Kanu Behl takes us through his film, Despatch, starring Manoj Bajpayee, before its release on December 13
After his films Titli and Agra, director Kanu Behl is ready with his third feature Despatch headlined by actor Manjo Bajpayee. As the film gets ready for its debut on Zee5 this Friday the 13th, we cat up with Kanu to know more about the same.
What was the idea behind the film Despatch?
The idea was to explore the world of journalism through an almost Faustian story of modern cowardice. A man who is moving through the powers corridors is coming face to face with his own greed, frailty and desire. And his own internal state of being reflects the larger world that he inhabits, that is crumbling, bursting at the seams. Full of hubris. This man, and the world he lives in, go hand in hand. One creates the other and feeds it actively. This is the time and space I wanted to reflect within the film.
Was Manoj Bajpayee always your first choice for the film? How was it working with him?
Yes, my co-writer Ishani Banerjee and I were most of the time discussing his name even as we were writing the film. And he was pretty much the first actor I approached after the script was ready. Manoj is like a unicorn in the Bombay film industry. His greatest strength is his immense love for cinema and his desire to serve nothing else but the film that he is working on. It is an intensely collaborative process, and yet is wrapped around with this deep faith and love he has for his filmmakers. He makes you feel like you're the best on the planet. What more can one ask from their key collaborator on a film?
How did you decide on the rest of the cast?
For the character Prerna, we did a lot of auditions and looked in six cities for the correct actor to be able to pull off the part. Arrchita emerged as a strong contender for the part and eventually we were able to cast her after a few rounds of auditions and a workshop process. For Noori, I had pretty much written the part for Rii, as I had been following her work for a while and was fascinated by her personality and range as a performer. For Shweta, again, Shahana was pretty much the first person that I approached for the part as I felt that she had strong emotional resonance with the character, not to discount for a second her brilliance as an actor! That became the clincher!
For the other, smaller parts, I wanted to build a real, believable world and wanted them to be relatively unknown so that the audience felt like they were not watching actors, but rounded human beings.
How different is this film than the previous two, Titli and Agra?
It is a beast of its own for sure. For me, the central impulse of making any of my films is because they are inherently different from the last one that I made. Cosmetically of course, this film is set in Mumbai so that backdrop is completely different and it gave me a chance to reflect on my relationship with a city I now have been in for almost 17 years.
In all these years how has your filmmaking evolved?
It's really hard for me to answer that question. I actively try not to have a gaze at myself or have any fixed identity. I would ideally love to merge within the film that I'm making and have nothing else other than that particular film to exist. So, safe to say, my journey or evolution as a filmmaker is best left to the audiences to dissect or discover.
What inspires you as a maker?
The desire to delve deep into a theme and find something to say which pushes the envelope forward. In a way, taking the larger cinematic conversation further in the context of other films that have come before or will come after mine.
What kind of films do you love watching? Last content that you watched and loved?
I like to watch pretty much everything under the sun. From really art house cinema to the more commercial fare in theatres, I will sample a bit of everything and stick around if something interests me. The last film that really affected me was Perfect Days by Wim Wenders.
Are there any actors with whom, if scripts permit, you would love to work in future?
I'd love to work with Javier Bardem.
Your favourite filmmaker?
There are many. From Stanley Kubrick to Abbas Kiarostami, Emir Kusturica, Jacques Audiard to Steve Mcqueen.
Your other upcoming films?
I'm currently in early development on a Sci-fi Stoner comedy and a spiritual horror film.
