This time when the 71st National Film Awards were announced, the debate got entangled in Best Actor Shahrukh Khan. This overshadowed the discussion of actor Vikrant Massey who was sharing the same category. Urvashi, who won the Best Supporting Actress award for Ullozhukku, widened the North-South divide by saying that regional languages were ignored. Kaathal received the award for the best film in the Hindi category. Akanksha Pare Kashiv talked to its author Ashok Mishra, who presents the layers of politics, media, police and society through humor, after receiving the award. Excerpt:
The topic of jackfruit is different, how did you think about it?
The film’s director and my son Yashovardhan Mishra had read the news that two jackfruits were stolen from an MP’s house. He told me that police had been deployed to search for the jackfruit. I liked the story and we went to Bundelkhand to research it. In Chhatarpur we met a young inspector girl. We started the film with the story he told us.
Did you also write the screen play?
Generally, all the screen plays I have written so far, I have written alone. This is the first time that Yashovardhan and I have written it together.
Why did the idea of telling the story through satire come to you?
The deepest things can be said in sarcasm. Satire is also my genre. I have also written Well Done Abba, Welcome to Sajjanpur.
Nowadays humor has come very close to vulgarity. How do you avoid this?
It is true that nowadays vulgarity has become above humor. Making people laugh in a civilized manner is really becoming a challenge. Slutty is easy so the easy method is adopted. I try to attack the system through humor. Like in the movie Samar, there is Dalit atrocities. It was a serious subject, but I made the screen play such that people watch it laughing. If there is a touch of laughter in films, then one who is in despair gets relief.
How was the experience of working with your son?
Many times it felt good that we could talk whenever we wanted. Tuning will be good. There were disagreements many times. But when you do creative work, it is important to listen and integrate other’s ideas. He had to do the entire directing job, so he had a completely different way of looking at the story. I consider cinema as a traditional medium and was working on the script accordingly, but Yashovardhan added a modern twist.
The story becomes different in the eyes of the camera, were there any changes on the spot?
The actors took the story exactly as it was scripted.
The heroine’s name is Mahila Basor, is there any special purpose behind showing her as a Dalit?
Did this to add a new dimension to the story. The discussion regarding Dalits should get some strength. No extra effort was required to show class divisions.
There is also an investigative journalist in the film, why was it needed?
The reason is very interesting. We went to Mahoba. There we met a local journalist named Anuj. From this we also came to know about the gap between urban and rural journalists. We did not even change his name in the film and kept it the same.
Casting also played a big role in lifting the story?
Very much, because it was because of those people that reality came into the film. All the actors acted well. Be it Sanya Malhotra, Vijay Raj, Rajpal Yadav, Anant Joshi. If the acting is not good, the story dies on the screen. The ability of the actors took the story in a different direction.
What are you doing new?
Working on a script. Yashovardhan and his wife Niyati Joshi are writing a script. There are two-three things in the pipeline. If I’m not writing anything, I start writing dramas. I love the stories of marginal people because no one is telling the stories of small people. Now I have written a drama called Khadoos, which is the story of a tailor.
Does getting a prize make things easier?
Absolutely. People start recognizing you. It becomes easier to get an appointment. But the path of creativity is not at all easy. It is a big achievement for Yashovardhan that he got the National Award for his very first film. Although it was very difficult for me. When I received the National Award, the small jobs I used to do stopped because people started feeling that now I would ask for more money.
What are the benefits of OTT?
The value of the writer has increased with the advent of OTT. Professionalism has increased. Money has started coming on time.