Kiran Rao on donning the director's hat after 13 years
“The goal of not being Laapataa for as many years!” joked Kiran when we asked her what next, now that she finally donned the hat of a director after a gap of 13 years. While she kept herself busy with various works, the audience waited with bated breath for her next after Dhobi Ghat and Kiran Rao is back with her recent directorial Laapataa Ladies inspired by the script written by Biplab Goswami which reflects on social constructs and lends a voice to women’s desires.
The movie traverses the rural scape when two brides get lost in a train. Winding through humour, comedy, suspense, satire, and emotions, delivered through the power-packed performances by Sparsh Shrivastava, Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, and Ravi Kishan, it is garnering rave reviews worldwide. We caught up with Kiran in Kolkata on the movie, exploring the web, and her Bengali roots.
Excerpts from the chat...
What kept you away from the director’s seat for 13 years after Dhobi Ghat?
I was busy trying to write and develop some stories of my own. The same year that Dhobi Ghaat was released I had my child. Lots of things were happening in my life and I kept trying to finish these stories but I was never fully happy with them. I feel it’s probably a state of mind that I wasn’t ready in a creative way to make something. But I was working on other people’s films and I was doing MAMI. I was creatively quite satisfied. Also having a child keeps you creatively very engaged, at least I was. In 2018, Aamir found the script of Two Brides in a script competition that Biplab [Goswami] had entered. I loved the story and knew immediately that it’s what I want to make next.
What did you find so intriguing in the script?
The way he’d [Biplab] written it was really funny in some ways. The story is pretty much the same as what we made but I felt like it offered a lot of potential to develop many kinds of ideas. On some level it’s an ideal story, two girls getting lost, anything can happen. You can create all kinds of challenges for them on their journey and have them experience all sorts of things. Also, I love road movies and ones where women get to run away and do what they want. The idea of women having the freedom to choose their path is very exciting to me.
Was there any scope for modifying or building upon the main script?
Yes. We added several characters like Manju Mai who is not there in the original. We changed the nature of Pushpa’s character which was very different in the original text. We created this suspense around her character which was added to the film. We decided to develop the genre a little more along the lines of comedy, satire, and drama. We wanted to add both humour and emotion to it.
Was this the original choice for the cast?
Luckily, Aamir had given me free rein because we had decided to go with fresh faces. I watched loads and loads of audition tapes. In fact now some of the audition videos are also out. It was through a lot of auditions that we arrived at them. They were not an original choice in the sense I had not heard of them until I saw the auditions. I had seen Sparsh in Jamtara but not the others.
With Laapataa Ladies being screened in Toronto and Australian film festivals, how important is the role of Film Festivals in bridging the gap between cinema and the audience?
I really do believe film festivals are great for emerging filmmakers to find support and a platform for their kind of voice. It gives you great exposure as a film person creatively to meet filmmakers from around the world, to get access to global networks, whether it’s through funding or talent. It’s wonderful to be able to go to a festival.
The movie is garnering all sorts of positive reactions and critical appreciation. How do you feel when the reactions start pouring in?
I feel very fulfilled by the reactions. I think people have taken to the film in the most emotional and honest way, as we made it. People have received it with the exact spirit that we made it with and I feel very grateful for that. Sometimes, you set out to do something and despite best intentions, you don’t achieve those results. But in this case, I’m very happy with the reaction.
Do you think there is a fatigue among people with so much complex content around that they are welcoming simplistic premises with open arms?
I don’t know if there’s necessarily a fatigue but I do think there is a great availability of different kinds of content today. Like you said, simpler storytelling or stories that are unheard or from unseen landscapes like this film, is more unusual; so I suppose they will cut through some of that viewer fatigue. I do think that over time my film will find its audience.
But the fact is that I think people are now accustomed to a whole lot of choices. It’s just that going to the cinema has become a choice for people. They decide whether they will go to the cinema or watch it at home. That actually is a very difficult thing for filmmakers who want to do something very different. Then the challenge always is Will I be able to grab the audience's attention and make sure that they come to the cinema? Breaking the fatigue and coming up with something fresh, unfortunately, doesn’t guarantee that the film will get a great reception at the box office. So many small films which were very good have not done well at the box office which is a pity.
Are you planning to explore the web space?
Absolutely, I’m very interested in OTT as a platform and as a space to explore because there are so many kinds of storytelling possible on OTT. There are a couple of stories that I have written that is very suited for the series. So, I hope to definitely explore that.
Do your Bengali roots have a part to play in the movies that you make?
My Bengali roots have a part to play in everything because I feel like my growing years laid my foundation. They made me who I am. I possibly would have been a very different person had I grown up elsewhere. I don’t know…But I guess. I feel I owe a lot of things to growing up in a place where there was respect for women, ideas, space for the co-existence of all kinds of people and ideas; freedom to express yourself, and a great deal of emphasis and encouragement of the arts. I think that influenced me when I was growing up.
What next after Laapataa Ladies?
I don’t know what exactly I will make next or whether it will be a film or a series. We are trying to do a lot of things, incubating and developing a lot of things. We are hoping to make one within the next couple of years and not keep the gap as long.
Laapataa Ladies in running in theatres near you