Sudhir Mishra: No big actor wants to do a film with strong female characters

Indian cinema has been in love with

Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay

's tragic tale of

Devdas Mukherjee

for quite some time now. The novel, 'Devdas', has been adapted for the big screen many times, the latest being director Sudhir Mishra's upcoming political thriller '

Daas Dev

'. What sets this adaptation apart, however, is that it takes Devdas from the aristocracy of 19th century Calcutta to the power corridors of 21st century Lucknow. In a chat with us, the director talks about how this film is on a much larger scale, why he did not cast a huge star as Devdas, and what would it take for him to make a sequel to 'Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi'.

'My Devdas is not a loser'"Keep all the screen adaptations of 'Devdas' out of your mind when you are watching this one," this is one thing that the director stresses on. He adds that his film is 'inspired' by the original novel, and is nowhere close to the films that have been made on it in the past. To make his story relevant to present times, the he has introduced politics as part of his storyline.

Talking about his upcoming film 'Daas Dev', and how it draws inspiration from Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's 'Devdas', Sudhir Mishra tells us, "If Sarat babu were alive, he would have liked what we have done. Our story is very close to the original novel. For me, the original Devdas is not a loser, he is the guy who stands for the women he loves, and yet, he is responsible for destroying them. That's why he is a metaphor – we always say, 'a lover like Devdas'. In fact, when I read the original novel, Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' came to my mind. I figured a similarity between Hamlet and Devdas – both have an element of indecisiveness in them." He adds, "I thought it was interesting to present this story in a political context. When I put this character in a political framework, he becomes one with a political legacy – the kind we see in India a lot, where people want to keep the power within the family."

The filmmaker goes on to say, "(In the film) Paro lives in the outhouse of Dev's kothi and her father used to be the political secretary of Dev's father. After Dev's father's death, the families don't get along and there is a rift between Paro and Dev. Even in the original novel, Dev and Paro share a love-hate kind of relationship. The other thing in Sarat babu's story is that Paro is not a doormat, she is arrogant, she wants something for herself, there is a brimming sensuality in her. She wants the right to be treated correctly. As I was writing this story, it became a conspiracy thriller. Shakespeare is the best thriller writer of all times. The way he understands love and betrayal, very few people do. So this film is an epic conspiracy thriller with a strong romantic base, in which there is cynicism and addiction to power, where you can't fix love."

Chandramukhi, the director adds, plays an active role in helping Dev. "Here, Chandramukhi helps in making deals between politicians and businessmen. So this is my Chandramukhi, who tells you the story of Dev and Paro. She fixes Dev, whose addiction shifts from alcohol to power. In the original 'Devdas', the male character destroys himself. Here, he goes into a dark phase, but emerges from the darkness, so he will not die. So the three important things in this story are: Devdas will not die outside Paro's kothi, Chandramukhi will fall in love with Dev and help him more actively and Paro will emerge as a strong woman. The girls are not victims, they stand up for themselves. They can tell the difference between their love for a man and their own sense of justice. I think women will connect to this film a lot," he says.

The director, Sudhir Mishra, talked about how 'Daas Dev is on a much larger scale, why he did not cast a huge star as Devdas

'This is my biggest film in terms of budget'
Be it the 'Devdas' featuring Dilip Kumar or Shah Rukh Khan, one doesn't remember just their stellar cast, but also the grandeur in the movies. But grandeur has never really fitted into Sudhir Mishra's 'realistic' style of filmmaking. When we mention this to the director, he says that for this film, he has made an exception, and it's his biggest in terms of budget. "Still, I brought down the budget of this film by shooting it in my hometown, Lucknow, where I could ask for favours from big people, like the former king of Faizabad. I asked him to let me shoot in his palace as I wanted to show that huge space. The audience is interested in the end result and not in what I pay for, or not, or whether I build a set or not. I had to show a large-scale political rally, but today, with modern technology, you can do that, easily. It is my biggest film ever, it is bigger than 'Calcutta Mail'. It has a huge scale because of its story, because of the politics involved," says Sudhir.

'No big actor wants to do a film with strong female characters'What differentiates 'Daas Dev' from the previous cinematic adaptations of 'Devdas' is that this one doesn't have a big star in the titular role. Dev, here, is played by Rahul Bhat, and Sudhir says it was a deliberate choice. He elaborates, "For me, the girls were as important. So if I take two very strong female characters, most big actors won't do the film. And I needed a guy with a certain look, which is khandaani, with that natural arrogance. I saw Rahul in 'Ugly' – Anurag's (Kashyap) film – and I liked him. And I like taking these risks. If you look at 'Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi', it was Chitrangda's first film, Shiney Ahuja's first film, and Swanand Kirkire and Shantanu Moitra's first film as well. A whole lot of people were introduced in that film. So it is interesting to take someone with a blank slate, because otherwise there is so much pressure on people playing Devdas."

'The time has come for us to make films with frankness''Daas Dev' is a political love story, and there haven't been many films from Hindi cinema that have dealt with both politics and love as the core subject. Would the director want to revisit an old classic that treads this path? He replies, "I would love to do '

Aandhi

', and I would love to portray the original story actually, what 'Aandhi' is supposedly based on (laughs). I am fascinated by Indira Gandhi and I think the time has come in the present context for us to make films frankly. Now, frankly and openly does not mean sensationally. There is a difference."

But the director admits that such frankness is difficult to achieve when dealing with real-life incidents and characters. He explains, "I think people are scared because there is money riding on these films. Films are fragile and you have to release them in theatres. Then, the people associated with the films are fragile and can be easily hurt. The trade is so bound by conditions. The government treats us like Sin City. We are taxed to kingdom come. Why are we taxed like that? Films will be free when the only tax on them is income tax."

But the director feels that now the new crop of filmmakers in Hindi cinema is pushing the envelope. "You will see more and more bolder films, because this new generation of filmmakers is claiming the medium as their own. They are not from film families and don't have big companies or reputations to protect. They are free and belong to the middle class, and have stories to tell. So all this will break barriers and also, there will be a lot more women telling stories."