Ibtida, an Urdu film by Kashmiri director Ali Emran, adapts The Fountainhead and brings the philosophy on screen. Sharang Bhaskaran talked to the filmmaker
A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.” One of the most famous quotes from Ayn Rand’s novel, The Fountainhead — it encapsulates the ideals of the protagonist, Howard Keating. A man of principles and high ideals, who refuses to bend for anyone, all to uphold his individual right to creation and ownership, he courts failure, poverty, while being derided by society for his refusal to fall into the trap of mediocrity.
Although, Hollywood adapted the book into a film over 60 years ago, no one has since attempted to film Rand’s philosophical novel.
A filmmaker from Kashmir, Ali Emran has adapted the story into a film in Urdu, titled Ibtida. Ibtida in Urdu means the birth or beginning of something or a ‘fountainhead’, if you will. The film was recently screened at the India Habitat Centre recently by the Habitat Film Club.
The film follows the original plot of the novel and revolves around the lives of two main protagonists — Zahir, a self-made man who lives by his principles of scrupulous integrity, and Gautam who climbs the ladder of success without any original ideas of his own on the strength of Zahir’s talent. Juxtaposing Gautam as a foil, the film brings home the importance of integrity. Through Zahir we see how faith in your convictions and being steadfast to your principles is what gains you respect and dignity, not fame and fortune.
The film includes a cast made up of amateur and theatre actors from Kashmir, with Ali Emran playing the role of Zahir, the protagonist. The film is well-written, adapting the story and the characters skillfully with its dialogues being the highlight of the film. The philosophy of the story translates beautifully with the Urdu dialogues, giving it a rather poetic quality.
A thought proving narrative, coupled with strong dialogues gave Rand’s classic an earthy feeling — something we could connect to.
Emran, who also wrote the screenplay and dialogues, and also edited the film was present at the screening and we were lucky enough to talk to him about the film afterwards.
“I was influenced by The Fountainhead ever since I read it many years ago, especially the character of Howard Roark. His ideas of integrity, individualism, and creative liberty was something I was always inspired by,” Emran said, when we asked him why decided to chose the plot of Rand’s book.
“When I got involved with film-making, I knew that I had to make a film on this story and so I started writing the screenplay for it two years ago,” he added. The film also features a few songs as background score, penned by Emran himself, who admits to dabbling in writing poetry.
The film was shot over the course of two months in Srinagar and its neighbouring areas and involved a crew of some 40 odd people.
“I was very happy when the film won the Best Feature Film award at the Kashmir International Film Festival last year. It is so satisfying and rewarding when you work hard on something and receive recognition for it,” he revealed.
Emran has also made two documentaries and a feature film in Urdu and is in the process of developing a script for a Bollywood musical.