Imran Khan’s return to film action has him work behind the camera. For his comeback, the now director zeroed in on India’s 2014 Mars Orbiter Mission. “On September 24 2014, Mangalyaan reached Mars and for a 25-minute window, it disappeared behind Mars,” says a thrilled Khan. “It’s during this time, that the satellite has to adjust itself to be caught by Martian gravity. But for those 25 minutes, it’s out of sight to us on Earth. We cannot see it, communicate with it or control it. The film is set in the control room during those 25 minutes,” The film in question is the short titled Mission Mars , produced by Dharma 2.0 and presented by Johnnie Walker The Journey.
It was his excitement for the film’s premise that got Khan behind the camera. “I’ve always been fascinated with science, technology and space exploration,” he says. “Back in 2013, I was following the Mangalyaan project very closely. I was truly impressed by what ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) was pulling off. This is a towering achievement by Indian scientists and I feel it’s tragically unsung.” Despite shooting for only four days, it took the 100-strong crew 11 months to complete the film.
“It’s a short in terms of length but it was put together like a feature,” says Khan. “We built a proper set — the control room — and I’d like to take this opportunity to pat my product designer (Bindiya Chhabria) on the back, she’s done a fantastic job!”
When asked about the economic viability of releasing films online, Khan immediately responds, “I’m the last person you should ask about this!” Though he continues, by admitting that there’s no viable business model right now. The actor-director thinks that “what we are looking at is the gold rush”. Everyone is jumping on this bandwagon and throwing money at it. “In a few years from now, the dust will settle and a few people will be left standing and a business model will emerge,” he says.
After all, there’s been a recent surge in Indian original content being produced and released online. Khan is of the firm belief that the Hindi film industry’s theatrical model, as we know it is on its last legs. “At this point, the notion that someone will take time out of their day to drive 30-45 minutes in traffic, find parking and buy tickets at Rs 1000 per head to watch a film with ads and an interval — with a good chance you won’t even like the film — is ridiculous to me.” There are there are hundreds of films and TV shows available to consumers at barely a hundred rupees from the comfort of our homes. “The way forward for all content creators is digital and the sooner the industry realises that and jumps behind it, the better off we all will be,” concludes the début director.
Mission Mars is currently streaming on Johnnie Walker - The Journey’s YouTune channel.
