Filmmaker Janaki Vishwanathan’s first film Bakrapur has a goat named Shah Rukh
National award-winning filmmaker Janaki Vishwanathan’s first Hindi film Bakrapur has an unusual protagonist in the movie, a goat named Shah Rukh but she has brushed off any reference to the Bollywood superstar. “It has nothing to do with Shah Rukh Khan. You see people have a tendency to name their pet animals after actors or someone they love. The goat is integral to the story so we needed a name for it... something catchy,” Vishwanathan said when asked if it is an attempt to poke fun at Khan.
“You see, the name is just Shah Rukh which literally means face of the Emperor,” she added. Asked if the 47-year-old actor has reacted or tweeted about this, Vishwanathan said she has not come across any comment so far. “I have great admiration for him and though I have not personally interacted with him, from the interviews he has done, he seems to have a great sense of humour.” Vishwanathan also said that Bakrapur is not a take-off on Cyrus Broacha’s MTV programme Bakra. It is just an imaginary title, where everyone makes a fool of everybody else. “The movie is a social-political satire set against the backdrop of rural India. It dwells, at the primary level, on the relationship between eight-year-old Zulfi and his pet goat Shah Rukh. It is also a hilarious take on the complex belief systems in our society and the conflicts that ensue thereon,” she said.
The 90-minute film, scripted and directed by her, stars Anshuman Jha, Asif Basra, Faiz Khan, Shameen Khan and Suruchi Aulakh.