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It takes Mani to tango
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The filmmaker's take on his movie, `Tango Charlie' - a visceral look at war
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Mani Shankar with Ajay Devgan and Bobby Deol
IF YOU were to demand like the colonel in Catch 22, "What kind of name is Tango Charlie?" director Mani Shankar has the answer pat as he says, "It is a simple identification code used by soldiers across the world." Talking about the movie slated for release in mid-March, Mani says, "Tango Charlie stands for Tarun Chauhan, the raconteur in the movie."
The movie is based on Mani's decade of experience working with "the RAF, CRPF, renegade Hizb-ul Mujahideen and Bodo militants. I began to understand the tactics of war at insurgency level having seen the war of attrition from both sides. Everyday the country is being bled by a largely preventable war that people do not know about or do not care to know."
"This war is happening because we as a people are a fractured, insulated lot. We are busy with our own concerns, our own hide. Information has the power to transform and media can create a revolution."
And when you mention the final impotence of a hard-hitting documentary like Michael Moore's 9/11 Fahrenheit, Mani hastily confirms, "it is not 9/11. This is just an effort to sensitise the audience to the reality of conflict."
Mani describes Tango Charlie as "an anti-war film. I have taken a distinct stance. The film deglamourises and deromantises war. Too long have we been fed on movies with the soldiers putting a tilak and taking off to serve the motherland while their wives and girlfriends wait and sing songs on receiving a letter. Filmmakers have patriotised the concept of war, conveniently ignoring the killing and dying - the true pain of war. This movie is aimed at creating a large hole in our conscience."
Not taking sides
The movie is not "location specific. Tango Charlie could be anyone anywhere. While now most war are mechanised, the true grit lies with the infantry. That is why my characters - Ajay Devgan and Bobby Deol are not officers, they are a Sergeant and a Private.
A realistic war movie invariably translates to gut-wrenching violence but Mani clarifies that he is "not condoning brutality. At some point there is always a choice to be made. I have not taken sides as that would mean dehumanising one and glorifying the other."
Mani chose to set his story within the BSF, as "it is the paradigm most suited to what happens inside. I whetted the script through the BSF and though they found some parts disturbing, it is to their credit that they did not ask anything to be deleted."
While Mani says the movie is "gripping at a visceral level that goes beyond the spoken word, the film is also warm and funny as the human mind cannot remain in a state of tension and depression forever."
Target audience
Mani describes himself as his target audience. "You cannot let the manipulation creep in at the making stage. You are your own litmus test. It is tough to map another person's mind." Shot in "Manipur, Telangana, Gujarat, Bengal and finally the snowy wastes of Himachal, the movie unfortunately has songs but not the letter receiving variety."
Mani believes in using technology "as a tool to enhance story telling. For me the journey is important not the destination. If the journey is not satisfying then one might as well forget the goal. There is a vast bridge that a filmmaker has to cross between the vision and the execution."
While casting Devgan in an action role is a given, Bobby Deol who Mani describes as a "fine actor was a piece of contra casting. I have not sacrificed pace for maturity. There is a belief mature cinema that makes you think is not compatible with pace. I have tried to bust this myth with Tango Charlie."
After the disaster of Rudraksh which Mani comments was not the "director's cut," Mani returns to the grassroots with Tango Charlie, "an earthy movie dealing with primary emotions of essentially simple straight guys."
For Mani the journey has been enjoyable, will the audience have a good trip? The jury is out on that one till the Ides of March!
MINI ANTHIKAD-CHHIBBER
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