Atul Sabharwal | Aurangzeb in Gurgaon
The director on his new film, using monarchy as metaphor and casting Arjun Kapoor
After directing the television crime drama Powder, Atul Sabharwal makes his film debut with Aurangzeb. Starring Arjun Kapoor in a double role, the family drama set in Gurgaon also features Prithviraj, Rishi Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Amrita Singh and Sasheh Agha. Raised on a diet of movies, Sabharwal converted his childhood interest into a career, starting as a writer and finally reaching his goal of directing. It is curious that the Agra boy’s directorial debut should be inspired by the Mughal emperor. Edited excerpts from an interview:
How did directing ‘Powder’ prepare you for your feature film debut?
Shooting Powder for 200 days, working with over 100 actors, took care of nerves and rawness. Those actors made me seasoned on sets. Creatively, the process is the same in TV or film—you reach the set, give instructions on where the camera should be placed, and you are responsible for the entire production. In this film, though, I was working with actors with 40 years of experience, who have been around since before I was born!. So I had the responsibility of ensuring that I added something substantial to their filmography.
What made you cast relative newcomer Arjun Kapoor in a double role?
I first saw Arjun at a Slumdog Millionaire party. I saw this slightly overweight guy in a suit light a cigarette very stylishly and with confidence. I asked who he was because his presence struck me. Some years later it was as if the stars had aligned because I was making a film at Yash Raj and he had made his debut there too. The double role was a gamble, but I had no doubt that with rehearsals he could pull it off.
We had time, the script and his enthusiasm. Arjun also brought in 200% hard work to the set—100% for Ajay and 100% for Vishal (the two characters he plays).
What is Aurangzeb—a metaphor?
You seem attracted to gritty crime and drama stories.
When I write I do not attempt to work in a genre. It depends on what I am going through emotionally at the time and those emotions are scattered across Vishal, Ajay and Arya (Prithviraj’s character). And I have also written Phir Milenge and Darna Mana Hai, which were different genres altogether.
What made you use old-fashioned devices like a double role and separated brothers?
I am a very big fan of the way Salim-Javed engineered their screenplay but you will see that Aurangzeb is not a retro gangster flick. I connect with sibling rivalry, lack of communication between father and son, hatred between stepbrothers and emotions that have been with us for a long time. I have not gone down the Manmohan Desai route though. The idea is to marry realism with the larger-than-life so that the audience feels “this could happen to me". I believe there is no bigger high than telling stories, and an even bigger high is creating heroes.
Aurangzeb released in theatres on Friday.
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