Director Maqbool Khan talks to Sakshi Sharma about the newness of the characters in his forthcoming film Khaali Peeli, commercial entertainers and the importance of youth-centric films in today’s time
Be it Dev Anand in Taxi Driver (1954), Amitabh Bachchan in Khuddaar (1982) or Aamir Khan in Raja Hindustani (1996), there have been various films impressing their generations with the portrayals of a taxi driver. Maqbool Khan-directorial Khaali Peeli seems to be the next in line. The entire film has been designed keeping this Gen Z in mind as the director feels that the generation after 90s haven’t watched many masala films like he did in the 80s and 90s.
It is a romantic comedy flick revolving around the lives of two childhood friends, who separate due to inevitable circumstances. Actor Ishaan Khatter plays the role of Blackie, a taxi driver and actor Ananya Panday (as Pooja) is a girl who comes from a conservative family and wants to be on her own. Excerpts of our conversation with the filmmaker.
How did you conceptualise the film with the 90s vibe in a contemporary setup?
I shifted to Mumbai in early 90s and have been living here for 25 to 30 years. Based out of Rajasthan, earlier, I used to go to Mumbai during summer vacations. It has always been a fascinating city and has attracted me since it was known as Bombay. The Kali Peeli taxi is the city’s most iconic thing. So when we were toeing up the idea of creating this entire story, we intentionally decided to create something around Mumbai and the taxi. That’s how it was incorporated in the story. The guy (Ishaan) who drives the taxi is the hero of the film. He’s a very street-smart kind of person. The story gradually becomes interesting when you see the colourful life of Mumbai as well as its dark sides through his point of view.
There have been many Bollywood characters based on drivers of a Kaali Peeli taxi in Mumbai in the past. How do you think Ishaan’s character is different? Has it been inspired from any real-life instances?
Yes. There have been instances and films where heroes have portrayed taxi wallas earlier but I haven’t seen a young actor in his mid-20s attempting something like this as far as recent films are concerned. This is the newness of this character. Also, Ishaan has a huge fan following among the youngsters which will help us establish a good connect with them.
The look, style and various dialogues are inspired from real instances. In Mumbai, out of 10 taxi drivers you will find at least two to three the way Ishaan’s character is portrayed in the film. You will find too many heroes in real life when you travel in a taxi or an auto rickshaw there. If you observe them closely, you realise that their personality, body language and the way they interact with passengers is not less than a hero because they see and worship Bollywood heroes every day. They are so quirky, colourful and the kind of one liner they use is outstanding. That’s how the whole idea of creating a character like this came about.
How does the film attempt to take us back to the retro times? What are some of the nuances?
From the trailer itself you can make out various nuances — the sounds, background score and dialect — is very retro yet contemporary, keeping today’s generation in mind. It will remind you of one of the finest music directors, RD Burman, who was way ahead of his time. The dialogues in the film are used in everyday language of Mumbai. When you go on the streets or in an auto Rickshaw, you will find them. The entire first teaser that we released has the cricket reference in it as it is worshiped like a religion here. It’s not a sport merely, it’s an emotion. We live for cricket. That was exciting for the young generation, probably the reason they connected with the trailer and song. This film has been made keeping the youngsters in mind. They are the pulse of it. I wondered if I had to cater a typical Bollywood masala film how do I do that? So, the entire film has been designed keeping this generation in mind as I feel they haven’t watched many masala films which I have in my 80s and 90s.
How easy or challenging was it to work with Ishaan and Ananya? How did you manage to get them into the skin of the character, especially in terms of the dialect?
Honestly, it was a very difficult task for me. They both are such a bundle of energy that I had to match the pace of my energy with them. As a filmmaker, I had to take control and channel their energy in the right direction. If we talk about the dialect, it was important for their characters to speak the colloquial language of Mumbai in order to be relatable. Hence, they were trained for two months to get it on point. They are young but still very sorted in their heads. They exactly know what they want from life. When I was their age, I didn’t know what I had to do in life. They both are very well read, sensible enough, aware and informed about what’s going around the world in terms of cinema. I have learned a lot from these kids.
Ananya’s character seems to be of a girl from a conservative background, who just wants to break free and be on her own. Women have been portrayed in that scenario before in many films. How is this one different?
It was intentional. We wanted to create a character of a girl, who is from a conservative and underprivileged background yet who’s progressive in her thoughts and aspires of living a life of her dreams. Today’s girls are very smart and independent. Ananya’s character is exactly similar to that. If she’s put in a situation where it’s difficult to sustain and survive, she will make sure she gets out of that smartly. She is basically Nehle Pe Dehla. It’s a pure commercial entertainer, full of action, romance, drama, humour and thriller. The film will take one back in the 90s when Mumbai was known as Bombay.
If we look at content these days, it has changed drastically, especially with OTT taking over... How do you think such commercial entertainers will survive amid the flood of unconventional and innovative content? How do you see its future?
I believe there has always been a future to all kinds of cinema. There are some people who still crave for commercial masala films. For instance, Simmba is a commercial out and out film and it did quite well. I feel everything co-exist in our society. As humans, we adapt to the situation like we are adapting to the current chaotic and unprecedented times. I can recall the time when commercial cinema was dominating but at the same time, you also had films like Saaransh, Daddy, Sadak and Dharavi. Different kinds of films survived it all together that too very beautifully. So I feel there will always be a room and space for every kind of cinema and every kind of genre.
The song, initially titled Beyonce Sharma Jayegi, has now been changed to Duniya Sharma Jayegi. It has been perceived in a very racist manner and disapproved by the audience around the world, including Beyonce herself. Do you think such item numbers in Bollywood have long lost their popularity among the Indian audience given that how the lyrics sometimes turn out to be hurtful of people’s sentiments?
It was picked out of context. A certain section of audience brought this to our notice which none had thought including the music director and the lyrics writer. If at all we knew that it can taken into this direction, we would have never used such words. The word Goriya has been used so often in Indian songs to address a girl that it didn’t occur to any of us to interpret it in the literal manner. I can recall a few songs that has the word Goriya — Chura Ke Dil Mera Goriya Chali from the film Main Khiladi Tu Anari, Gori Tera Gaon Bada Pyara from Chitchor and Goriya Re Goriya from Aaina. The word has always been used to refer a girl. You don’t dance on lyrics, you dance on the beats of the song as music connects you to the soul.
(The film releases on October 2.)