‘A middle class residential society in Bombay fighting a legal battle to save their homes’ is a one-line description that convinced filmmaker Habib Faisal to make his debut into the world of streaming. After making his directorial foray into feature films with the Neetu Singh and Rishi Kapoor-starrer, Do Dooni Chaar (2010) , Faisal was on the lookout for a script of equal calibre — one commenting on the lives of ordinary middle class Indians. When AltBalaji approached Faisal with the script of their new web series Home, it ticked all the right boxes. Apart from being set in Mumbai — a city he calls home but has never explored in his cinema — the characters in the show are confined in the familiar space of a housing society. “All residential buildings and their management committees are a microcosm of Indian polity, social structures, the way we engage with the world around us,” says Faisal, during a conversation in his Andheri office.
Home , which drops on AltBalaji tomorrow, was triggered by the controversial Campa Cola Compound case, which screenwriter Neeraj Udhwani developed into a script. “Housing is such a big thing,” says Faisal, “Manoj Kumar said kapda, roti aur makaan (food, clothing and shelter) but we don’t have narratives that explore makaan in an interesting way.” It’s another reason why Faisal agreed to make an exception and direct a script he hasn’t written. For the problem at hand isn’t simply the loss of an apartment but the complexities of black money, economy, loans, interest rates, corruption and nexus of real estate agents. Although, Faisal informs us that he refrained from getting too technical with the narrative, instead he chose to focus on the emotional trauma and resilience of the residents.
Stranger than fiction
Faisal has always been drawn to true stories reported in newspapers more than pure works of fiction, which is reflected in his films like Ishaqzaade (2012), where he casts an eye on issues like honour killing, inter-community marriage and taboos of pre-marital sex. What attracts him to true stories? “They are perfect,” he responds, promptly. “Instead of me finding a story in something that is created by a novelist or writer, which is screened through the prism of that writer, here is a reality for me to apply my own filters and my own observations and life experiences.”
Fighting for your house: A still from Home; (above left) filmmaker Faisal Habib
With Home , the filmmaker was keen on tapping into the drama that emerges from familial proximity, especially in crisis situations. “Space is one key thing [in the show] and what it does to interpersonal relationships,” reveals Faisal. Residential spaces in Mumbai have been known for their cosmopolitanism in the past, which the filmmaker believes is reflected in his show as well. “Surpriya [Pilgaonkar]’s character is Maharashtrian and Annu Kapoor’s character is Punjabi, brought up in Mumbai after Partition, so there is an interesting mix of Marathi and Punjabi textures going on in the family,” he explains. While casting his two lead actors, Faisal was convinced of Pilgaonkar after seeing her short film, Jai Mata Di . “I discovered her acting skills there,” he says. “She is so natural, spunky and also knows Marathi.” As for her husband in the show, an obvious option for Faisal was Rishi Kapoor, an appropriate throwback to Do Dooni Chaar but he picked Annu Kapoor instead. “Because the nature of this character is different from Santosh in that film,” reasons the filmmaker.
Coming full circle
Web series maybe a new terrain but episodic storytelling isn’t an alien concept for Faisal, who started his career in television. “Those were dailies so it was a killer and never finite,” he recounts. “That’s a different writing structure where it is near impossible to be cinematic.” Television was all about dialogue delivery for him, where the action was centred around conversations. Web series, on the other hand, is still in its nascent stage world over, which leaves more room for experimentation, with both form and narrative. “If Narcos and Breaking Bad worked, it’s not that the model would work for everything,” cautions the filmmaker. Where does web content stand as compared to cinema? “With films you think huge and big is cinematic, but when you work in a web series, even small things like a sugar cube can be cinematic,” he explains. Faisal maybe venturing into new territory with web series but the backbone of storytelling for him remains the same — exploring human emotions that hit home.
Home is available on AltBalaji from August 29
