How ‘Kidnap' attempts to blend masala and content in one film

After stumbling upon some illegal activities in a shady pub, a photojournalist Meghna finds her life in jeopardy. The only person standing between the criminal racket and her is a hotshot DJ Dev at the same pub. Can he save her from the imminent danger? That’s forms the crux of the Raja Chanda directed action flick. Success of a film revolving around pressing social issues depends a lot on keeping every development on screen realistic. The balance between real and cinematic elements remains a key point. Well, Dev and Rukmini Maitra starrer ‘Kidnap’ tries to maintain that balance with an honest attempt but somehow lacks the main attraction. Here’s low down on how the film to break the stereotype.

After a long time Bengali commercial cinema is grabbing headlines thanks to dev and Jeet. Both the Tolly superstars’ films released on Eid, June 05. While Dev’s ‘Kidnap’ sheds light on a serious issue like women trafficking, Jeet’s ‘Shesh Theke Shuru’ is a romantic thriller which marks the on-screen reunion of Jeat and Koel after a long time. So, will the completion be strong? Dev gives a prompt reply with a smile.

“Jeet was expected to play the role in ‘Password’ which Parambrata Chatterjee is essaying. We had also agreed on the terms that he will be releasing on Eid, and I will release my film during the Pujas. But if he plans to release his films on Eid, Puja, Christmas, and even Independence Day, when will I be releasing my films? So, I took the decision to go on screen simultaneously. And, actually it’s good to see after a long time, people are discussing purely commercial cinema,” said Dev.

She was seen almost without make-up and in non-glamorous characters in her last two films Kabir (2018) and Cockpit (2017) but ‘Kidnap’, Rukmini Maitra’s latest release, is a dream come true experience for the pretty actress. She is excited to play a glamorous role in a film for the first time. “It was a dream come true experience for me as I finally got the chance to do everything on screen I grew up watching,” said the actress.

Rukmini also believes giving life to the romantic scenes in ‘Kidnap’ was actually the most difficult task for her. She further insists there’s no reason to degrade 'masala films' (hardcore commercial films). “I believe it’s much more difficult for us, the actors to prrpare for the level of romance and action that people see in masala films,” she stated, adding that each film is commercial and so, it is ideal to term the mainstream films with hardcore action and romance as 'masala films'.

NK Salil who has penned the story, screenplay and dialogues of ‘Kidnap’ says they have tried to depict the dark world of the society through ‘Kidnap’. “Since I am almost free all day, I get the chance to read the entire newspaper. Once I read about the news of a missing girl, the daughter of Abdul Selim from Bolpur’s Rasulpur Village. The girl was missing for 23 days and Selim had even sought the assistance of administration and police. When we started working on the story, we were shocked to know that it was just the tip of the iceberg, there’s a long racket behind it,” said NK Salil who realized while working on the script that the dark world of human trafficking is one of the most promising businesses around the world.

The story of Dev’s next ‘Kidnap’ sheds light on a more serious issue of woman trafficking which has become a dark chapter in many countries around the world. While speaking about what the film is all about, Dev said: “We have been planning for one and a half years to do a film together. We did not want to repeat the kind of films that we have already done. We wanted to do something new. So when I used to go around in Kolkata, I saw missing girl written on walls. That intrigued me. I read about many such stories in newspapers. And that’s how we came up with the idea of this film.”

Dev ensured that the action sequences came out just like they were conceived by director Raja Chanda. “The story of this particular film is different from the commercial cinema we generally see. So, we decided on one thing from the very first day while shooting the fight sequences, we didn’t want to do anything that looked like an extra effort. It was important for us to blend in the action scenes with the flow of the story. So, we kept it real,” said the Tollywood star.

Director Raja Chanda echoes the same: “Dev took a lot of care to build and maintain his physique during the shoot days. He also gave ideas for the fight sequences. We have shown knife fight and gun fight but they are realistically shot. Though the fighters are real, the scenes have a lot of dramatic influence.”