His film was one of India’s official entries to Cannes. Described as a “rainy gangster noir”, it stars alternative cinema’s poster boy Nawazuddin Siddiqui in his most menacing avatar. In London for the UK premiere of Monsoon Shootout at the London Indian Film Festival (LIFF), director Amit Kumar dwells on Indie cinema, Siddiqui, and why an axe is his favourite weapon.
Anurag Kashyap was recently quoted saying Indians find film festival fare boring? Do you agree?
I don’t know in what context he made that statement, so I won’t be able to comment on that. However, if you ask for my opinion, yes there is a perception about film festival films in India — that they are very slow and boring, not exciting. That may have been true at a certain time, but now things are very different. There are varied kinds of films happening in India which travel to film festivals — right from a
There is definitely some truth in that. I think one of the reasons is that there is no real platform in India. How does a filmmaker get an audience for his film? Only by sending it to festivals. Okay, now there are a few festivals in places like Mumbai, Goa, Kerala, Kolkata, but there is no denying that an international premiere, say a Cannes premiere for Monsoon Shootout , helps a lot. This is not because we need validation from the white man or the West, it’s because most people acknowledge Cannes almost like a temple of cinema — one of the best places you can hope your film to be at. Also, in a way, it’s like getting recognised by your peers and fellow filmmakers.
There is a huge industry of independent cinema abroad. Lastly, there is this thing about the media. If your premiere is at a prestigious film festival, then people in India think, ‘we need to watch this’.
How did you come up with the idea for the film?
The basic idea of Monsoon Shootout is rooted in the kind of person I am. I find it very difficult to take decisions. Monsoon… is about a cop who holds a suspect at gunpoint, making up his mind whether to shoot or not — and, in essence, I’ve transplanted my character into Vijay’s (who plays Adi, the protagonist).
The film has been praised for its cinematography, visual appeal and noir elements. Did you have a visual template in your head before fleshing out the script?
The first image I had was of a man with a gun, standing in the rain, trying to make up his mind. From there I got the idea of a man who has a conscience, who has a gun, and who has to make a decision — so the character developed into an idealistic cop.
The visual element is very important for me… that the visuals, rather than just the dialogues, take the narration forward.
You have worked with Siddiqui in TheBypass . Now he is a star. Was there any pressure to give the lead role to him, instead of the newcomer Vijay Varma?
There have been many opinions on this. When I started writing the film after TheBypass , in my mind Nawaz was Shiva. There was something in Vijay’s eyes which told me he will be perfect as an idealistic rookie cop, and there was something in Nawaz’s eyes which told me he could play Shiva, the cold-blooded murderer. Or somebody who could play both.
Did you fear that the lack of songs might make your film commercially less viable? And do you plan to include them in your future projects?
Be it casting or music, one thing was very clear from the beginning — that I wanted to make a certain kind of film, and didn’t want to compromise on that. I would not add any element just because it works for commercial reasons. That’s why, perhaps, it took so long to set the film up. But I’m glad my producer supported me.
…there are a couple of songs in the dance bar scenes in Monsoon… — the script required it. I’m not sure I will use songs to express an emotion the character is feeling. If there is scope physically in the world around him, then I would put it. I’m not anti-songs, I recognise their benefits but, at the same time, I’m not going to twist my narrative around them.
You hear about Indie films struggling to secure funding. Did you find it exhausting, or that it takes away from your creativity?
If you decide to be a filmmaker, then you’re already negating a certain kind of life. I was working in a multinational bank initially; if I had carried on there, I would have had a different lifestyle... more money, security. But filmmaking is not your regular 9-to-5 job, it’s not easy. And when you decide to make this kind of a movie, not Bollywood or Hollywood mainstream but something different, then you already know it will be a tough path.
I don’t see it as a block to my creativity; I see it as a challenge… this sharpens my creativity. When I don’t have money, I think of different ways to make a particular scene look good.
One interesting thing in the movie is the axe carried by Shiva, which makes more of a statement than the gun — making the scenes and character seem more menacing and brutal. Was this a way of distancing yourself from the usual Bollywood gangster films?
(Laughs) Yes and no. It wasn’t deliberate so as to break away from something, but it was deliberate because I felt that is the guy he is. He even says in the film, ‘Anybody can pull a trigger, but hacking someone with an axe, and seeing it cut through the flesh and bones isn’t easy. It requires real guts’. And I thought the axe suits his character, who is really raw and has the guts to do something like this. Actually, I just love the axe — I had Nawaz carry an axe in TheBypass as well.
Tell us about your future projects.
There are a couple of things I’m working on. One is a film on the Second World War — it is an Indian story, and I think it needs to be told. Most of the movies we have watched are about the Allies fighting the Germans, or about Russians, Stalingrad, or D-Day — the very famous battles. But my film will be about this battle in Burma that the world has not seen on screens, yet it was voted some months ago as the greatest battle of the Second World War. It’s a beautiful story with British, Indian and Japanese soldiers.
The second project is a gangster film set in London.
You love gangster films and violence...
Yes. I think violence is very cinematic. It’s not just to do with the moment when the action is unleashed, but the journey between being a normal person and reaching a point where you decide to take someone’s life. This entire process is very fascinating for me. Even in the World War film (his upcoming project), it’s interesting for me how we give social sanction to killings in a war, and how we reconcile with it.
But who knows, I might make a romantic comedy in the future — because I’m romantic, and I think I’m funny!
Shreshtha Trivedi is a London-based journalist ( shreshthatrivedi@gmail.com )