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  ILLUSTRATION: ASHOKE MULLICK

Ship of what-us? Theseus. Aah. It's the film that everybody is suddenly talking about. And its director Anand Gandhi — about whom only a handful of die-hard film buffs knew till very recently — is quietly basking in its unexpected glory.

'I was hoping the film would trigger a meaningful conversation. But what has happened is completely unprecedented. Besides the critical recognition internationally and locally, audiences are enjoying the film in the theatres,' Anand Gandhi says.

Gandhi's debut feature film, commercially released in India last week, has been hailed as a masterpiece. Cameron Bailey, co-director of the Toronto International Film Festival 2012, where the film was screened, called it the 'hidden gem of the year'. The Critics' Circle of the British Council selected it — along with Hamlet, Annie Hall and Raging Bull — as one of the 15 films than can change one's life. And critics back home can't have enough of it.

Not surprisingly, Gandhi's life has changed. Dressed in a printed shirt and khaki trousers, with a moderate beard and carelessly tousled salt and pepper hair, the 32-year-old director looks harassed. His cellphone rings incessantly as he sits down for lunch in his flat in Andheri West. And in between mouthfuls, he talks about the film.

The title refers to the Theseus paradox wherein Greek philosopher Plutarch asks that if Theseus, the king of Athens, were to restore his ship by replacing all its parts then would it still be the same ship. The movie, Gandhi holds, is the culmination of his own journey till date and seeks to find answers to questions that have haunted him since childhood. 'On the surface my film is a simple parable-like narrative that invites further investigation,' he says.

It wasn't easy finding producers for a film which has three short narratives — about a blind photographer, a monk and a stockbroker — weaved into a climax. He chose people from all walks of life, some with vast experiences, to work with. 'I even auditioned academician Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak through Skype for an important role. She was keen to be a part of the film but the character needed to know Hindi and she doesn't speak the language,' he says with a sigh.

The film, despite international acclaim, got a theatrical release here only after Aamir Khan's director wife Kiran Rao saw it. Suitably impressed by the film, she got UTV Motion Pictures to release the film in the metros. 'Everyone said Indian audiences won't be ready for such a movie. What should be riskier — to make a film which is full of ideas, aesthetics and convincing performances or to make a silly movie with terrible craftsmanship? If it's the former, we are in a dangerous cultural environment,' he says.

The film, produced on a budget of Rs 2.5 crore, was first released in six cities, including Calcutta, Delhi and Mumbai. It's already a 'box office hit' with weekday collections outscoring the weekend revenues. Based on the widespread audience demand on social media, UTV has now released it in Chennai, Ahmedabad, Cochin and Baroda.

The call for afternoon prayers from a nearby mosque interrupts our chat. Gandhi's assistant walks in to remind him of an appointment that he has in a studio in south Mumbai. I accompany him so that we can have an uninterrupted conversation in his car.

Gandhi grew up in Mumbai. As a seven-year-old, he moved with his mother to his grandparents' house near a chawl after his parents separated. 'I was never interested in sports so I didn't play much with the kids in the chawl. I was bit of a geek who asked too many questions to everyone around.'

His mother started helping her father in his bookstore. 'To save on bus fares she used to walk as much as possible carrying heavy books that had to be delivered to various offices. My long train journey to school gave me a lot of free time to think. The great disadvantage of my mother's situation put me in a position of advantage where I could see a certain fabric of society at an early age,' Gandhi says. 'Not even once did I feel there was anything wrong with my life. It was the most beautiful time of my life.'

Gandhi's education was steered by the fables that his grandmother narrated. 'I was well informed by my experiences. My upbringing was in economically under-privileged circumstances, but I felt highly privileged culturally. I was constantly exposed to theatre, books, poetry and travels.'

His mother, he adds, loved to travel. 'We never had money. So she funded our travels by going to travel agencies and agreeing to do various tour management jobs in return for a trip with the group. In my entire life, I haven't seen this kind of thirst for travel in another human being,' he says.

She remarried when he was in Class X. 'Even as a kid, I always encouraged her to get married again. I connected with my stepfather the moment we met and realised they were just right for each other. I pushed my mother into matrimony,' he says, fondly mentioning his two half-brothers and a half- sister.

Gandhi went through his Ayn Rand and Richard Bach phase before dropping out of college because of the 'archaic' teaching process, he says. 'I dropped out of education only to get into education. This is what I told my mother who still rues that I am not a graduate,' he says.

He started earning young. At 14, he got his first pay check in a philately exhibition by trading stamps. He learnt software and opened a graphics design company along with a Gujarati financier. Later he went on to work with altindia.net, a website set up by anti-Enron activist Abhay Mehta, and also with Alok Ulfat's theatre group, performing in remote parts of the country. For a while he attended a film appreciation course. Meanwhile, he read everything from J. Krishnamurti and Tagore to Osho and Kabir and attended classes in Jainism, Buddhism and philosophy.

''At the age of 17 I turned to spirituality and by 20 a certain phase of my spiritual exploration was over,' he says. By then he had stayed in several ashrams across the country, including Auroville in Puducherry, Osho ashram in Pune and with the Brahmakumaris.

His stint in television began in 2000 after he was introduced to Ekta Kapoor by the playwright R.M. Joshi. He started writing dialogues for soaps such as Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki — mega series which revolved around warring mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law. 'Though I was a part of it, I could sense then that we were entering into a regressive period in television,' Gandhi says.

During that period he also wrote his award-winning play Sugandhi and several other equally noteworthy plays. A short film Right Here Right Now followed in 2003 which won several international awards. His second short film Continuum was a winner at the Hannover International Film Festival in 2007. In January 2010, he set up his production house Recyclewala Films. Theseus was its first presentation. The next project is Tumbad, a period fantasy film directed by Rahi Anil Barve. He is also producing two documentaries and he has started a development fund to promote young writers.

We have been chatting in his car for a while, and our journey's almost come to an end. So does the success of Theseus indicate that the industry has opened up for independent filmmakers? 'In our cultural environment, films like Ship of Theseus should be the norm rather than the exception. But I am absolutely convinced that after this film, if we work really hard, it will bring in a cultural evolution in cinema.'

Viewers lining up in front of multiplexes in cities across the country for a film that few had heard of some weeks ago would doff their caps to that.