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Saeed Mirza Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai
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Saeed Mirza talks about a film he plans on Kashmir.
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AFTER A hiatus of seven years, filmmaker Saeed Mirza will soon don the director's cap. Mirza has begun work on a new film, this time on Kashmir. The acclaimed director was in the city for the inauguration of the ongoing Eighth International Film Festival of Kerala.
Mirza's films, be it `Mohan Joshi Haazir Ho', `Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai', `Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastan', `Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro', or `Naseem', reflect the conflict between the individual and the society and the despair of the youth.
His new film also deals with an issue close to his heart. Asked why he had chosen to make a film on Kashmir when the State had started limping back to normality and a truce had been declared along the border, Mirza says, "We owe it to the people of Kashmir. Moreover, the film transcends time and space. It's an attempt to try and understand hate. It's about people who are trapped in a vortex of their own making."
Like all his earlier films, his latest venture too has an interesting title. "Time of Hate and Memories' is the title I am working with.
"It's been difficult finding funding for the film, for it will be a guaranteed failure. Nevertheless, I had to make the film," he shrugs.
The Kashmir problem, he avers, is a "big game" in which everyone has had a role, be it the two Governments, the politicians, the people, the militants, or the media. "The Hindi phrase, Behti Ganga Mein sabne haath dho liya, sums up the Kashmir situation. But it's a tragedy for the people of Kashmir."
Asked if Indians were guilty of pseudo secularism, he says, "We are guilty of sweeping things under the carpet. It's wrong to expect someone to circumvent their environment and embrace people of other religion, caste or even colour. We have to understand the other person's nature, dreams and nightmare. We may not reach the point of great friendship or love, but at least some understanding would be achieved."
Cinema has a large role to play in fostering the language of peace, life, love and poetry, Mirza says. "I was in Ramallah in Palestine and I noticed a quite resolve on the faces of young women to get on with life. But on the faces of men, I saw death. They wanted to die. I realised this was a dead end for them. That's when I decided I wanted to communicate to them using cinema. It might not solve the problems they face, but the message of life and love will resonate."
Mirza says he was all set to teach cinema at Birzeit cinema in Palestine when the intifada movement raised its head again and he was forced to give up the idea.
He had also travelled extensively in Gujarat in the wake of the communal clashes. "People died there. That's what matters, not whether they were Hindu or Muslim. A staggering 70 per cent of our population is below the age of 30. But there are no jobs for them. Unemployment is rampant. If all this energy is not diverted, the consequences will be grave. Gujarat is a prime example. That's what happened in Assam during the examination for the Railways," he says.
"The problems India faces are many. But do we follow the clichéd answers the West has to offer or do we come up with our own solutions? We do need information technology, the services; of course, they are critical. But is only a segment of our population entitled to them? Don't the others have similar dreams and aspirations? Are profits the only consideration? Don't the people matter?"
It is questions such as these that Mirza took time off to ponder after his last film, `Naseem', came out in 1996. "I have done a lot of travelling in these years. I have gone around the country three or four times, and recorded the images on digital camera."
He has also been writing a book. "I have done extensive reading and listened to music. I have also been writing articles for journals. During the Iraq war, I was very disturbed by the coverage of the big media conglomerates such as BBC and CNN. I wrote pieces aiming to give a level-playing field to diverse opinion."
Asked why he had cast fresh faces in `Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro' and `Naseem' after casting Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri in his earlier films, he replies, "Pavan Malhotra had been associated with me from the `Nukkad' days. He was also the production manager for `Mohan Joshi Haazir Ho'. But he wanted to be an actor and I cast him in `Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro."
Mayuri Kango, Mirza says, was a brilliant student of cinema. "I told her to continue acting even while she pursued her studies. But then she got caught up in commercial cinema and soon disappeared from the scene. If she is still acting, I plan to bring her back into the mainstream with my upcoming venture."
With his new film on Kashmir promising to be as interesting as his earlier works, Saeed Mirza fans will have something to look forward to in 2004.
R. K. ROSHNI
Photo: S. Gopakumar
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