We were prepared for polarised reactions... I was expecting it to be 50 per cent positive and 50 per cent not-so-positive, but the percentage has been 50 per cent vs 75 per cent... so I am happy. That is what actor, producer and now debutant feature film director Anshuman Jha told t2 at the outset of this chat about Lord Curzon Ki Haveli. Released in cinemas on October 10, the chamber drama that weaves in black comedy and social commentary stars Arjun Mathur, Rasika Dugal, Paresh Pahuja, Zoha Rahman, and Tanmay Dhanania in principal roles. Over to Anshuman who started his film acting career with Dibakar Banerjee’s Love Sex Aur Dhoka 15 years ago.

Congratulations on releasing Lord Curzon Ki Haveli in theatres. What has the predominant tenor of the feedback been, both in the 75 per cent and 25 per cent brackets?

Most of those who have not liked the film have watched it on a screener; those who have liked it have invariably been the ones to watch it in the theatre. That is because this is a very sound-heavy film... it is a chamber drama (movies that take place in a single location or a few limited locations, feature a small cast and focus on character psychology and dialogue), an atmospheric film. We have had very few chamber films in India. While writing it, both Bikas Ranjan Mishra (writer) and I were cognisant of the fact that a lot of people will dismiss the film because it has things that are borderline absurd, and intentionally so.

A critic wrote about how a lot happens in one scene and then immediately there is a lull. That is what I was anyway aiming for... speed breakers in the narrative. It didn’t work for him, but that is fair enough. While Lord Curzon Ki Haveli is definitely a dinnertime film that will work on OTT as well, I truly believe the full exposure of this film is in cinemas.

Given the raw deal that most independent films get in theatres now, was there never the thought of releasing your film directly on digital?

I always wanted it to land in theatres but I wasn’t delusional about the fact that this film cannot be a wider release. From the very outset, we knew that the exhibition for this film will be very limited and targeted. We handpicked theatres in cities where films like Delhi Belly, Ship of Theseus and A Death in the Gunj had worked.

Every film is not for everyone, especially in the case of independent films. That is something we all need to understand. Luckily, the exhibitors were very kicked about Lord Curzon Ki Haveli... they had been saying that the film had long legs and should release in theatres. But we knew that we wanted to come in 15 cities and on 60 screens only.

Jugnuma (starring Manoj Bajpayee), which is a fantastic film, according to me, was pushed in 200 screens. But it should have come in a 100-screen setup and then allowed to grow. That is why it didn’t last long in theatres. Our film has entered Week 2, which is a huge achievement for something as niche. Nowadays, even a lot of relatively big films don’t make it past the first weekend!

That our film has made it so far is testimony to the fact that there is an audience — however small it may be — for this kind of cinema. As an industry, we need to contemplate if we should have the same ticket pricing for a ₹3-crore film versus a ₹30-crore film versus a ₹300-crore film. To encourage audiences to see newer things, whether genre films or experimental pieces, you need to have some sort of attractive campaign from the exhibitor’s side. It will automatically increase numbers.

We need to find a way to create an ecosystem where more and more films like this are enabled to release in theatres. There is a simple logic to it — you would much rather play in 50 screens with 30-40 per cent occupancy than 200 screens with five per cent occupancy.

In the run-up to the release, you said audiences should do one thing — ‘BYOB’, which is ‘bring your own brain’ — to watch this film. Have there been instances of the reaction from certain viewers — spotting Easter eggs, film references and so on — surprising you?

There have been a couple. We had a masterclass screening with students and it was a full house. At the beginning of the film, there is a homage to Inglourious Basterds. It is very subtle because I love the opening of that film, but I was happily surprised when a viewer caught it. When we had played at the Chicago International Film Festival, there was somebody who asked whether Basuki (played by Paresh Pahuja) is gay. I was thrilled because we did have that in the second draft and it would have been easy for me to make it obvious through one gesture or one move. But I wanted to let it be and let the audience perceive and decide for themselves who he is. I think our audience is intelligent and we have to trust them a little, even if it means risking the fact that somebody might totally diss it, which is also okay.

Film, unlike sport, can never be judged as 100/100. The appreciation of cinema is very subjective. I am someone who likes to learn from criticism. This is my first film and I know that I will make my set of mistakes as I go along. My formula in life is: I either win or I learn. I am always very enthusiastic, because enthusiasm is the route to learning. I don’t like putting myself in a box, good or bad. We are supposed to be in a box only after we are dead. I know there are great things in Lord Curzon Ki Haveli and I also know that there are not-so-great things too. I accept the criticism with an absolutely open mind.

What made you want to debut as director with this film?

When I was in college, I had directed David Gieselman’s German play Mr. Kolpert. Gieselman was hugely influenced by (Alfred) Hitchcock. I was exposed to Hitchcock in my teens and his film The Rope (1948) is one of my favourites. The idea of doing a chamber film always stayed with me.

Bikas Mishra directed me as an actor in Chauranga and also the Badal Sircar play Pagla Ghoda. Pagla Ghoda is also sort of a one-location project where four men come together and talk. On that set, the two of us started talking about how chamber films are so exciting and how much I wanted to make a pure genre chamber piece.

In 2018, I went to him with this core idea of a dinner party with Asians. I have seen my friends living abroad struggle with identity. I wanted to explore that with an undercurrent of black comedy. This is a very performance-driven film and I thought that this is the kind of film I want to make.

You have also taken over the directorial reins for Lakadbhagga 2, the follow-up to your 2023 animal-loving vigilante film Lakadbhagga. Did helming Lord Curzon Ki Haveli give you the confidence to take over directing duties for such an ambitiously mounted film?

Honestly, that wasn’t the ideal-case scenario. We had someone else directing it but I had to take over at the last minute. I don’t like acting and directing at the same time, but in this film I had to. I love how my inspirations like Clint Eastwood, Charlie Chaplin and Kishore Kumar have done both beautifully, but in my case, directing takes a lot out of me. Acting is something I love and I never want to do both together and cheat on my primary craft.

With Lakadbhagga 2, I had no choice. Also, I understood the film more than anyone else. It was a decision made because of the situation, but a good one because I don’t think I would have been happy otherwise.

Lakadbhagga 2 has taken a bit of my soul with it. I put my body on the line in terms of the incredible action we have done in the film. We have international action stars like Sunny Pang and Dan Chapong in the film. This is a complete hand-to-hand combat film. It is not an action film for the sake of it. Like the first film, animals are at the centre of it. It is a much bigger film than Curzon in terms of multiple locations, multiple setups, multiple actors.

Lakadbhagga is my dream project. I will be making the third film in America. It want it to become a universe. We have already dropped a comic book which has done well. I want it to become a part of pop culture.