Court is inspired by real cases

On March 24, Chaitanya Tamhane���s debut feature film 'Court' set up a firm milestone on the express highway that Marathi films are on these days.

Other than becoming the Marathi film to win the prestigious Best Feature Film Award at the National Film Awards, 'Court' also managed to become the most decorated Indian film globally. As of today, the film has bagged a total of 19 awards (including the National Award) at film festivals in Venice, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Serbia and Singapore, among others.With the film recently being screened at the New Directors/New Films Festival, New York, Tamhane is now on the platform associated with renowned directors like Steven Spielberg, Richard Linklater and Christopher Nolan. In a chat with Pune Times, Chaitanya opens up about the acclaim, response and anxiety around 'Court'. Excerpts:
Let���s start with the National Award win. Were you expecting the honour?
Frankly, I didn���t even know that the results were being declared that day. As many people suggested that we should apply for the award, we did. On the day of the results, we were getting ready to fly to New York. Suddenly my phone started ringing continuously and OB vans started gathering outside my Mumbai office. We were not expecting the honour, but it came at a good time as the film will soon be releasing in theatres.]
Court has been funded by Vivek Gomber who has also acted in it. How long have you been associated with each other?
I know Vivek since 2009 when he acted in a play directed by me. When he got to know that I was working on a film, he got in touch and we renewed our association. For Court, he was with me since the initial scripting process.
You���ve done a lot of research in order to portray the workings of a court. What cases did you come across while researching and is the film based on any of these cases?
It is not entirely based on one particular case but is inspired by some. Take the Jiten Marandi case for example, wherein the police couldn���t find the right guy and hence arrested Marandi and put charges against him. Then there was also the Ramabai Nagar killings case in Mumbai. There and some other cases taken as inspiration, but the basic premise is a work of fiction.
Was the decision of taking Court across the globe for film festivals a deliberate one? Sort of testing the waters before diving in���
It was a part of the strategy. It is difficult for an independent film to generate interest in India. Even till about a week ago, there were very few people who knew about the film. We had won three awards including for the best film at Mumbai Film Festival but no one noticed. So we were tensed about whether enough people would know about it before its releases. Luckily, the National Award has aroused curiosity among a wider section of the society.

Your film portrays court proceedings in a realistic manner, something that the Indian films so far have not done. Why did you choose this particular subject?
Court is about structural loopholes in the system and I didn���t take references of other films to make it. It is based in a sessions court, as I was curious about all that in a place like that. As I started attending court sessions, I learned more about the work and used it in my film.
Tell us about your casting process.
There are no big actors in the film. Vivek and Geetanjali Kulkarni and a few others in the film have done theatre previously. Majority of the film���s actors were facing the camera for the first time. We auditioned almost 1800 people, included taxi drivers and hawkers, over a period of 8-10 months to finalise our actors.
Was it difficult to get the right expressions from them?
It was difficult but not impossible. We decided to shoot only one scene per day so that there was no pressure on anyone. Each scene is a long one of around 5 minutes and required 25-30 takes to get the perfect expressions from the actors.
Did you face any problem in getting the film cleared through the CBFC?
The CBFC had a problem with two scenes and we were advised to either edit them out or mute their audio. We preferred muting but that has resulted in a perception of the dialogue in that scene being worse than what it actually is.
What kind of reactions did you receive for the film?
Deepa Mehta and Rajat Kapoor tweeted about it and it was a great thing. Others, who have watched the film, loved it and said that it���s like looking in a mirror since this is what they see in their everyday lives.
Was there any backlash or negative feedback?
Not yet, but once we release the film, we are sure that someone will say that he/she found it offensive. We are prepared to deal with that. So far it has been a dream run but we are anxious about the reactions from Indian viewers.

Tell us about your upcoming projects?
I work at a very slow pace. I am working on another feature but that will take another year to be complete. Also I am soon planning to start work on an online sitcom.
WATCH: 'Dusmanaala jaan re' song from 'Court':