Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; June 7, 2019)

Canadian director Ken Scott has a unique connection with India. His 2011 film, Starbuck, inspired Shoojit Sircar’s Vicky Donor. Years later, in 2017, he arrived in India to make a film with Dhanush, titled The Extraordinary Journey Of The Fakir, a French-English language film. The comedy-adventure, based on Romain Puertolas’ novel, The Extraordinary Journey Of The Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe, released in a couple of European countries in 2018, and is now gearing up to open in India, the USA and Canada among other countries. The director spoke to BT about how this project came his way and his experience of shooting in India. Excerpts:

You’ve partially shot The Extraordinary Journey Of The Fakir in India. Did you ever visit the country before working on the film?
No, I hadn’t been to India before. My first visit was during the pre-production process of the film. Initially, I had planned to shoot it in Jodhpur, but I changed my mind when I saw Mumbai. The production team took me to a beautiful neighbourhood in Worli, which I felt was an excellent setting for our story. The alleys, the houses and the surroundings were just so beautiful. The film is about a boy who grows up in a small neighbourhood in the city, and how his circumstances introduce him to the rest of his city and the world at large.

What drew you to the film?
Producer Luc Bossi asked me if I would be interested in directing it. After that, I read the book and was charmed by the fact that it has a heart, an unexpected set of twists, and a comic, poignant and philosophical story. All these elements work really well in the novel, and so I agreed to direct it. It’s the kind of mix that I gravitate towards. I worked on the script with the novelist and the producer. And then, I came to India for the first time. When I was a student at a film school, a professor had told us that if we want success, we should write about things that we know. I disagreed with him. We should also write about the things we want to know. I was passionate about discovering India. That made the journey of this film extremely interesting for me.

What did you discover about India?
I feel that people here are happy, come what may. Everyone seems to be content. Yes, being in Mumbai can be a little crazy, especially when you take the roads. The experience is very different in Canada. I also realised that there are a lot of people in Mumbai and everyone gets just so close to you, something that I am not used to (smiles).

When did you meet Dhanush?
I met him in Chennai where he was shooting. We had an elaborate discussion about everything in the film that was important to both of us. I like to be absolutely prepared before I roll out a movie. Interacting with Dhanush made me realise that he was perfect for the part.

While the film releases in India two weeks later, it has already made its way to theatres in a few European countries last year. Doesn’t the delay increase the risk of the film being leaked online?
I agree that the film could have opened in India last year itself. While we were trying to coordinate and have a common release date for the movie in the US, UK, Canada and a couple of other countries, the French producers wanted to bring it out quickly in some places. As for the chances of the film being leaked, if it’s a good film, it will get positive word of mouth, which will help its box office chances. If it’s bad, it will get bad vibes.

The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir, presented by Golden Ratio Films, produced by M! Capital Ventures, Little Red Car Films, Brio Films and Impact Films, and distributed by Anil Thadani’s AA Films in English and YNOTX in Tamil, releases on June 21.