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Cat among pigeons! Ashutosh Rana plays a character inspired by Safdar Hashmi in “Coffee House”

Nearly two decades after his murder, Hindi cinema is busy revitalising the values comrade Safdar Hashmi stood for. Recently we saw Raj Kumar Santoshi using the title of his play “Halla Bol”, which Safdar was performing when he was attacked. Now Safdar’s friend Gurbeer Singh Grewal is taking a closer look on the man and his principles through Coffee House. Shot in Delhi and Noida, the film is co-produced by Sandeep Marwah and stars Ashuotsh Rana and Sakshi Tanwar in the lead roles.

Known for his path-breaking series Neem Ka Ped, during the good-old Doordarshan days, Grewal was lying low since television became a ‘TRP-governed medium’. Meantime, he tried his hand at regional cinema and his Mannat with Jimmy Shergill proved to be a huge hit in Punjab. With multiplex boom opening the gates for different genres, Grewal’s optimism in the medium has paid.

He says the film is not biographical but the Ashutosh’s character is inspired by Safdar’s principles. “Unlike Safdar, Ashutosh’s character doesn’t belong to any political party. The film makes a social comment. Political comment is just a by product of it.”

Grewal’s feels Safdar’s message could not be taken forward after his death because politicians started to cash in his name. “I dissociated myself from the movement when elements with whom he didn’t want to associate with in his lifetime started owning him. I said to myself ‘woh hamare dil main rehta hai’ and moved on.”

Inspired by the life and works of Rahi Masoom Raza, Grewal quotes him, “Everybody keeps on raking up the cause of minorities but I feel the biggest minority in this country is the Indian, the Hindustani. Rest are all after the interests of their caste, region and religion.”

The biggest minority in this country is the Indian - GURBEER GREWAL

Grewal says his protagonist points out in the film that development of the country doesn’t mean four-five shining cities. “No doubt it is good to have them as a showcase for the world, but the fruits of development should reach the poor. One doesn’t need to go more than 30 kilometres beyond Delhi to see the status of our development. This rift is largely responsible for the increasing crime in the cities.”

Will the multiplex audience, who is largely oblivious to things beyond the depth of his pocket, be able to fathom this deep thought? “I think he should. I am not against prosperity. Capitalism is the order of the day but the capital should be earned through hard work and fair means. Yes, it is possible,” he insists. He continues, “If you are driving a car and you find somebody in a wretched state on the road, one should not ignore it as a matter of destiny. It’s your job to think and act towards a situation where everybody in this country could afford some kind of public transport.”

The character seems tailor-made for Ashutosh, but the actor is known to ham through such roles. “Here he has worked within the limits of the script. Ashutosh has a lot to say but he doesn’t get a platform. So whenever he interacts with the media he just lets it go contributing to the image. We have tried not to be preachy in the film. These days a section of the audience is happy being preached by religious gurus round the clock on television channels but it doesn’t want to listen to something which is in the national interest.”

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