Ever since its release, Stolen — the story of a mother willing to go to any lengths to bring back her kidnapped child and the men who both enable and impede her quest — is earning rave reviews. A winner on the global festival circuit and now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Stolen is directed by Karan Tejpal, produced and co-written by Gaurav Dhingra, and stars Abhishek Banerjee, Mia Maelzar and Shubham in lead roles. A t2 chat with the team.
Karan, Stolen is inspired by the 2018 Karbi Anglong case in which two innocent youth were suspected of being child lifters and lynched by a mob. Unfortunately, such cases are not alien in our country. What struck you about this incident that made you want to make a film on it?
Karan Tejpal: It is a story that found me, and not the other way round. The incident stuck with me... the feeling of injustice and powerlessness stayed with me. I dug deeper into this so-called phenomenon of people wrongfully accused of being child kidnappers and lynched... the vigilante ‘justice’ that has become quite common. It came out of that initial need to understand why this is happening. Stolen is a sum of all these parts, whether it is vigilante justice, mob culture, child kidnapping and the overall lack of trust in the system.
For the actors, what spoke to you the most about the story and your respective characters?
Mia Maelzar: I was happy to know that somebody was writing a story on this. I found the script to be impactful and full of agency. It is not every day that one gets this kind of space in a film for a character (Jhumpa) who comes from such an underprivileged background. I am more used to working in the West and I was impressed that a film of such impact and finesse was being made in the Indian independent scene. I knew that I had to be part of it and contribute to it, but also learn from a project like this. I loved working with the team. KT (Karan Tejpal) was a mentor to me, sending me research material every day. After that, the bigger names started getting attached to the project and that was also a big reassurance for me.
Abhishek Banerjee: I was sold on the first pitch... that they want to make a road action film. Then, I read the script and realised there is a lot more in this. I was taken in by the core energy of the film and also the fact that it talks about the choices that we make. It talks about empathy. Most of us are armchair activists, but the film questions as to how we will react if we are thrown into a situation where we have to step up.
Honestly, for a fair amount of time, I hated Gautam... I hated my own character. I was married to Raman (played by Shubham) because that is the character I was first approached for. There was another actor attached to play Gautam but things changed and the makers came to me with Gautam. I never wanted to play him. I wanted to play the moral, righteous guy because I was scared whether I would get the opportunity to do that in real life. That is because in our country, if something happens and if you are trying to help, the question that you will invariably be asked is: ‘Tu hero hai kya?’ But as an artiste, I had no way out but to play Gautam. I had to experience playing him...
But Gautam has a wonderful arc... where he starts from morally and emotionally and where he ends up finally, is a journey....
Abhishek: Oh, yes! Now that everybody is talking about it, I realise the journey he has had. But when I was playing him, I never felt like that. Gaurav (Dhingra, producer and co-writer) constantly tells me that Gautam’s journey is one of transformation. But for a long time I felt like: ‘What transformation? He is just acting according to the situation. He is in a do-or-die situation.’ But I have now understood the importance of Gautam’s arc.
Shubham: Taking a topic which is important for that time is one thing and making a film on it is another. I can write an article or do anything with that information, but making a film on it is a different ballgame. We have to remember that we are also entertainers. What attracted me to the script was that every 10 minutes, there was a twist. I wanted to to be part of this rollercoaster ride for the audience. I knew that they would keep guessing what would happen next, but the twists were such that it would take everyone by surprise.
Abhishek: It is a unique film in the sense that there is a taste, and then an aftertaste. While watching it, you don’t think much... you are simply going with the journey of these characters. But later, as a viewer, there are so many questions that come up.
What were the difficulties in bringing together so many layers and genres?
Karan: The challenge wasn’t in meshing genres together because we were just following the journey of the characters and focusing on telling the story in an honest way. We never thought about whether this was an action film or a survival thriller or an emotional drama. We were not bothered about how buyers and sellers box films. We put ourselves in Gautam’s shoes, set a conflict and followed these people on that journey... wherever it took us, we allowed ourselves to go there. Stolen could be called what the Koreans term a ‘social thriller’ but I don’t really ascribe to any of these terms.
Gaurav Dhingra: Rather than saying it, we wanted the audience to understand the depth and the layers in the film. The social commentary bit is very layered in the narrative. If we have to describe it, then it is an edge-of-the-seat action thriller. The thrill and the action makes it accessible to a wider audience. But as one watches it, you realise, with every bite, that the layers are very deep. In India, you don’t really see these kinds of films. Stolen stands for something and we always knew that if made well, it would stand out. It touches you, moves you, inspires you to do something.
Did making this film change you and your thought process in any way?
Abhishek: You need to have a certain worldview to be an actor and take the responsibility of the characters you play. Mia’s character represents so many women out there and that is the privilege we have as actors. We have to take that responsibility seriously. There is a worldview we come from... everybody has their own social knowledge and empathy. But when you are part of films that compel society to ask questions, it also compels the human inside the actor to ask certain questions. But until I am put to the test, I will never know whether Gautam has affected me or not.
Playing Hathoda Tyagi (in Paatal Lok S1) helped me during the pandemic. The isolation that the character felt in jail and the way he generally was, helped me breathe easy during that isolation period in Covid. I wasn’t doing well in the months of March and April 2020 when the pandemic hit. But then Paatal Lok released and the kind of reactions people came up with and the nature of questions they had about this fascinating character, set me on a path of introspection myself. I realised so many things about Tyagi which I hadn’t when I was playing him.
Recently, someone working on Stolen told me how I had broken down after the lynching scene. But somehow, I have no memory of it. But now with people talking about the character and its arc, it is all coming back to me.
Gaurav: That was the moment when we all saw how he (Abhishek) broke the barrier between character and reality, and kind of merged both in a unique way.
Shubham: Change is a very slow process... it doesn’t happen overnight. Also, one film can’t bring about change, it will be very unfair to expect that. But I do believe that a good film can open the door for the process to start. After watching Stolen, I hope that some people will think about where we are heading. We are becoming very individualistic as a society and are losing the sense of being a collective.
Mia: I have taken a lot of courage from Jhumpa. In real life, I have never had to face anything as extreme as she does. I am not a mother, so I don’t know what losing a child feels like. But from the time I played Jhumpa, my relationship with my mother changed. As did my relationship with all the women around me who are mothers, and those — including myself — who are not able to have a child. The whole idea of motherhood has changed for me.
While growing up, I always idolised only men, both in my family and in society. I was like: ‘I want to be as powerful as a man.’ But after doing a couple of films, and more so Stolen, I want the world to say: ‘Be as strong as a mother, be as fierce as a mother, be as powerful as a mother’... because a mother can do anything for her child.
