You can sniff a comic book nerd when you see a coffee table bursting with stacks of superhero titles. Vikramaditya Motwane’s Phantom Films office is no exception. Raised on a smorgasbord of comics, the 41-year-old filmmaker is awaiting the release of his very own superhero film, Bhavesh Joshi . We caught up with the director to understand the undertones of his film and what makes his protagonist rebellious. Edited excerpts from the interview…
Why Bhavesh Joshi? It’s such an unusual superhero name.
Aam aadmi . (laughs) It’s about a common man. It’s about taking that name and making it special. It’s about an ordinary man doing extraordinary things.
How allegorical or literal is it when you call it a ‘vigilante film’?
It is literally a vigilante film. I don’t think we need excuses to be allegorical in India any more to make vigilante films. We have enough going on for that. The film comes from my personal angst. I’ve grown up in this city and seen it change. I’ve been frustrated by people breaking rules and corruption in the city. It literally comes to a point where you want to take a stick and go out there. Of course, you can’t do that so it comes out in your literature. I think situations create heroes and it has been that way, whether it is American comic books in the ’30s and ’40s, or the angry young man in our films in the ’70s and ’80s of our films. It’s the same right now.
How much of it is political commentary?
It is very subtextual political commentary. I don’t think that’s on the surface. On the surface, it is about a guy trying to do the right thing.
Is corruption at the core of the film?
No, water problems [are]. And the related scams around it.
Mumbai as a setting is both dystopian and real at once. How alluring is that for a superhero film?
I just feel that the city is extremely and undoubtedly cinematic. Some of that weird dystopian sense [is in] seeing these sky-walks in the middle of Parel and Worli, or the Eastern sea face which is again phenomenally cinematic. Then in the middle of all this, you have got places like Wadi Bundar, which has these old cartons, sort of like loading docks and trains. It is suddenly a city of so many extremes, like this super-rich side and super-poor side to it. We’ve shot in abandoned hospitals in Vikhroli, we have shot in so many different, weird places in this city.
With Trapped , you were confined in a Prabhadevi apartment. How challenging is it to shoot outside this time, with all that chaos?
It’s challenging [in] a production sense of course. A film crew which is about a 100 people, is like a little wedding. But we’ve also discovered that Bombay is actually a fairly production-friendly city. It’s expensive because locations cost money and then you have police and BMC permissions.
We shot an entire bike chase sequence through Charni Road, Cotton Green station, Jogeshwari station and Oshiwara’s train yard.
In your films, there’s a strong sense of claustrophobia, with the characters not wanting to be in the situation they are in. Is this the only commonality in your diverse works?
I am drawn towards the sort of characters who are in situations where they don’t want to be in. But that’s a staple in pretty much in any hero’s journey because if you have non-reluctant protagonist then how is there any conflict? Conflict only comes from reluctance and then you have to be able to overcome that reluctance to be able to do something. But yes, I tend to get drawn to these really silent characters. And I love that kind of (underdog) character.
While your films have gained critical acclaim, none have made enough money. Are you expecting to get the numbers this time around?
Bhavesh is my most accessible film for sure. It’s also the easiest film in terms of approach to people because it has got its legs in so many things that we have seen in the past, whether its superheroes or action films or corruption. Somebody saw it the other day and actually said that your film’s like a ’70s action potboiler.
We don’t have many reference points for superheroes in India. Is that a good thing?
It’s a good and a bad thing. The audience has started to watch a lot of superhero films nowadays, so I do think somewhere there will be that snob value of, “why should I watch an Indian [superhero] film.” But I guess you can’t avoid that.
Which are the comic books and movies that you admire? And do we see a reflection of that in your film?
While writing Bhavesh , I pretty much chewed up every single graphic novel I could get my hands on, so all the way from the entire Batman series, Frank Miller’s Batman, Ed Brubaker’s Batman, Scott Snyder’s Batman, all the way through Daredevil to 100 Bullets, through so many other graphic novels. Films wise, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight , sort of peak [at] what I consider [to be] great superhero films. Though I think Marvel is going through an extraordinary run right now.
But I still believe that what Nolan did with superhero films, certainly changed them from these kitschy characters to deep, meaningful and emotional. Logan did that last year and I really liked it.
