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Kukunoor's latest innings

Filmmaker Nagesh Kukunoor talks about how "Iqbal" came about and what it means to him

GREAT SHOT Nagesh Kukunoor has a unique approach to film making

The true-blue independent filmmaker Nagesh Kukunoor's latest delivery, `Iqbal' is being screened at Little Shenoys. A chat with the director on all about the film and his brand of filmmaking.

Did you conceive `Iqbal' or did Mukta Arts ask you to direct an idea they had? How did it all begin?

I had been pitching this idea about a deaf and dumb kid who excels at Malkhamb, a rural sport. No producer showed interest till I changed the sport to cricket.

Was the cricket idea from Mukta Arts? Subhash Ghai has said that `Iqbal' was conceived before `Black' and that he was just looking for a director.

No, no. I wrote the script with cricket as the subject and then approached Mukta. What he meant was I had pitched the idea to him way back then. He also said it because comparisons were being drawn to `Black' but we were already shooting when `Black' opened.

What did you not want to do while treating an issue like disability, especially keeping in mind the inevitable comparisons with `Lagaan' and `Black'?

I wanted to write a film about an underdog, where disability was treated with dignity. This was as far back as in 2003.

Have you seen "Black"? Did you like it?

Yes. But I could not relate to those sensibilities... I wanted a happier space where my characters existed.

You seem to disapprove of Hindi films. Do you have anything against Bollywood or is it just that you cannot relate to it? "Bollywood Calling" suggested that you understand and sympathise with the film industry. How come you still don't relate to the sensibility?

The format of storytelling is different. If you look at the works of filmmakers such as Hrishikesh Mukherjee, they very much existed in the Bollywood space but had different sensibilities. I relate to that... to Shyam Benegal, Basu Chatterjee, Gulzar, early Yash Chopra, B.R. Chopra and Vijay Anand.

What about your contemporaries?

I like some of Ram Gopal Varma's work. Raju Hirani. Sudhir Mishra.

Do you see that much of a difference in sensibility between directors of yesterday and today?

I think so. We seem to have a hyper Bollywood these days.

What is Malkhamb, and how did that inspire you?

It is a desi version of gymnastics and an unusually incredible sport.

How do you write? Do you have a systematic way of coming up with the plot points first and then fleshing out the character or do you just go with the flow and write from beginning to end?

I give myself a time frame, say 30 days, and then write. I write everything together... the story, screenplay and dialogue, all in one flow. That is the only way I know. Probably if I get stuck at one point, I have to get `unstuck' to move forward.

SUDHISH KAMATH

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