Ketan Mehta spoke to Kritika Dua about the lack of new-age directors making experimental movies and censorship norms
More then independent film culture what is missing in the country is an evolved cinema culture and experimental projects, feels Ketan Mehta as he said, “In spite of being the largest film industry in the world we have not succeeded in developing a cinema culture in India. Film festivals have an important role to play in this respect as it leads to understanding and appreciation of the art and craft of cinema.” He continued further, “Zeal for unity is an exciting initiative of a television network to create a alliance between India and Pakistan to showcase their work.
Such creative interactions are necessary for peace and harmony in the sub-continent. Toba Tek Singh is a great story by Saddat Hasan Manto, about the partition and so I felt it was a perfect fit.” If it was difficult to adapt a short story of two pages into a movie, “Yes, converting a short story into an hour long film was a challenge. So I decided to treat it on two levels. One is the story of a mental asylum situated on the border and the other was the level of what was happening on the national and subcontinental level.” He didn’t need to do much research for it as he had earlier done a film called Sardar, which dealt with the period of independence and partition. So a lot of research was already done by him back then.
The changes he has made to the plot are, “An entire macro level of subcontinental happenings which were overlaid on the story by bringing in a narrator relating the micro and the macro. Additionally, some elements from some other stories of Manto like Khol do were also incorporated into the screenplay.” He further revealed about the reason of his fascination with biopics, “I believe that quite often reality is stranger than fiction and real life characters are therefore more relatable and inspiring than fictional characters.”
Mehta’s feels that Censor Board curtails freedom of expression of directors who make experimental films, “In today’s digital age censorship is an idea whose time is finished, especially in a vibrant democracy like India. It is not only undesirable to censor ideas and images but it is impossible to do so.” After the censoring fiasco on Udta Punjab, the directors now have to think twice before making a realistic movie on political subject. “All centers of power would like to restrict criticisms or adverse point of view.
Therefore, they will try to block it. Courage is the essential quality that a creative filmmaker has to have to make the films he or she believes in,” said Mehta. There are many discrepancies and inconsistencies in CBFC, “I believe the Shyam Benegal committee is looking into it, and suggesting recommendations for changing this," pointed out Mehta. He also had issues with CBFC when it comes to his films. "In numerous films from Maya Memsaab, to Rang Rasiya, we have had issues with CBFC and had to take it to the revising committee to resolve the issues successfully," said Mehta.
These days Mehta is mostly working on adapted stories rather than original scripts like Mirch Masala. When asked if we get to see original scripts in future, he smiled, "Soon.. still, many films to make, many dreams to fulfill." He is working on his upcoming biopic Jhansi Ki Rani starring Kangana Ranaut.
He was in town for the 7th Jagran Film Festival held at Siri Fort Auditorium along with Naseeruddin Shah, Sudhir Mishra and Jahnu Barua. Music composer Sandesh Shandilya, film editor Ballu Saluja and cinematographer Avinash Arun were present among others. Films like Toba Tek Singh by Ketan Mehta and Chotay Shah by Pakistani filmmaker Sabiha Sumar were screened on the opening day. Toba Tek Singh featured
veteran actors like Pankaj Kapur and Vinay Pathak in the lead roles. It is based on great writer Saadat Hassan Manto's short story of the same name. Chotay Shah, on the other hand featured Pakistani actors Adnan Jaffar and Maira Khan in the lead.