Raag Desh, that released last Friday, is based on the Red Fort Trials — where a number of cadets belonging to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army were court-martialled in the 1940s. Kunal Kapoor, Mohit Marwah and Amit Sadh play officers of the British Indian Army who had switched over to Netaji’s INA and were later tried for treason by the British.
Director Tigmanshu Dhulia, Kunal Kapoor and Mohit Marwah were in Calcutta recently to promote their film, very aptly, at Netaji Bhavan. t2 caught up with them for a chat.
KUNAL KAPOOR
You got to look around Netaji Bhavan today. How did that feel?
It was surreal. I saw pictures of Shah Nawaz (Khan, the character he plays), saw Netaji’s artefacts, his footsteps.... It reminded me of the song Kadam kadam badhaye ja (that would be sung by the INA).
Did you know of the Red Fort Trials before you signed up for Raag Desh?
Not really. I was fascinated by the script when I read it but there was also a sense of shame as I knew so little about this important part of our history. The Trial is not in our history books, the media doesn’t write about it.... Back in the day, three to four lakh people would go to see Shah Nawaz and the other two heroes in every city they visited, but today people hardly know about them! I feel there has been a conscious effort to sideline the INA from our history.
How did you prepare for your role?
I read Shah Nawaz’s autobiography, met his grandson and studied his photographs — those with his family, after the trial, during rallies.... A picture indeed speaks a thousand words and I would try to read into his pictures to understand what was going on in his mind at the time.
My character is a Punjabi Muslim, so I worked on the kind of vocabulary and accent he would use. In fact I got so involved in it that even my inner monologue had started speaking in that accent! (Laughs)
What was it like working with Tigmanshu Dhulia?
I’ve always wanted to work with him. He’s very calm... I’ve never seen him stressed or shouting on the sets and that’s reassuring for me as I felt like I was taken care of. Also, he’s an actor himself so he knows our issues and gives us that space. I certainly want to work with him again.
What do you have to say about Netaji’s disappearance?
Our film doesn’t touch the issue and frankly, people are so obsessed with his disappearance that they forget about his contribution. I think Netaji’s contribution has been the greatest in our freedom struggle but while we see many institutions and monuments named after other freedom fighters, we don’t see enough done for him.
Your biggest hit Rang De Basanti was high on patriotism and history. How relevant and necessary are such films today?
The truth is that we don’t celebrate our history enough whereas the West churns out amazing films based on historical events. It took a foreigner (Sir Richard Attenborough) to make a film on Gandhi because if we made it, Gandhi would be singing songs!
The ’90s were about pleasing the NRI audience, but now our films are more rooted to the soil and there are thousands of stories in Indian history that are yet to be told.
As for patriotism, it is about equal opportunities and about the strongest carrying the weakest. These are the values our nation was built on and the values that films like RDB and Raag Desh talk about.
TIGMANSHU DHULIA
How did you come up with the idea for Raag Desh?
I didn’t. I was approached by Gurdeep Singh Sappal, the CEO of Rajya Sabha TV (RSTV), to make a film on either Sardar Patel or the Red Fort Trials. Since Ketan Mehta had already made a film on Patel in the 1990s, I chose this. RSTV produced this film. Besides, I want to keep making different kinds of films, so I don’t bore myself. Somewhat like the late Vijay Anand, a director I admire a lot.
So how was it working with RSTV, that isn’t a mainstream Bollywood production house?
Well for starters, no one in Bollywood would have given me this subject! Thanks to their backing we got to shoot at the Red Fort, the film’s trailer was first screened at the Parliament and they are screening the film for outgoing president Pranab Mukherjee on July 22. It will be a sort of farewell gift to him.
How much research went into this film?
For Paan Singh Tomar (starring Irrfan Khan), the research was quick as there was barely any information available on him! But there are reams and reams available on the INA and the Red Fort Trials and so this time we took almost a year. We also read biographies of the three officers, met their families….
And how did you go about the casting?
The three main characters were all distinct. Major General Shah Nawaz Khan was aggressive, brash, measured and serious. For this role I had imagined Amitabh Bachchan. Lt Colonel Prem Sahgal was soft and romantic and for him I had Shashi Kapoor in mind. Dharmendra would have been ideal as Lt Colonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon. But since I couldn’t cast any of these actors, I went for Kunal, Mohit and Amit respectively.
Also, I wanted to work with actors who have some sharaafat left in them. Otherwise, nowadays corruption has crept into everyone.
The film has been named after a raga. Does music play an important part in the film?
When it came to choosing a title, we went over names of old war films like Haqeeqat and Lalkaar, but in 2017 they were all sounding stale. Then the name Raag Desh dawned on me and I realised our film was but a song on the birth of the
nation.
Yes there is a song in the film, rather a prayer called Tujhe namaami ho, that is based on the desh raga. We also have a version of Kadam kadam badhaye ja, that was popular with the INA itself.
After winning National Awards for Paan Singh Tomar, do you think you are guaranteed a ready audience for your films or is there the burden of expectations?
They certainly create expectations, which sometimes work for us and sometimes against us. For instance, I think my last film Bullet Raja took a hit because people weren’t expecting something like that from a National Award winner. Maybe if I wasn’t behind the film, the reviews wouldn’t have been as harsh.
The protagonists of Raag Desh are a Hindu, Muslim and Sikh. Do you think this will drive home a message of unity ahead of August 15?
Right now there is nafrat ka zeher running through the country and this is exactly what Netaji was against. He was secular in the true sense of the word and today’s India is a far cry from the one he had envisioned. But Netaji’s ideology is inspirational. I remember we were shooting in Dehradun when demonetisation happened. There were painters and carpenters to pay and feed and we were at a loss. I was ready to give up and return to Mumbai, but the crew chipped in with cards, cash and stood by one another. I believe it was the spirit of the INA that had rubbed off on us.
Brinda Sarkar
Pictures: B. Halder
