My film is not about Mayawati: Tigmanshu
Devanshi Seth, TNN | Mar 25, 2011, 12.00am IST
The erudite UP cop of Tigmanshu Dhulia's upcoming flick "Jai Ramji"
may not be based on a real-life Allahabadi police officer, as was
reported earlier.
But the character, being essayed by Arjun Rampal, is definitely
modelled on a typical Allahabadi, who, in Dhulia's own words, "knows
dadra and thumri just as well as he does the Jazz and the Blues." The
filmmaker from Allahabad says he's not seen a more pronounced example
of the East-meets-West anywhere other than in Allahabad: "People like
me, who used to go to college in a kurta and chew paan and could still
speak immaculate English, the typical well-bred Allahabadi, that's
what the cop is like," he says.
While Arjun Rampal will be going to neighbouring Allahabad for a
hands-on learning experience in April, the film will be shot in
Lucknow as well. "We will be shooting in Chambal sometime in April,
and there's another schedule of the film with Randeep Hooda, Irrfan
Khan and Arjun in May-June in Mumbai. The Lucknow schedule will happen
later, maybe in September, when the heat lets up," informs Dhulia, who
was quoted by a section of the Mumbai media to have touted the film as
the "great return of brahmans... an answer to Mayawati". "How can that
be?" he asks, while rubbishing claims about the film being a political
commentary. "The brahmans are with Mayawati now. Yes, the film is
about casteism and features two friends who are brahmans, but it's not
about Mayawati," he adds in clarification.
But the prolific filmmaker – he's readying for the release of two
films, "Sahib, Biwi Aur Gangster" and "Shaagird", while working on a
third with Irrfan Khan "Paan Singh Tomar" – says the decision to make
a film based in his homeland isn't an emotional one. "It stems from
economics," he says before you get all excited about how filmmakers of
UP origin are returning to their roots. "The economics of exhibition
of films has changed over the last 2-3 years. When films like "DDLJ"
made it big, filmmakers started catering to the huge NRI market. At
that time, the Box Office revenues from Bihar and UP were not
impressive enough, and so, "Shawa-Shawa" chalta raha," elaborates
Dhulia, "That was the time when regional cinema began to emerge in a
big way – Bhojpuri, Marathi, Bengali – to cater to the demands of the
regional audience. But the middle class settled in small towns now,
people like you and me who go to multiplexes, don't relate to Bhojpuri
cinema or the "I Hate Luv Storys" brand of films. That's how stories
like "Ishqiya" and "Tanu Weds Manu", which are based in UP, began to
find an audience." And that's when Dhulia decided the time was ripe to
find a story from the Hindi heartland to tell the audience.
"The acceptance of different kind of cinema is greater now," he says,
while adding that that's also made making "films easier now".
"Storytelling in cinema has changed," he adds. And while Dhulia
maintains he's always made films that appealed to his sensibilities,
he concedes he's more inclined to cast people in his films who belong
to a small town, like him. "I can't say I help them, kyunki sabki apni
destiny hoti hai, but I do give youngsters from back home a chance.
Like the editor who's working with me currently is also from
Allahabad. And I've always had an inclination to opt for actors from a
theatre background from Lucknow, Banaras and Allahabad."
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