Hansal Mehta on the ‘insular, insulated industry’ that is in desperate need of empathy, why he didn’t want to justify the actions of the protagonist in his upcoming action-thriller, and how Simran was derailed by a public face-off over writing credits
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 20, 2018)


With Omerta, you’ve explored an evil mind for the first time. Were you able to come out of the experience unscathed?
It’s tough because I’ve been travelling with the film to festivals and so I keep reliving the horrific journey of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh (the Brit terrorist of Pakistani descent who is serving time for the kidnapping of western tourists in 1994 and the murder of Wall Street journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002). But cinematically it’s satisfying because Omerta unabashedly presents a villain who forces us to explore our prejudices and the world around us. I describe the film as a brief history of terrorism through one man’s journey.

Mukul Dev pitched Omar’s story to you in 2005, why did it take 13 years to bring to the screen?
The process of writing was long and painful. It was full of fits and starts. I came back from a sabbatical to pitch Omerta but made Shahid instead because it was an easier film to make. I’m glad I did, because had I made Omerta before I met Rajkummar Rao, it would have been a different film. Shahid showcased what we could do together and paved the way for Omar’s story.

Why is Rajkummar so important to Omerta?
He internalised the evil and presented it as a human trait, making it really scary in the process. Omar is not your conventional, over-the-top villain, he’s the Hannibal of terrorism who could be planning how to outwit you even while talking to you.

There’s a sequence just before Omar kidnaps the foreign tourists, when I let Rajkummar loose on the streets of Delhi’s Paharganj area and followed him with a camera. When it plays out on screen, a lot of foreigners who’d interacted with guys like him while walking through Chandni Chowk and Paharganj suddenly found themselves wondering, “What if he’d been Omar?” It’s a chilling thought.

The late Shahid Azmi, who inspired your National Award-winning biopic, had stopped short of turning into another Omar by becoming a lawyer and human rights activist…
That’s why I call Omerta a companion piece to Shahid and would like to re-release the earlier film before this one if possible. Ironically, choosing the righteous path only created problems for Shahid Azmi and got him killed at the age of 32 while Omar who continued with his violent, destructive journey is still alive, under the patronage of the establishment in Pakistan, and for all you know, might be freed this year.

Do the struggles you bring out through films like Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!, Shahid, Citylights, Aligarh and Simran reflect your own struggles in Bollywood? After Raees actor Narendra Jha’s untimely demise recently you tweeted “this profession is a killer”.
In this industry you see disappointment everywhere because so many are unable to meet the expectations they’ve set for themselves. The pressure of living up to the achievements of their peers takes its toll. Last year alone, so many young lives were lost to heart attacks and kidney failure as mental stress manifested itself in physical illness. We need to be more empathetic by doing something constructive.

Like what?
Counsel people, and impress upon them the importance of self-care. But our film associations are too busy fighting disputes or stopping shoots to worry about the well-being of its members. As it is we rarely discuss health problems because we worry we could lose out on work if people knew. Even I was guilty of this till my wife made regular health check-ups mandatory.

Would you say that a film takes away at least 10 years from an actor or a director’s life?
I have filmed in some really difficult locations in the harshest of weather and that’s never bothered me. For me the bigger struggle is the time between two films, when you are not working.

Since your return from the sabbatical have you felt it was getting too much to handle?
It still feels too much and even after 25 years, I’m the outsider rather than an industry keeda. And that’s the way I like it because it’s an insular, insulated world full of hypocrisy. Thank God for my travels and my wife’s work that keeps me in touch with the real world and drives me to tell the stories I do. Thank God for friends like Rajkummar whose equation with me doesn’t change with Fridays.

In another life I was running an IT company and while that was a struggle too, this business places more emotional pressure on you because your self-esteem depends on praise and criticism. It promotes a herd mentality and takes the artistry out of art. Art is all about expression and it is being repressed because we are scared.

Aligarh courted controversy; aren’t you afraid for Omerta because of its subject?
These things don’t bother me. In fact, I thrive on it. As long as there is a debate, my point is heard along with the counterpoint, I’m okay. It’s when something like what happened with Padmaavat happens that it’s regrettable because it has nothing to do with the film you have made but with what benefits certain fringe elements.

With Simran—the tussle for writing credits between leading lady Kangana Ranaut and writer-editor Apurva Asrani—it went beyond intellectual debate…
That was unfortunate. I have nothing against anyone seeking attention or media space but not at the cost of work. In Simran’s case the film got completely derailed. It was a lesson to me to choose my team of producer, actors and technicians more carefully in the future.

Rajkummar and I have known each other for seven years, we’ve had our differences too but we’ve resolved them by talking and understanding each other’s point of view. Creativity is not about I; it’s about us. And while I’m still struggling to make money, I’ve never struggled to make friends.

You and Apurva go back a long way…
This is very personal and I’ve steadfastly refused to be drawn into conversations on the matter.

Any chance of a reconciliation?
I don’t know. I’m too busy right now to think about it. I’ve always said everyone has their own journey and we have to find that journey on our own.

Simran had a beautiful performance by Kangana…
It did but it went beyond that sparkling performance. It had some spectacular moments and a woman who was unapologetic of her flaws. Simran had a lot more going for it and could have been a greater film but because of what happened people did not see all that. I’m not talking of commercial success here. I’m almost indifferent to that.


Any regrets?
Well, it was a difficult year-and-a-half from when we started shooting to the release and it did take a toll. There were times when I asked myself why I had taken this emotional and physical trauma. But today, when I look back, I’m proud of it. Yes, there is some anger and bitterness filed away somewhere and it will remain there. I’m thankful to Rajkummar who brought me out of a self-imposed exile with Shahid and then pushed me out of a really difficult phase with Bose: Dead/Alive.


Omerta premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival two days before Simran released…
(Smiling) Yes, it was a week of agony and ecstasy for me. Life can be amazing!

What was the response to the film after the first screening?
Shocked silence… Some people were really angry and some girls found Rajkummar’s evil avatar sexy in an odd way, something I noticed in Florence too. There were lots of questions because viewers wanted to discuss the state of the world, my point of view and what message I wanted to convey. It had no message really, I left everything open to interpretation.

Someone said we should attack Pakistan but that’s too simplistic a solution. The world needs solutions that grow out of multiple answers and translate into strategies that can put diplomatic, international and military pressure on these dark states to stop aiding terrorism. Omerta is a provocative political thriller that is a call for action against states that harbour terrorists. Top magazines like Variety gave the film very favourable reviews.


There was also a section of the media that, while raving about Rajkummar’s performance, felt you could have delved deeper to justify Omar’s actions…
That would have turned him into a hero. I made an engaging thriller and left it to the audience to explore. The West celebrates brevity while Indians are always asking for more but that’s something I can live with. There are bound to be detractors and I welcome criticism.

It’s still a very topical film. There are many Omars out there who are still being radicalised, given weapons. I hate calling it jihad because the term has been twisted for political gains and misinterpreted by men like Omar.

You refused to make a hero out of Omar but you made a hero of Subhas Chandra Bose who in his own way also stood up against the establishment?
I’ve always looked up to Bose and Bose: Dead/Alive was my way of chronicling history from a different perspective. While making it I realised that this generation’s knowledge of the freedom struggle is confined to Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru when Bose was actually the revolution and hastened the exit of the British.

I was told that no one watches period dramas so it’s heartening today to see that amidst all the mushy stuff, we’ve found ourselves a large audience that knows what Bose did for India. There are so many such stories waiting to be told.

Tell us about the film on former media advisor to the PM Sanjay Baru’s 2014 memoir The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh?
Initially I was writing the film but under a major time constraint. So, I am involved as a creative producer now, guiding and mentoring the project while debutant Vijay Gutte (who has written it with writer Mayank Tiwari) is directing it. It’s an interesting story with Anupam Kher in a reinvented avatar after 500 films with the huge responsibility of playing someone who was in recent public memory. I’m also excited about having Akshaye (Khanna), a fine, under-utilised actor, in a crucial role.

What happened to the Sachin Tendulkar biopic?
I dropped it because I did not know who to reach out to. But I’ve been working on developing the Ram Jethmalani biopic for Ronnie Screwvala. There’s also a big and exciting action-packed superhero film which is being written. And I’ve acquired the rights to some books, including Shashi Deshpande's Strangers To Ourselves, a relationship drama. My son, Jai, is also on verge of making his directorial debut so it’s a good, even if a tad hectic, time. I hope I live for many more years so I can tell all the stories I want to.