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'There are enough people making commercial films'
For Sehjo Singh and Anwar Jamal, MAMI is an apt platform to showcase their art
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Deepa Gumaste
Anwar Jamal and Sehjo Singh are an inspiring duo to watch. He loves to express his views using snatches of Urdu poetry and other literary references. She speaks quickly but articulates her thoughts methodically. Both the approaches have been fused into their first feature film, Swaraaj, a rousing story about the courage of four illiterate women from interior Rajasthan, who fight all odds to get water for their village.
He has directed; she penned the screenplay and dialogues of the film which was showcased at the International Film Festival, Mumbai, Saturday. Swaraaj has poetry and music, it has all the myriad colours of life and is a neatly told story.
Jamal and Singh have collaborated on several documentaries before setting off on the Swaraaj trail. "In a country like India, after spending 12 years making documentary films, I realised I was able to generate neither funds nor audiences. Also, I wanted to explore fiction, but not in the conventional manner of Hindi cinema. I wanted to tell a story through the experiences of 70 per cent of India's population who are somehow surviving and yet haven't lost the courage to explore," says Jamal.
"The basic theme of Swaraaj is drawn from the real life story of a woman named Leelavati who was a ward Panch in Madurai. She wanted to get water for her ward and she even succeeded. But soon after, she has hacked to pieces in the marketplace by vested interests," says Singh. In this plot, the director has incorporated the caste angle, which is so significant in places like Rajasthan and the struggle that women elected to Panchayats have to undergo.
"I chose Rajasthan not just for its colours but also for the fact that the contrast between dry country and water is most heightened in this region," says Jamal. For his cast, instead of turning to known faces from Hindi cinema, Jamal chose four gutsy actresses from the National School of Drama. "I couldn't afford actresses from Mumbai with my limited budget, nor would they be able to give me bulk dates for a start-to-finish shoot. Also, I found that these NSD artistes are very disciplined and committed," he says.
To this cast, he added the best technicians from Chennai, including cinematographer S Chokalingam and editor A Sreekar Prasad. For the film's music and background score, he brought in a group called Indian Ocean. "Initially I was wondering how fusion music would blend with the rural setup. But they didn't compromise with the poetry and have come up with an amazing original score," says Jamal.
Even as the filmmaker is already ruminating on his next project, Singh is working out the logistics of taking Swaraaj to every corner of the country. "Apart from approaching television channels, we also plan to try and collaborate with state governments for local screenings and are going to dub it in various Indian languages," she says.
And while the husband is not averse to making a commercial film 'within his parameters', Bollywood is a strict no for Singh. "There are enough people making commercial films. I have been thinking, breathing, living socially relevant themes. There are hundreds of stories lying around, waiting to be told," she asserts.
Hindi filmmakers should take a cue from Rituparno Ghosh. The acclaimed Bengali director has stuck to the language of mainstream cinema, yet woven a sensitive tale in Titli. The film stars Aparna Sen and her daughter Konkona Sen as mother and daughter and Mithun Chakraborty as film star Rohit Roy. Most of the story takes place on one road journey through the picturesque terrain of Darjeeling.
Urmi and her daughter Titli are travelling to the airport to pick up her husband. Film star Rohit Roy's car has broken down on the way to the airport and he gets a ride with the two women. 17-year-old Titli, who is madly in love with the middle-aged hero, cannot believe her luck. But there are a few other surprises in store as the journey continues.
Apart from the lush landscape, lilting music and peppy dialogues, Titli is marked by two superb performances. Aparna Sen is a picture of restrain as the dignified housewife watches her daughter's first crush with amusing eyes, while Mithun Chakraborty oozes charm as the reclusive film star who is yet to come to terms with his past. Konkona's act, although competent, fails to match the class of the two accomplished artistes.
Food for thought: On the opening night of the Film Festival starstruck teenagers flocked around flavour of the year Aamir Khan and just couldn't get enough of him. They had to be hooted out of the way to let the screening of Taking Sides begin.
On day two of the festival, a sweet old man named Shashi Kapoor sat in one corner of the packed hall and no one noticed.