Taher Sutterwala

We spoke exactly two years ago when you had just finished Kachcha Limboo and it finally released last Friday...

There were problems with the release and so after finishing Kachcha Limboo, I moved on and worked on some screenplays. I also shot two more films. There’s Bheja Fry 2, which will release this April and Hum Tum Aur Shabana sometime in July. Post-production work for both the films are on in full swing.

Given what Bheja Fry achieved, what can we expect from Bheja Fry 2?

Bheja Fry 2 is in the same spirit of intelligent comedy. In Bheja Fry 2 the journey of the Idiot continues. But this time it is a much bigger film with a bigger budget. The cast is also very different. We have Kay Kay Menon, Amol Gupte, Minissha Lamba and Aditi Govitrikar among others. Obviously, Vinay Pathak is there and plays Bharat Bhushan, who is put in a completely different situation with a different set of people. But it is more massy with songs and all, but in tune with the original Bheja Fry. I have a strict gag order on Bheja Fry 2 as of now.

What can you tell us about Hum Tum Aur Shabana?

It’s a romantic comedy. The film stars Tusshar Kapoor, Minissha Lamba and Shreyas Talpade. I wanted to make this film in tune with the kind of commercial films that are made these days. It has all the drama, the singing around trees....

Chinmay Kambli

Bheja Fry released four years ago and by now, it might have faded from people’s memory. And Kachcha Limboo, with no stars, is getting such a limited release...

See, Bheja Fry was also not a starry film. It was a very low-budget film. KL’s budget is also quite low — it’s Rs 5.5 crore. To recover that amount in today’s scenario is not a big deal. So, the commerce is not worrying me. But after my first film people would want to know what kind of film I have made next. That the film has released, I am happy. After people watch it they will surely realise that it’s an honest and sincere effort and also a well-made film. Hopefully people will discover the film and it will spread through word-of-mouth like it did for Bheja Fry.

How has the wait, with a ready film in the cans, been?

You get anxious, very disappointed, very demoralised, but I must say I got very lucky that I could make the film the way I wanted. Sahara Motion Pictures gave me that independence. When I had finished Kachcha Limboo, the industry was going through very difficult times. I was more than happy that my film didn’t release then. Every film comes with its own luck and time. I feel KL’s time has come now. God is great, that’s what I’ll say! Now I’ll have three films releasing back to back.

Sarika and atul Kulkarni in Kachcha Limboo

Kachcha Limboo is a children’s film. Is it similar in any way to Taare Zameen Par?

It doesn’t have as big a budget as Taare Zameen Par. TZP is a very good film and I can say in the same breath that KL is also a very, very good film. It’ll have a special connect with children. It’s a chapter in children’s lives not worth missing. I would say, with a lot of confidence and conviction, that KL is different from any film ever made in India.

You were a student in SRFTI. Any plans of coming here with the film?

I am looking forward to bringing the film to SRFTI. I am planning to bring a print to the institute and showing it there. That film school is everything for me. Whatever I have learnt is because of SRFTI and Calcutta.

Quick take

film: Kachcha Limboo

Director: Sagar Ballary

Synopsis: Kachcha Limboo is about a fat boy called Shambhu, played by Taher Sutterwala. He is a 13-year-old teenager caught in a transitional, adolescent phase. Unable to cope with pressure both at home and in school, he runs away. He meets and befriends Vittal, played by Chinmay Kambli, a smart boy from the nearby fishermen’s colony, and sort of discovers an alter-ego, someone he desires to become.

director’s cut: “Taher is a regular boy whom I picked from a school while scouting for the film. He has given an outstanding performance that matches up to National Award-winning actors like Atul Kulkarni and Sarika, who play his parents.
Not a single film represents children correctly. I felt I owe it to them. I’m very, very thrilled with the way the film has turned out. When I see Kachcha Limboo I feel happy and convinced that I made a good, honest film. I have lived up to my own expectations.”