Breaking New Ground

 

 

It was a film with an A-list cast that delivered top notch performances and demonstrated how the bar has been irrevocably raised when it comes to India churning out cinema that meets with international critical acclaim. After first wowing the audience at its world premiere in the Toronto Film Festival in 2007, “The Last Lear” has gone from strength to strength with the National Awards for best English language feature film and best supporting actress (Shefali Shah), being the latest in a long line of recognitions. The film, based on an Utpal Dutt play, cast Amitabh Bachchan as Harish Mishra (a.k.a Harry), an aging Shakespearean thespian who an upcoming auteur Siddarth (Arjun Rampal) wants to cast in his upcoming film. Siddarth finally manages Harry to say yes, but during shooting the worlds of theatre and film collide as Harry and Siddarth begin to develop differences over what constitutes the perfect shot for each scene. The generation gap between the two doesn’t seem to help. Bachchan puts in a masterful display of his classy command over the English language, and quotes Shakespeare with the ease of a literature professor. In fact, his role is so powerful and at the same time poignantly touching that he’s probably unlucky to have missed out on a National Award himself. Says Shubo Shekhar Bhattacharjee, CEO, Planman Motion Pictures (see his interview ‘Excellence in Motion (Pictures)’ on page 57), “The strong point of the film was Mr. Bachchan’s performance. He was just great, and world over people have said that this was one of his best performances ever, and we’re lucky that it happened in our film.” Shefali Shah played Vandana, Harry’s partner, a role that the National Awards official release described as “a smoldering portrayal of a woman dealing with her intense relationship with an older man with a towering personality”. “The Last Lear” is truly a radical step for Indian cinema. Mainstream actors lent their wholehearted support and astonishing talent to raise the story to a new level while Rituparno Ghosh’s take on the play provided some excellent dialogues. Being the only English language film that the Big B has done so far, it generated a lot of expectations and then exceeded them when the audience saw the final product. “15, Park Avenue” and “Mitr, My Friend” have received the National Award earlier, and the path they showed is being firmly entrenched by films like “The Last Lear”. It is a sophisticated and classy piece of world cinema that can sensitise audiences to what cinema as a medium can powerfully deliver.

Planman Motion Pictures, that has been the production house behind the film, has exactly that mission in mind. After making a mark with the Bengali “Faltu”, which won the National Award for best Bengali feature film last year, “The Last Lear” and “Mithya” have reinforced their commitment to classy cinema and the way the films were received proves the refinement of audience sensibilities. And the National Awards only add an exclamation point to that. Congratulations on winning the National Award for Best Supporting Actress. What was your reaction?

Shefali Shah is no stranger to good cinema. Having been a part of films like “Satya” and “Monsoon Wedding”, the actress talks about winning the National Award for “The Last Lear”

Absolutely ecstatic! I wasn’t expecting it. It’s a complete surprise!

You were nominated in the same category for two films – “The Last Lear” and “Gandhi, My Father”. Which film had you imagined would get you the award? Why?

“The Last Lear”! I think I really pushed myself in the film. I really think that’s my best work till date.

How has it been being a part of a project, which was quite offbeat and almost radical when it comes to Indian cinema?

It was an amazing experience. It was a very close-knit unit. It was a one-go schedule. So, you’re completely focused. When people are making commercial films, they’re going from one set to another. Here I was on that set every morning. We were in Kolkata, and it was great. And then the topic, the kind of performers that were there with me, then Ritu da directing it, it was a great package.

And the experience of working with Amitabh Bachchan?

It’s always a pleasure and honour to work with him, and so was “The Last Lear”, an absolute honour.

When you agreed to star in “The Last Lear”, did you expect it to fetch you all the awards and recognition that you have received?

No, I don’t take a film with that mind set. I take a film because of only three criteria. One is that it has to be a really exceptional role, and the placement of the role in the film and the director.

You recently also won the Best Actress Award for your role in “Gandhi, My Father” at the Tokyo Film Festival. How was the experience there?

I wasn’t there at the award function. Feroz called me from there and told me that it has just been announced that you’ve won the Best Actress over here. I was in Australia at that moment and I just couldn’t believe it. There are certain things you just don’t expect. This was just one of those things.

From playing Richa in “Banegi Apni Baat” to winning a National Award, you’ve come a long way. How has the journey been?

It’s been an incredible journey. It had its ups and downs. For ups, in terms of the kind of work I want to do, I’ve made a conscious decision to do what I want to. It’s not like that you get offered six films a year that are fantastic. I got offers but everytime there’s a parameter in my mind that says I’ve done “Monsoon Wedding”, I’ve done “Satya”, I’ve done “Gandhi, My Father” and then I have to do something in the same league. So, it could mean one great film in two years or one great film in one year. That way, it’s a wait, but it’s worth every bit.

What can we expect from you in the future?

I’m doing a film with a first-time director called Barnali Shukla. She is making it for Vipul (Shah) and I’m looking forward to the film. It’s called “Kuch Love Jaisa”. It has Rahul Bose, Neetu Chandra and Sumeet Raghvan. I have never looked like this! I worked very hard in terms of the way I look. I lost a lot of weight. Finally I’m playing my age and I am the lead. It’s a very sweet film. It’s about two strangers spending the day together.

Shefali Shah’s

Acting Masterclass

Excellence In Motion (Pictures)

Planman Motion Pictures has carved a niche for itself in India’s cinemascape with their unwavering commitment to quality cinema. CEO Shubho Shekhar Bhattacharjee reflects on the achievement of “The Last Lear” and what the production house has in store

Planman Motion Pictures seems to be on a roll – after “Faltu” did it last year, “The Last Lear” bags a National Award this year. Your thoughts…

Fantastic! This is India’s highest award for recognition in films and the kind of films we’ve been committing ourselves to, that is good cinema. We’ve been talking about it since 2003, the day we made our first film.

When you read the script of the film for the first time, did you ever imagine that it would become a National Award winning film?

It did not start with the script actually. It started with a reference to the play. I remember Ritu da (Rituparno Ghosh) had called me from Kolkata, and he asked me about making a film on this play by Utpal Dutt. So, I knew about it, but honestly, I hadn’t read it. So I asked him to tell me the story and send me a copy of the play. When he sent the play to me and now that we’ve gotten the award one shouldn’t sound as if we knew, but the fact was that when we re-read and we wanted to cast Mr. Bachchan in a role like this, we could sense that this could be the film that could get some sort of recognition.

According to you, what was the strongest point about this film?

First of all, we’ve cast mainstream actors of the Hindi film industry. And we’ve gotten them to a space that they’ve not delved into before. So, I felt it was quite an exciting feature of the film. All the people saw how mainstream Hindi film actors were doing an English film. That was also something which was very artistic in nature. It was definitely a striking aspect of the film. The strength of the film was Mr. Bachchan’s performance. He was just great, and world over people have said that this was one of his best performances ever. We’re lucky that it happened in our film. So was Preity; the bubbly image that Preity has always carried and people associate her with that image. And suddenly you see her in a film where though she’s playing a mainstream actress, her role is pretty deglamourised and yet she came out with a performance that was quite stunning. Every performance in fact was so brilliant, I think that was what defined the film.

There are a lot of exciting movies that Planman Motion Pictures is producing right now. Which one do you think could end up generating as much excitement this year as “The Last Lear” did in the past year?

We have already made and sold a film called “I M 24”. That’s a fascinating, heartwarming, very pleasant comedy. The next one that is going to come out is “Do Dooni Chaar” which had a casting coup of sorts; we’ve got Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh together after, I think, 26 years on the screen. They are one of the most loved couples in Indian cinema. So getting them back together is a fantastic thing and that has come out to be a brilliant film. We’re in post production, and the editors have loved it and so I know how the film has shaped up. It’s yet to be over though; we need a couple of months to finish the film now. But the way it has shaped up, it’s going to wow audiences across.