faded into oblivion. All my movies have an audience. Today the commercial film-makers are imitating us; they are trying to make films on socially relevant themes that I and some directors deal with.

Cinema is a medium through which I can entertain, engage, provoke and disturb people. It is the means through which I can tell a story. Sadly, today there are very few film-makers who make original films. Today, it is legitimate to be a thief in the Indian film industry.
Initially when I ventured into direction, it was very tough. The film industry treated me like a virus. I made very few films in the early 1990s due to lack of finances. At that time, producers and financiers used black money attained from the underworld. I didn’t want to do that. Calcutta Mail suffered a lot due to financial constraints. The producers ran out of money; the film took too long to make. It was a very dissatisfying experience.

Some of my other films didn’t work for whatever reason. For example, Dharavi was released in six theatres, but was pulled out by the Shiv Sena. At the time, the film industry and the media didn’t stand by me. It was the saddest experience of my life. But today even if the nature of films is controversial, they can find a voice either through multiplexes or DVDs.
The multiplex trend is growing. I think my films have benefited from this trend. The audiences who frequent multiplexes like movies that are more realistic, yet warm and positive. They want to watch cinema that is slightly less over the top. The flipside is that the tickets are priced high in such theatres, so some people are unable to come and see the movies.

Availability of any kind of theatrical space is good. Multiplex is one such space. But I feel such spaces should be everywhere. They should be in community halls, near bus stands, in railway stations. It would be interesting to have such a space at CST Station. Multiplexes allow all sorts of films to be released and provide a huge choice to audiences. Today, there are a lot of screens in India. It’s like films get halls and consequently, they get audiences. People were always there to watch films, it’s just that they were not getting the kind of cinema that they wanted to see.

Nowadays films are no longer made for people in all parts of India. There is an urban-versus-rural divide in the Indian film industry. In order to bridge this divide, the industry needs to be democratised. The government should make the first movie of every young director tax-free. Then gradually, things will change. This will motivate youngsters to take up this profession and create cinema that caters to the multiplex audience.

Khoya Khoya Chand will be my next release. It deals with the difficulty of love and ambition. It shows it’s better to lead a life dancing rather than die of mediocrity. It’s a story about a man and a woman who liberate each other in love. Shiney Ahuja, Soha Ali Khan, Vinay Pathak and Rajat Kapoor have given good performances. Shiney is a very nuanced actor and Soha is a thorough professional. Khoya Khoya Chand is my most romantic film.

Right now I am working on The Nawab, The Nautch Girl and The John Company, a satire set in the British era. I want to make a film that explores how political parties create a frenzy over patriotism. It would be interesting take a non-Hindu-centric view of patriotism. I also want to make a thriller dealing with the sleaze of modern Indian politics and another revolving around the life of a little boy selling coffee on the streets of Mumbai and how he views the metropolis. I’ve had my bad spells, but overall, I’m satisfied with the way things are.”