Talktime| Sudhir Mishra
Director-screen-writer SUDHIR MISHRA, tells SHAlINI SAKSENA that his Daas Dev is not a remake of Devdas but comes with a flip side to the much celebrated role
Is it correct to surmise that Daas Dev is a modern take on Dev DasIJ
I would say that it is a re-imagination. It is taking Dev Das’ character and taking them around as possible, with some bit of Shakespeare to the role. It is more about how Dev becomes a daas — a man who is a noble and how he becomes a slave to his addiction. It is the journey of a man who is heir to a political legacy and comes in when his family is in trouble. His addition is the lure of power and how he rids himself of that. Paro, too, has a flip side and doesn’t stay behind a closed gate. She is Paro on the warpath. Chandramukhi (Chandni), is a seductress, a manipulator of funds, a fixer. She manipulates Dev but liberates him since she loves him but doesn’t walk away empty-handed. So women are just important as the men. Saurabh Shukla is the main antagonist, who plays Dev’s uncle (the Shakespearean twist).
What is the reason for this flip side to Dev’s storyIJ
You re-interpret something and give people a love story which is a political thriller. You give people a strong romantic story with a political base. It is an interesting base — all the works that has happened in the past and acknowledge it and therefore, it is called Daas Dev and not Dev Das. We acknowledge our past and heritage and flip it. This is a reverse journey, a positive journey — Dev is no loser.
Does this mean that it would be wrong to compare Daas Dev with the original Dev DasIJ
Totally. While other films have been an adaptation of the original works, Daas Dev is a reinterpretation though Dev D was a kind of a flip. Daas Dev is also a kind of flip where people will get to see a fresh story with characters that have been borrowed from Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s novel.
nIs there a conscious decision to make films that don’t conform to ‘commercial’ tagIJ
Filmmaking is not a conscious activity. I have always made films that have been different. This is my medium. Cinema doesn’t belong to a few families just like politics or power doesn’t belong to a few families. This is my medium and every other young person’s who wants to do with the medium. As long as you love the medium, the medium loves you back.
How much time does it take to write a story and what kind of research goes into itIJ
Usually, I make films about things that I know. I have a political background. My grandfather was DP Mishra; he was one of the people around late former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi when she came back to power. He always said that power was not mine because you come from a certain background. He threw us into the general category and asked us to grow up. But we knew what power was, its addiction. I imagined what my life would have been had I been lured by it.
You have made some great crime thrillers. How did that happenIJ
Crime thrillers have an interesting form; it is exciting, it’s gripping and holds the audience, it can take you places and one can explore it. Political thriller is a legitimate form. like Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin is not a political thriller. If one is talking about Khamosh, I recently rode a piece for a newspaper where I talked about my three mad mentors. One of them is Vidhu Vinod Chopra whom I assisted. I acted in the film too. The suspense in Khamosh is due to him.
There is a lot of glamour quotient when there is talk of BO success. Do you subscribe to itIJ
Glamour is part of the showbiz. As long as it doesn’t interfere with the story-telling, it is fine. I am more interested in story-telling. I am interested in cinema and great actors and so is the audience today. Then there are other kind of films that have a spectacle and are an entertainment product, they have their own place. We are different. We are story-tellers. Our films are rooted reality somewhat.
Does this mean that there are a set of actors who you would like to work withIJ
No, no. I’ve worked with both young and older actors. I have worked with Kareena (Kapoor Khan), with Anil Kapoor, with Irrfan. I have also worked with earlier actors too like Pankaj Kapoor. It is about the part and who is best suited rather than the actor.
Is there something that Bollywood needs to addressIJ
I think the business should spend more money on the development like scripts and technology. We need to work a lot when it comes to sound. Some are working towards this, so there is a positive move.
What are the other projects that you are working onIJ
I am, at present working on a sequel — Khwab Hazaaron. I am also working on a film adaptation of Manu Joesph’s Serious Men.