When Anubhav Sinha announced his upcoming film Assi, some sections of the audience assumed it’s a story from the Assi Ghat from the filmmaker’s hometown of Varanasi. But they were shocked to find out that the title comes from the number of rape complaints reported every day in India — “80 every day, one every 20 minutes, on an average. And this is just the reported ones. A lot of them go unreported,” Anubhav tells SCREEN in an exclusive interview.
Like most of his recent films, the core idea of Assi also came from newspaper headlines. Anubhav admits that with an overload of information around us, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to make the audience realize the urgency of a crime, even if it’s as heinous as rape. “Now, it’s not as much about what’s in front of your eyes, but what’s attractive. You get distracted by that. So, it could be a gossip or a more sensational story because this is not sensational anymore,” says the filmmaker.
He believes even peripherals like box office collections and star ratings in reviews are figures which have reduced the discourse to just a number than a cause for concern. “The numbers are good gossip. I hope the audience gets it. They don’t understand what’s gross worldwide, gross India, and net India. They don’t know the producer gets only less than 50% of the reported figure. Rs 400 crore, Rs 700, and Rs 800 crore are all very aspirational figures, no? But I hope the audience doesn’t takes these numbers seriously,” says Anubhav.
He wants to lead by example and promises that to the best of his capacity, he won’t let the box office collections and review of ratings for Assi hijack the urgent conversation the film wants to have with the audience. “If I could, I wouldn’t announce my numbers, no matter how good or bad. I don’t think I can stop it. I’ll do my best,” says Anubhav, adding, “I’ll fight tooth and nail to not release our film’s poster with all the star ratings. But sometimes, you get overwritten.”
The box office performance of films like Assi may indicate that it’s not a film for the masses, but Anubhav is confident to prove them wrong, having travelled across 40 tier-2 Indian cities via his grassroots tour ‘Chal Cinema Chalein’. “It’s a misconception, now I can say, that tier-2 cities don’t watch films like these. That they watch only Jawan or Kantara. Of course, they like those more. But they’re very interested in these films too. The problem was we were not serving them right. So, this time my whole campaign has been outside in. For the past two months, we’ve been campaigning for the film in smaller centres,” reveals the filmmaker.
Travelling across the length and breadth of the country has also been an eye-opener for him, even though he was born and raised in a small town like Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. “The whole idea was to reconnect with my country. Small-town boys like me, who have been here for too long, think we know small towns. But the small town in your memory is gone. It has become something else,” says Anubhav. He’s also been taken aback by the dichotomy that these tier-2 centres are steeped in — they want Anubhav to continue making hard-hitting, relatable dramas like Mulk (2018), Article 15 (2019), and Thappad (2020), but also come up with a sequel to his 2011 superhero movie Ra.One and his 2005 action thriller Dus. “Yes, they ask me, ‘Sir, Gyarah kab bana rahe ho?’,” Anubhav says with a chuckle.
Taapsee Pannu and Rishi Kapoor in Mulk.
They also want Anubhav to not let go of his keen ear for commercial music, from title track “Dus Bahane” to “Mind Blowing Mahia” in Cash (2007). “They want those songs for their parties and long drives. But actually, it’s incredible the number of people have asked me why we’re making films that don’t belong to their vicinity. But the dichotomy is weeks later, a film set in Karachi releases, and they lap it up. So, the palate of the audience is quite versatile,” says Anubhav, hailing the historic box-office success of Aditya Dhar’s period spy thriller Dhurandhar from last year.
Story continues below this ad
But with Assi, Anubhav feels he’s somewhere hit the sweet spot between the grit of a socially conscious drama and a gripping, fast-paced potboiler. “Assi is the most commercial film I’ve made in this avatar of mine. I have this feeling that it’ll do very well at the box office because it’s very dramatic and fast-moving. There are lies and surprises. And the courtroom is always very interesting for the audience because they get to participate in the debate. They judge the judge,” says Anubhav.
Having helmed a courtroom drama in Mulk, which also starred Taapsee Pannu as a lawyer, Anubhav also focused on making Assi look more authentic. “I have two lady senior lawyer friends in the Supreme Court. So, we narrated the story to them. They said, ‘Aap log itna ganda court shoot karte ho. Aapne court dekha hai kabhi?’ I said, ‘Yes, Supreme Court.’ So, they said, ‘That’s why! You’ve seen the quiet, sophisticated courtroom where everyone is listening in quietly. But the case in the film wouldn’t go to that court,’” recalls Anubhav.
The very next day, he visited Patiala House Court in New Delhi, and was “mind-blown”. “I realized I shot the courtroom scenes of Mulk all wrong. This courtroom is very dense and chaotic. I love the coldness of the courtroom. Also, it can seem callous towards you because when they’re interested in something else, then you don’t matter. It’s very busy in its own business whereas your life depends on it. That contrast is very interesting,” adds Sinha.
Discover more from News Link360
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
