Director Devashish Makhija, best known for his short film "Taandav" and feature "Ajji", says it is hard to make a project which shows the audience the dark reality of life.
The filmmaker, whose latest venture "Bhonsle" was screened at the Dharamshala International Film Festival on Friday, believes audience in India still prefers watching life-affirming stories.
"I believe when you are not operating in the mainstream and when you are not entertaining people or giving them life-affirmation, it's always hard to make a film. I am trying to show them the mirror but they are not showing me the money.
"It is a good sign that a film like 'Andhadhun' is making money or smaller films are making money, but again they are all entertaining and life-affirming films. A dark film, which is trying to hold up a mirror, for a better word, is not going to find money or audience," Devashish told PTI in an interview here.
The director adds that the audience does not want to be reminded of the harsh truth.
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"We wake up every morning thinking life is so hard. So when people go to watch a movie they don't want to be reminded of that again."
Be it his last festival film "Ajji" or this year's "Bhonsle", featuring Manoj Bajpayee, Devashish has stuck to the dark political tone and he says it will always be his main goal.
"In my films, I have a lot of things to say about the political climate in the country and society. That is my primary intent always. In 'Ajji', it was there and it is there in 'Bhonsle' also.
"The story is not as such earth shattering. It is the other layering which comes from the current situation of the society which adds the meat to the film," he says.
Having a direct reference to political parties and their ideologies can make it tough for a film to have a festival screening or get a theatrical release, but Devashish says this will not stop him from holding up the mirror against the politics in the country.
"I do look at a lot of dos and don'ts when I am making a political statement in my film. But again I try and see the larger intent that I have. I know I am trying to hold up the mirror to who we are so at some stage I can't take half measures.
"I can't dilute the comment that I'm making. I can fictionalise the name of the political party or the colour of the political party, but I can't change the politics because that's exactly what I am holding up the mirror against," he says.
The filmmaker believes as a "political artiste" he is just giving his opinion on the current situation and his job is not to "make world a better place".
"I don't see myself as a filmmaker. I am an artiste and showing something which exists among us is my artistic impulse. I can't do anything about it. If I will not take that out of my system, I will self-destruct," he adds.
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