Shahid, the biopic about lawyer and human rights activist Shahid Azmi, first shot to limelight when it premiered at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival. When released in India earlier this month, the film received critical appreciation for telling an "honest story" about the 32-year-old who became popular for defending those charged with terrorism, and was later shot dead in his Mumbai office in 2010. Director Hansal Mehta talks to Avantika Bhuyan about the personal resonance of Azmi's story, his style of filmmaking and a vast collection of cookery books
What inspired you to take up the story of Shahid Azmi?
One of the reasons was my own creative inertia. I felt that I was doing nothing creative as a director. As a result, I took a four-year long sabbatical, which made me socially aware of the world around me. I started voicing concerns about the times that we are living in - be it about polarisation or separatism. When I came across Azmi's story in 2010, it gave me an impetus to voice my thoughts as well.
I believe that a similar assault on you by the Shiv Sena, following the release of Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar also influenced you to take up Azmi's story...
As years go by, I am seeing that we are constantly being violated by people who are not necessarily authorised to question you. So yes, his story resonated with my feeling of violation, especially in a country that calls itself a democracy.
Also, you had difficulty initially to find a producer. How did you manage to fund the film? What was the budget for the film ?
The moment you decide to make a film sans stars you face tremendous difficulty. And that is because our industry doesn't have a definite action plan - it goes on the basis of empirical assumptions. People invest money in films based on those assumptions: that you need to have so and so in the film, these many songs will work, which are decisions based on some random research. People are just desperate to make that Rs 100 crore-200 crore film and don't see that there is safer return on investment in films such as ours. They should look at films like Gangs of Wasseypur - two films were made on a budget which was a fraction of what is going around today. Shahid too was made on a production budget of Rs 85 lakh and we sold it to UTV almost at the cost of production. It has not only managed to recover costs but has also gone beyond the breakeven point. With TV and video rights, I believe the film will make a healthy profit.
Could you talk about the process of making Shahid - from researching to casting?
It was a very organic process. I was very moved when I first read the story. At that time I was in touch with writer Sameer Gautam for another script. But this story kind of hit me, so I asked Gautam to dig out more material. So we started meeting his friends, family and also began to study the cases he fought. Usually biopics are very event-focused. But I wanted to make a biopic that was character-focused. I wanted to understand a person like Azmi - what went on in his mind, how was he so driven. Problem was compounded by the fact that he wasn't alive and was a common man. There wasn't enough documentation or video available as reference material.
What has the persona of Shahid Azmi come to mean to you now?
His story shows that the power to change the times lives within us. For too long we have depended on leaders to take us through the mess. Every election we hope that something changes, but it only becomes worse. As common people, we do nothing. The common man is so inactive. After Azmi was killed, apart from headlines in the papers we go to know nothing about him as a person. But when we shot in actual locations - his office, his house, the localities where his clients lived - we got to know the amount of love and respect that this 32-year-old had garnered in his seven-year long career.
What are the filmmaking sensibilities that inspire and influence you?
The people around me and the world around me inspires me. I love reading stories, I love listening to stories and I love telling stories. I think we tend to bracket films too much as mainstream, independent, so on and so forth. There are only good films and bad films. I attempt to tell stories differently. How can I take you into this person's world. Even though I have faced tremendous opposition to this, but I have tried to stay away from populist devices and focused mainly on telling stories.
From a foodie to an entrepreneur - you juggle a lot of roles. Could you talk about some of these other pursuits?
One needs to have a slightly holistic life. When I started as a filmmaker I was totally consumed by the craft. Then I realised that I needed to focus on the life outside as well. Focusing on it makes you a better storyteller. I have always loved food and cooking. Not many know that Khana Khazana was started by me. I have the largest collection of cookery books. I also run a small business, which allows me the freedom to not do anything that I don't want to do. Having a strong and cautious banking system is the best way to stay protected. That's what helped India too.
