Actor-filmmaker Ananth Narayan Mahadevan is a seasoned trouper. From distinguished stints as actor and director on stage to the director of diverse original and often outstanding Hindi cinema such as Dil Vil Pyar Vyar (a tribute to the songs and music of R D Burman), Staying Alive (in which he also gave a sterling performance as a man staring at his death) to notable Marathi biopics Mee Sindhutai Sapkal and Dr Rakhmabai, Mahadevan is an exciting and significant voice of Indian cinema. In an interview with Subhash K Jha, Mahadevan talks of his new biopic on the unsung heroes, social activists Jyotirao Govindrao Phule and his wife Savitribai Phule.
What prompted the Phule project and why did you choose the two Ps, Pratik Gandhi and Patralekha?
I had first thought of the Phules when I was offered, by the Ekjute Theatre group, to direct veteran Nadira Zaheer Babbar in a one-woman show on Savitribai Phule. For some reason, the show wasn't staged but the subject of Jyotirao and Savitri Phule grew on me. As India's first social revolutionaries in a trying period of British imperialism, their characters struck me as powerful pioneers of India's social future.
Then, by a happy coincidence, producers Ritesh Kudecha and Anuya Kudecha approached me with the concept of a web series on the Phules. I convinced them that this was an epic big-screen film that had the scale of a Gandhi, Lincoln or Mandela. And they happily agreed to produce it along with Dr Rajkishore Kaware, Pranay Chokshi, Saurabh Varma and Utpal Acharya all of whom were convinced about the magnitude of the project.
How did you zero in on Pratik and Patralekha?
The casting had to be, in every which way, correct. Fortunately, Hansal Mehta's web series Scam brought me close to Pratik Gandhi, whom I hadn't worked with before, but seemed like putty in the hands of the director. Here was a marvellous chameleon of an actor and it didn't take long for me to morph his face into that of Jyotirao Phule. Patralekha has an earthy, grounded quality about her just like Savitribai Phule. The picture of the pair crystallised in my mind and we knew we had struck on an unusual yet perfect pairing.
In your time you have made some outstanding biopics on true heroes such as Me Sindhutai Sapkal and Dr Rakhmabai. In telling the stories of these unsung heroes, do you see a great responsibility, a mission?
Every time a real-life story comes across as a strikingly human document that needs to be told, I see the warning signs. These are either people who are alive or may be part of history like Doctor Rakhmabai, but strangely enough, have been eclipsed from public view as they chose to effect changes in society without attracting world attention. So, whether it was Sindhutai Sapkal, Gour Hari Das, Doctor Rakhmabai or Prabhavaty Amma who fought for 13 years for justice for her son killed in custody, it saddled me with the responsibility of being a socially honest filmmaker. Here were people who initiated social revolts, not because they hoped to be immortalised on celluloid, but because they wrought change for the betterment of humanity. More reason for me to retain their dignity and not cater to popular ingredients to sugarcoat their achievements or even hero-worship them unduly. Unsung heroes' tales are more difficult to bring to an uninitiated audience, but I'd rather choose them than play safe with "legends" from various fields.
There is a biopic boom in Bollywood. Do you see that as a healthy sign?
The biopic boom is like a baby boom after a night of blackout/power failure. The theory appears to be this: give the audience heroic epics in the name of realistic public figures. I am not against dramatisation of these lives, or else we'd rather do a documentary. But the mainstream exploitation of these lives through exaggerated sequences is being dishonest to the subjects' cause. But most filmmakers seem to have discovered the biopic as a new formula of success. They get ready-made material, they are absolved of being unrealistic and they can conjugate the true story in the name of "creative liberty". This is what has infested this exciting and educative genre. And this is precisely what I have steered clear off, irrespective of what some stray critics express.
I personally feel glorifying gangsters and anti-socials in cinema must be stopped. What are your thoughts on films that make heroes of criminals?
The digital platform has made makers fly off the handle. Does creative freedom mean showing and saying it as it is? Have subtlety and innovation gone out of the window? The censor-free atmosphere appears to be a haven to dig into stories of gangsters, murderers and marinate the dialogue with abuses in the hope that the sensational treatment will shock the audience, particularly in the mofussil areas. This has resulted in some crass, revolting fare that initially appeared to attract audiences, but the rejection came sooner than expected. Soft porn, violence and foul language are now shunned by discerning viewers leading the digital heads to rethink their programming. Idolising crooks, gangsters and killers only reflect the pedestrian, even barbaric thought process of those out to make a quick buck by corrupting the minds of three generations. Precisely the reason why I kept the brutal police torture sequence in Mai Ghat off-screen, resulting in it being left to imagination and leaving a stronger impact. Police brutality on the other hand seems to be a favourite pastime in recent South Indian cinema.
The market and the means of making movies have changed rapidly over the years, especially in the past two years. Does a conscientious filmmaker like you find it tough to make films in the given circumstances?
Gone are the days when independent filmmakers had a strong say. The last new wave in Hindi cinema faded away with Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani. Today corporate systems with impressive administrative capability but little knowledge of filmmaking dictate what and how to make films. The result is that filmmakers like Sai Paranjpye and Aziz Mirza have sworn never to attempt filmmaking again. When multiplexes came into vogue, we welcomed the improved projection and sound. One even thought that one screen of the 7 to 14 of them in each complex would be dedicated to the critically acclaimed cinema of substance. Just like the defunct Akashwani and Lotus cinemas in what was then known as Bombay, which were dedicated art cinema houses. But the growing thirst for moolah has denied the independent maker this outlet and in the process-driven them to frustration. Even my request to reduce ticket rates and give "parallel" cinema the smallest auditorium in the complex fell on deaf ears. The pandemic created a flutter amidst the plexes. They saw death at their door. Won't they yet give independent cinema a chance to survive? Or is this country all about only minting money in the name of entertainment? The dreaded situation of a film being greenlit only on star power and not on the content itself is an ill-omen for conscientious makers. Young turks setting out to judge the artistic merit of scripts and insisting that they are indeed looking for content strike us as unqualified hypocrites.
How and to what extent do you think the OTT platform has changed the way we look at our cinema?
The OTT….how I detest that word!...betrays the over-the-top approach of most of their content], was a progression waiting to happen. With some deplorable television content and the pandemic inducing a lockdown for cinemas, this medium found a golden opportunity. Not that it is totally new. Television did premiere films and many movie channels do screen films, old and new. But the digital networks now offer "Originals" as they are called. One has only to hark back at Kamal Haasan's decision to premiere Vishwaroopam on television along with a theatrical release to realise that the digital exhibition format is only a variation. But Haasan was denied the right to pioneer and shouted down with protests. Today, every big star worth his salt prides on an "Original". The line between cinema theatres and home entertainment has blurred. But if you ask me, I prefer the big screen. Films are visually exciting and the darkness between the big screen and your seat is what cinema watching is meant to be. Not on tablets and phones that kill the technical aspects of the film.
You are a notable actor and a filmmaker. What do you enjoy more? Acting or filmmaking?
I have been fortunate enough to ride on two boats without rocking each of them too badly. When you read a good role/character, the actor in me springs to life and yearns to perform it. When I read a good concept/story, the director in me is awakened. I am enjoying this process. Once an actor, always an actor. And once you taste blood as a director then you go for the kill again.
Looking back at your distinguished career in cinema what do you see as the milestones?
I began with mainstream films like Dil Vil Pyar Vyar, Dil Maange More, Aksar, Aggar and the remake of Victoria 203. But then I found my true calling. All those years as a film society product, where I had educated myself on the cinema of greats like Bergman, Truffaut, De Sica, Kurosawa, Godard, Fellini, Ray, Sen, Adoor, Ghatak and others could not be wasted. I started off in a minuscule way with an experimental film called Staying Alive and then went on to satiate my passion for an international language of cinema, albeit partially, with films like Red Alert-The War Within, Mee Sindhutai Sapkal, Doctor Rakhmabai, Rough Book, Mai Ghat, Bittersweet and now It's Time to Go.
Proud of your repertoire?
Today I look back at these films with love. They helped me grow as a filmmaker despite little support from producers or financers. The producers of all these films, I am extremely grateful to. It was their faith in me that helped me make the cinema I believe in. But believe me, this is a rare breed. How one covets the support of Ravi of General Pictures who unwaveringly supported Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Aravindan in their projects!
When do you start Phule?
Phule starts principal photography towards the end of 2022 and we’re looking at a mid-2023 worldwide release. In the meantime, I will be filming The Storyteller based on an original story by Satyajit Ray with Paresh Rawal, as a tribute to his centenary year.
Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.
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