Film-maker Vikas Bahl credits the audience for the huge success and popularity of Queen. After it won the national award, he tells Divya Kaushik that he set out to make an honest, fun film without any intention of giving a message
The Queen has conquered the throne and the man who was watching his baby grow and taking giant steps towards success is a contended man. Vikas Bahl, the director of national award-winning film Queen, says that he feels like the film is another entity, another being, carving its own path and he is “just tagging along with it.” He says, “I almost feel like Queen is another person who has been on this journey and while on it, has gained much love and appreciation from people. I just happen to be associated with this person.”
The film-maker was astounded to get the news of the big win. “I didn’t even know that the announcement of national award winners was expected on the day. It was Anurag Kashyap who came running to me in the office and picked me up and screamed, ‘We won.’ I wondered what. He then revealed that the Queen has won the national award,” says Vikas, whose film starring Kangana Ranaut has been the talk of award functions, sweeping the major categories. “For a film-maker any appreciation or award is an achievement but this one feels special because this has been very much driven by the audience. We made an honest, fun film and it was a very small film which did a moderate business in the beginning. But then it was the audience who decided to take it forward. The word of mouth spread and the business picked up. I think the film owes its success to the audience who found a huge message hidden in it. Though, as a filmmaker, it was never my intention to make a film with any kind of message. I set out to tell an interesting story of this simple girl who decides to travel and go on her own honeymoon. There were no layers to this story when we started shooting it, but as the film took shape the layers kept coming in and in the end there was this message woven in the fun story and it was the audience who discovered that message,” says Vikas.
Queen has marked many trends in the industry which is trying to embrace the unconventional as conveniently as the tried and tested. A few years ago, no one could have imagined such a story, driven by a female actor alone, collecting a massive revenue at the box office. The recognition that comes in the form of national award will encourage more young film-makers make films that do not follow any stereotypical approach. It also makes the audience hopeful that we will have more content-driven films in the future where storytelling will excel. “I feel that the audience has always been wise and mature to appreciate good cinema. The kind of films that were being made years ago and were hugely popular are an example to this fact. They were meaningful stories and some subjects were ahead of their time and yet they were appreciated. The quality of films being made deteriorated over the years and the audience was left with no choice. So I think if this win comes with some learning, it has to be on the part of film-makers and scriptwriters. A well-written and well-narrated story will always win the heart of the audience. We should be paying more attention to storytelling in our films,” says Vikas.
The director is determined to make more “fun” films and hopes that they would be as much appreciated and loved as Queen. He has just completed the shoot of his next, Shaandaar, with Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt. The film which is said to be based around destination wedding is slated for release in September. “I have been busy with Shaandaar and it will be out in September. Again, I have been trying to make an honest film, the audience will decide for it,” he ends.