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Business News/ Mint-lounge / Features/  Feroz Abbas Khan | Identity crisis
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Feroz Abbas Khan | Identity crisis

The playwright and director on his new film, and avoiding the 'obscurati'

Khan says he keeps his audience in mind while making a film—but on his terms. Photo: Priyanka Parashar/MintPremium
Khan says he keeps his audience in mind while making a film—but on his terms. Photo: Priyanka Parashar/Mint

Playwright and director Feroz Abbas Khan is known for celebrated plays such as Tumhari Amrita, Saalgirah and Salesman Ramlal. He adapted Mahatma vs. Gandhi from the stage to the screen for his debut feature film, Gandhi, My Father (2007). He is ready with his second film, a political satire called Dekh Tamasha Dekh—it’s no coincidence that Khan’s film is in theatres alongside the general election. Edited excerpts from an interview:

Your film is set in a coastal Maharashtrian village, which seems to represent a microcosm of India.

Yes, that’s correct. The story started when former Mumbai police commissioner Satish Sahney narrated this incident to me at a party. I was quite stunned by the story and how it ended. It encapsulates the entire idea of India, so I thought why not take this as the base and then bring in the other issues. I read the original FIR, of two groups fighting over the religious identity of a deceased man, and the events that followed. So we took the real incident, and writer Shafaat Khan came on board and expanded it. He is a very sharp social and political satirist, who wrote (the film) Shobhayatra. We were very clear that we would operate in the structure of a satire—to say whatever we want to say powerfully and say it with truth, either with language or action.

What exactly is the film about?

It is a work of fiction based on true events and truth. We have taken real events and turned them around. For example, whenever there are riots, the thieves are the first to show up because they know that it is a good opportunity for them. The film does tell you about the intolerant society that we are. You can enter this film from whichever position you choose—as a satire, you can enjoy the antics of this bunch of cartoons; or from the point of view that the truth of this country is very bizarre. The question we ask is: Is identity more important than humanity, and which one are you going to pursue?

Only one of the characters, a young Prakash, seems to lean on typically Hindi film-like dialogues.

There is a language and mode of communication for love and romance, but a lot of young people in India do not have that language of love; they come through their exposure to cinema. The influence of cinema is evident in their way of trying to express their love. That’s where Prakash comes from. But I was clear that none of the characters should cross the line of caricature. Even Satish Kaushik, sitting in the bath or making a speech, is always on the border of being ridiculous, but he never goes there.

After the death of Farooq Shaikh, any plans of reviving ‘Tumhari Amrita’?

At the moment, any thought of reviving the play is far off. But I am working on other theatre shows such as Dinner With Friends, and another new, original play that I am very excited to direct. I am also directing a 52-episode soap called Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon for Doordarshan supported by the Population Foundation of India and DFID (department for international development, UK), in which we have woven in issues like sex selection, child marriage, etc. The show is also being
dubbed in many languages, and there is a radio version. So, radio, film, TV and theatre, all are happening together.

As a theatre director, how do you view the audience for cinema?

I think all my films are commercial. I do not pretend to do “obscurati" kind of films, nor do I feel they work. For me, the audience is extremely important, but an audience on my terms, not on any terms and for anything. I will not exclude the audience because I don’t want only my friends to tell me what a great film I made; that is death. I have the greatest respect for the audience. Dekh Tamasha Dekh is entertaining, with certain aesthetics.

Dekh Tamasha Dekh releases in theatres on 18 April

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Published: 12 Apr 2014, 12:08 AM IST
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