Director-producer Vishal Bhardwaj shares how he adapted a story written by Konkana Sen Sharma’s father
His last was Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola, a satire on the current political system. Vishal Bhardwaj’s stories often feature intense characters, and are sometimes set in small town India.
The newest is Ek Thi Daayan, which reminds us about devils and witch tales we heard as kids.“I remember my father told me stories from myth. Others were pure fantasy. One that still makes me laugh, is the fable about the shepherd who cried wolf!”
Bhardwaj explained that Ek Thi Daayan, based on the story of a “genius, journalist” friend, “was written around 20 years ago. It was a short fantasy. I went to the director Kannan Iyer, who was looking for an idea. We got Sharma’s okay and we developed the script, adapting the story to modern times.”
The film features Huma Qureshi, Kalki Koechlin, Konkana Sen Sharma and Emraan Hashmi as a magician.“Emraan’s character was haunted by a witch as a boy. When he grows up, the witch returns to haunt him,” informed Vishal, who added that this film is a classic story about good and evil. “Both qualities are inside us. We are the sum total of positive and negative sources. It is up to us to decide which road to take.”
He said his inspiration comes from life in general and his reading. “I am particularly fascinated by short stories and literature. When you read, you never know what will trigger an idea. For example, few have focussed on films based on real issues in Kashmir, which has faced a huge human tragedy. When I was young I read about soldiers being killed and lakhs leaving their homes.
We are an insensitive bunch who talk about 100 crore business and make films with that in mind. Our future generation will laugh at us for not recording anything, when so much was happening. I have been thinking about this a lot, although I haven’t started writing anything yet,” he said. Incidentally its his 30th year as a music composer. “I connect most with composing. It comes naturally to me,” he said.