Before going to Berlin and winning the coveted Grand Prix for Best Feature (in the Generation KPlus section for children), Nagesh Kukunoor came across as positive about the prospects of Dhanak . One was not so sure. For the story set against the colourful expanse of Rajasthan about a visually impaired boy and his sister’s promise to restore his vision by his ninth birthday reminded me of two of his best works. I asked him if he is combining the disability theme of Iqbal and the journey of Dor to return to form. The apprehension was that one more director who has withstood the pressure of fitting into a formula has now surrendered.
His last few films which include LaxmiLakshmi, a disturbing film on child trafficking, were not bad but they lacked the effortlessness that we expect from Nagesh.
He laughed and said he didn’t see Dhanak this way at all. He latched on to the effortlessness bit and said that after a while Dhanak is one story that he wrote almost from start to finish and enjoyed the process. “I narrated the story of a boxer to Manish Mundhra but while we were talking I also shared the idea of Dhanak which I thought for an ad film. Manish liked it and said isko pehle karte hain . He is from Rajasthan and having shot two films in the State, I didn’t mind.”
Like always, Nagesh gives hope a chance. “I didn’t want to make a dark film where the kids face all the obstacles possible along the way. I wanted to show that the world is not such a bad place after all. It comes from my experience during my growing up years in Hyderabad.”
Once again he has steered clear of the filmy representation of disability. “My research shows that blind children don’t hobble while walking. The kids are not cloyingly innocent spouting wisdom. The boy has a sharp tongue. The boy is not like oh! I am blind. He is absolute joy to watch. There is acceptance of his situation. Similarly, the girl is not overawed by the task at hand.”
This is his second film with children after Rockford . He doesn’t believe in taking child actors out of their characters.
“That is the responsibility of parents. I do tell them about the value of humility and rooted approach. Otherwise, I have a practical approach. If you want to you can finish your homework after the shoot. I told them on the first day itself that they have to decide whether they want to be treated as kids or as performers. I don’t want to pinch a kid to eke out an emotion.”
And it worked for him. “Out of the 33-day shoot it was only once that the boy was upset and that too because of his father could not fulfil something that he promised. I don’t have kids of my own and I am not enamoured of them. It is my partner Elahe (Hiptoola), who loves to be with them. But perhaps it is my observation as an outsider that works in my favour. Like Rockford it is not a children’s film, it is a film about children.”
However, he adds that he has taken this liberty with kids because it is a bright film which celebrates hope. “I could have cast a child in Lakshmi as well but I decided against it because I didn’t want a child to go through the mental torture in front of the camera.”
Rumours were abound that Shah Rukh Khan has a fleeting appearance in the film but Nagesh denies it. “He is not there in the film but his presence can be felt through the film. He is to today’s kids what Amitabh Bachchan was for us. We might not have met him in person but we seemed to know everything about him.”
