An independent film shot in the style of a documentary with a major production house supporting it is not a story you often hear about. Titli is exactly that. At the Yash Raj Studios in Mumbai, the team that put Titli together met us over cups of coffee to talk about how the movie was conceived and created. Directed by Kanu Behl, Titli is about a family of carjackers in the slums of New Delhi — a story of their love, violence and family ties. “It is a small film made on a shoestring budget, but as we have Yash Raj Films and Dibakar Banerjee Productions backing us, we are able to get the much-needed publicity. A story like this needs it,” says Atul Mongia, the casting director of the film.
Before labelling it a small film though, it’s important to remember that Titli was shown as part of the prestigious Un Certain Regard section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. The makers, however, are very much aware that they need to promote Titli differently to an Indian audience. “It is easy to get slotted into the art bracket, but the commercial aspect of a film is just as important. So we want the film to do well, but most importantly, we want as many people as possible to watch the film,” says Shashank Arora, who plays the protagonist Titli.
Set in the recesses of the Sangam Vihar area in New Delhi, the film looks at the oppressive, violent and sometimes, chaotic relationships in Titli’s family. The lack of a maternal figure curbs the three brothers and their father from expressing emotion, and Titli is forced to be part of a world he doesn’t fully understand. Actor Ranvir Shorey, who has worked with Dibakar Banerjee before, plays one of these brothers. “It is never easy to essay characters that are far removed from your everyday life but most of filmmaking is about this. I do not belong to that social class, and it is quite different to read about such things and watch them on TV. We had workshops to help us understand the psyche, and how to talk like them,” says Ranvir. Interestingly, workshops, as a way of preparation, are becoming quite crucial to filmmaking. Atul says, “I focussed on training the actors psychologically, so they could do justice to their scenes. The actors were forced into unfamiliar situations and made to react,” he says. For the only female character in the film, Atul found a new face – newcomer Shivani Raghuvanshi, who plays the wife of Titli. “We spotted her through an advertisement she did. She was in it for barely five seconds, but one of my assistants spotted her and we called her for the auditions. We spent the most prepping time on her; she went through nearly six weeks of workshops before we agreed on her.”
Transforming Shashank into a young man from the streets of New Delhi’s slum was also a task. “Shashank is a rockstar in real life. He comes from a privileged background. He had to understand what it meant to not have a woman in the family, to be part of an oppressive set-up.”
Shivani was stirred by the whole process. “The workshops were intense, and even though I am from Delhi, I had no idea about the life and hardships of the women living in such areas. Shashank and I were made to visit a BMW store in messy clothes after shooting in the mud and grime of the slums, and ask the manager for a test drive. He wanted us to feel what these people felt.”
Shashank reminisces on his initial days on the project. “Kanu asked me to just go to Meerut and spend the night in the basement of a mall. The mall was new, and the parking lot was cold. I had only the location manager for company. I knew Kanu and loved the films he watched; so I just trusted the process. I went back to Mumbai and had to audition many times before I was given the part. I was also asked to answer nature’s call on Juhu beach as preparation.”
When asked if this kind of offbeat cinema is becoming increasingly appealing to the masses, Atul is quick to point out that the audiences have always liked such work. I think it is Yash Chopra sir who said, ‘films don’t fail, budgets fail’. There is an audience for every kind of cinema and it all depends on the budget.”
