Bollywood’s new-age filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri doesn’t believe in half measures. Whether the genre is a political drama, thriller or erotica, Vivek sees to it that he does methodical research into his subject. He even goes the extra yard before coming up with an appropriate title of his upcoming movie.
This probably explains his title of his upcoming venture Buddha in a Traffic Jam , which suggests that an enlightened, talented and a man of ideas can be stuck in a quagmire. The film is complete and the filmmaker is screening it at various film festivals before releasing it in theatres.
“Buddha epitomised enlightenment and I deliberately used his name in my upcoming film with the intent of conveying the message that a man who is full of intelligent ideas can find himself helpless because the system does not give him leeway to implement his ideas,” he says, referring to bureaucrats who put roadblocks on the work of those who seek to do something for the humanity.
Illustrating his own struggle to carve out a niche for himself in the entertainment industry, Vivek – credited with films like Chocolate and Hate Story – says initially he was welcomed but after the first release things became difficult for him.
“When I entered the film industry, I faced no problem. But after the first release, insecure filmmakers tried to put impediments in my path. People are content with mediocrity. In Bollywood either we have no-brainers or masala movies, which produce mindless cinema. Why everyone has to leave his brain behind to enjoy a film? Just because you (filmmakers) are dumb doesn’t mean that cinemagoers are also.”
Describing his latest labour of love as a political commentary, Vivek says he has depicted the confrontation between capitalism and socialism, socialist ideas and those who want an end to red-tapism so that they can improve either their prospects or those around them.
“The film is about those aspects which we come across in our daily lives. The youth is increasingly getting frustrated because of rigidity of the system. Corruption has increased to such an extent but everyone is comfortable with it. It is all about mindset, intellectual terrorism and intellect of those who have destroyed our society.”
The film is set in Hyderabad and this time the filmmaker says the location hasn’t got anything to do with the subject. Probably one has to watch the flick to get the larger picture. “I could not choose Delhi and Mumbai as locations because both cities have lost their credibility. Hyderabad has become the business capital. It is known for producing technologists and entrepreneurs. So this location was justified for showing the battle between capitalism and socialism.”
His choice of Buddha is Arunoday Singh, a face familiar in contemporary films. He made his wife Pallavi Joshi play better half to senior actor Anupam Kher to break stereotypes of showing age gap between husband and wife. “Why cannot a 60-year-old man have a young wife?” he argues.
