Actor Sooraj Pancholi and director Irfan Kamal have made an attempt to unite the nation through their forthcoming Satellite Shankar. By Sakshi Sharma
As I lounged around waiting for actor Sooraj Pancholi to come, director Irfan Kamal entered the room and asked me to take a seat. While I wondered whether I should wait for the actor or start the interview, the director seemed prepared.
Pointing towards the posters of the film Satellite Shankar behind him, I asked him the reason for the title. He promptly answered, “The whole idea is to get people thinking. It would force them to dig deep into the film. In today’s time, we don’t connect to people much. There are satellites which keep us connected only to our mobile phones, TV or internet. Our film will focus on this gap and connect hearts.”
As he spoke, Sooraj entered and sat beside him which broke Kamal’s chain of thoughts for a moment. While the actor was preoccupied with his phone, the director apprised us about the initial thoughts that led to this project. He said that he gets many ideas while reading newspapers. “When you read newspaper articles, you try to dig deeper into that subject and find the logic and reason behind it. I once read an article on how soldiers are never off-duty and that touched me deeply and gave birth to the film’s concept. They often have to return from their holidays before they are over on receiving just one call to serve the nation.”
The film revolves around the extraordinary journey of a soldier which brings a nation together. As a filmmaker, Kamal wants to restore the dignity of soldiers among the common citizenry. He talked about the challenges that soldiers face as they operate in regions with no network or proper food supplies. They are not aware of the happenings in and around the world, or even what is going on in their families. When people watch this sacrifice in the film, they will know the importance of their freedom. “If you don’t treat your family well, just remember these people don’t even get an opportunity to meet theirs. One should learn from a soldier,” said he.
The film is about Shankar (played by Sooraj), who has never taken a leave from his post. So concerned citizens start a social media campaign to send him back home on a much-deserved break.
While Kamal was elaborating on the film, the actor sat waiting for his turn to speak. Talking about the challenges of his role, he said, “Usually, patriotic films have action sequences. But this is different as it is dominated by emotions. So I did not have to learn the action part but yes, I had to work really hard on the script and my fitness.” Before he could give a deeper insight into his challenges, Kamal took over and said, “It is very difficult for any hero, especially an Indian one, to lose his six packs. And he did that.”
The actor nodded and said that he was very muscular earlier since he was quite active in sports for a long time. “When he (Kamal) came to me with the script, I thought it was an action film. I was shocked when he told me that it was not,” said he. The director asked him to cut down on his muscle mass and tone his body. Though it was tough for the actor, he was keen on doing it as he fell in love with the script. According to him, it was once in a lifetime kind of story. So “I worked on myself. Losing fat is easy but muscles, that is difficult,” added he.
It was the motivation from the whole team that helped the actor play this role. “I had to eat, sleep and drink Shankar in me because Kamal wanted me to feel like a soldier, not only on screen but off-screen too,” said he.
The film has a smorgasbord of emotions. On one side it portrays the soldier’s happiness on meeting his mother while on the other, it shows the difficulties that are a part of his life. But it was easy for the actor to bring out his feelings as he comes from a very emotional family. He said, “In fact emotions drive any film. When I am offered any role, I first look for emotions and then the rest of the story. If emotions are lacking, I don’t do it.”
Kamal said the rationale for the film came from his desire to give back to and acknowledge the armed forces. “Maybe we have never really done much for them. If people learn even five per cent, it will fulfill my purpose.”
We have often seen patriotic films and one wonders how this one is different. Explained Kamal, “The USP of our film is the use of social media as an awareness tool. It shows youngsters coming forward and taking up this cause. College kids and net savvy people are involved.”
Sooraj, who debuted with Hero (2015), said that this role is 10 times tougher. “In my first film, I played myself. The role demanded that I know martial arts, dance and deliver dialogues. But here I did not even feel for a second that I needed to feel like a hero,” he said.
This being his second film, the actor has made a comeback as a lead after four years. He said that he was looking for projects, which offered more than dance and action. “But it’s never too late and now I am happy because good things take time,” said he. Soon after his debut Sooraj became the talk of the town because of the suicide of his girlfriend Jiah Khan (actor). When questioned if it had affected his career, the actor looked clueless, paused for a while and said, “I don’t know whether I should say yes or no because it was also my choice to take a break at that point of time. Ups and downs are a part of everybody’s life. It was a conscious decision to take a break. I was offered a lot of films but I didn’t take them up because I was not 100 per cent convinced by them.”
He also indicated that he was put on trial by the media. He said, “Not even five per cent of what the media wrote about me is true. They have only heard one side of the story and not my version of it. I never claimed I am innocent to gain people’s sympathy.”
He added, “Media can’t get me justice, only the court can. So, I have been waiting for the court to take the decision. This is my career, my bread and butter. So I have to speak out because what is happening is wrong.”
(The film releases on November 15.)
Photo: Pankaj Kumar