Kangana Ranaut’s past accolades don’t mount pressure on director Sai Kabir. He tells Karan Bhardwaj that Revolver Rani will take the actor’s career to a new high
With the Queen’s success underway, Kangana Ranaut has become the lady of the moment. Sai Kabir, director of Revolver Rani, acknowledges the pressure and mounting expectations, as the star is only expected to deliver ‘good performance’. The trailers where Kangana is seen as a gangster from Chambal have already raised the curiosity level. “She has done a fabulous job in Queen. But I got impressed after Fashion. She is a versatile actor and it’s a pleasure for me as a filmmaker that people are expecting only good out of my movie. I won’t let her fans down as she has acted brilliantly in this film too,” says the director. Kabir is excited to see all the attention despite low promotions. “A movie is promoted to get attention. But Kangana’s terrific performances in the past have already made people curious. So all I can say that people can go to theatre with expectations,” he says.
For some, it is difficult to imagine the ‘sweet’ fashion diva as a gangster, beating local goons and taking on the male bastion. “She moulds herself effortlessly. She was the original choice since she is ready to take on challenges and doesn’t see herself under any specific tag. Though I didn’t write the character or the script keeping her in mind, we always knew Kangana would be our heroine,” he says.
Revolver Rani is Kabir’s reaction to confusions in modern Indian society. According to the filmmaker, there are several civilisations running parallely in this country. “On one hand, we have ultra-modern cities with skyscrapers and high-tech lifestyle while on the other hand people are devoid of basic amenities. In between the two, people are craving for Americanisation. I think there’s some tamasha going on all the time. It’s so bizarre and confusing. So I created characters which could translate my thoughts. Revolver Rani has much more beyond political goons and black comedy. Characters speak English, they wear designer clothes and then, there’s a craving to become Bollywood actor. So I have mashed a lot of things together which is juxtaposed to our modern society,” he says.
Gwalior-born director says he wants to revive the times of Guru Dutt and Bimal Roy in the industry. “There was a time when Guru Dutt and Bimal Roy used to take risks and took up subjects like these but after few years these subjects lost their sheen amidst male-oriented scripts. But, the new-age filmmakers have revived the trend and are giving importance to the female characters,” he says.
Kabir started his career in films as an assistant director to Kundan Shah and Aziz Mirza and worked with them for eight years. He has written dialogues and screenplays for films like Chatur Singh Two Star, lamhaa: The Untold Story of Kashmir and Kismat Konnection. He made his directorial debut with Chemistry. “I am inspired by Saeed Akhtar Mirza and Aziz Mirza,” he tells us.