We all are aware of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and how the special status or autonomy was revoked by the Government of India in 2019. 'Uri: The Surgical Strike' director Aditya Dhar has taken the producer's seat to back a film based on the abrogation of this important provision that gave Kashmir special status. The film is titled 'Article 370'. National award-winning film director, Aditya Suhas Jambhale, has helmed the political drama, led by Yami Gautam. It is all set to release in theatres on February 23.
Outlook India recently had a freewheeling conversation with Jambhale where he said that making 'Article 370' was an emotion. He wanted to tell the story to the audiences and how Aditya gave him a free hand to express his opinion via the film. Excerpts from the interview.
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'Article 370' trailer and received positive responses and this is your debut feature film. What do you have to say about it?
It's great filing the way it has been received. When you get such response, it's satisfying.
How did your collaboration with Aditya Dhar happen and how was it?
It has been great. We met in Delhi for the first time at the National Awards ceremony where we both got awards. It was destined to happen. Later, when we came together and he approached me to direct it, I was fully ready for it. This is the topic I really want to do and am thrilled about. I think I can tell it in my own style and my voice will be heard and I have something in my mind. So, he was open to it. He told me that it was my film and asked me to decide how I wanted to show it to the audience. That's the reason it's a long-time relationship. We are not looking at it as a project-based film, we were jamming around different subjects and ideas and everything. So, it's really a great thing.
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You have written the dialogues of the film. What did you keep in mind while writing so that it doesn't sound jingoistic?
When we approached the screenplay, the basic idea in my mind was that let's understand the difference between.... because we also come from the same makers slate who have done URI. So, the whole point was to understand the originality and the intent with which this film needs to be approached. One film was about the attack with a surgical strike and Article 360 is about fundamental law and article that is placed in the history of Kashmir which has been the centre of problems and removing it was said as a non-probable thing earlier. In this kind of mission where you are really trying to abrogate a law and you are making it ineffective, its honesty and approach are crucial at the start when we decided to attack the screenplay. The whole idea was we would stick to the authenticity and the realism of it. Writing the dialogues came organically as there was an emotion attached to it. We are not writing it for somebody. We are writing about what exactly our feelings as Indian citizens are when we are dealing with these research points, the characters and when we are making the scenes. When it comes organically, there is no question of jingoism and you don't cross that thin line because you are going with honesty. That was the approach and we have made an intelligent political action drama.
Is it challenging to make a film like 'Article 370' or any political drama in India?
It's challenging because either there will be facets of politics involved in it or facets of authentical research involved which is very tricky where you can't go wrong. The only fear or scare you are dealing with is that you shouldn't go wrong and handle the topic with heavy responsibility and gravity. That was the important challenge as makers overall.
People might call it a propaganda film as elections are round the corner. What's your take on it?
I always ask this question, why are you telling the story?' You tell a story so that you can question or you are believing in it. We wanted to talk about Article 370, and we genuinely believed that we had to tell the story. It was highly important and crucial for the future, peace and development of Kashmir and for the entire India to have that feeling that now we are one. A filmmaker is somebody who needs to have an opinion. If I don't have an opinion I become a reporter. I am going to tell a story only if I believe in and have an opinion on it. How to show it to the audience is a creative process. Secondly, India has gone much ahead in time. Modern Indian audiences who are exposed to so much digital content are highly smart and intelligent. You can't make them fool if your intent is not clear. I totally agree with Aditya. The government doesn't need a film. You watch the film and then we will talk about it later. As a captain of the ship it's my responsibility to defend and answer.
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Yami Gautam shot the film during the first months of her pregnancy. How did you execute it?
Yami is a very professional actress with a lot of dedication and conviction that she shows in the roles, shows and prep. When we were doing it, it was highly challenging and we had to think about safety, and health and take precautions. There were two things- the action scenes which were performed by Yami for the first time and secondly, there were intense scenes especially when she was saying the dialogues. This is also sometimes very risky and difficult. The only approach was that there shouldn't be any risk to her when the action scenes were executed. We made sure to take precautions without any compromise. Yami, as an actress co-operated so well wherever she could. She tried to contribute in whatever way possible to make it happen the way the vision was. In intense scenes, Yami's process helped a lot because she doesn't like breaks. When she is in a zone, she gets into the zone very quickly and stays there. So, I give the entire credit to my crew and Yami for helping me execute it. The weather in Kashmir was not good. There was snowfall and wind and suddenly the temperature dropped but she fought it. We all had to come together as a unit and that helped a lot to cross the barrier and reach the destination.
