Jagan Shakti on putting an ensemble cast together and fictionalizing a true story
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 15, 2019)

Jagan Shakti insists he had to fictionalise the story of his directorial debut, Mission Mangal, which is inspired by ISRO’s (Indian Space Research Organisation) Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), as “everyone is aware of the event”. “I perceived the story as a human drama around ordinary Indians who accomplished something historic. The details are in the public domain so, the challenge was to weave an entertaining story around it,” the director explains.

Jagan may not have managed to get permission to shoot inside ISRO, but he did get hold of people who were involved in the mission, which helped him during scripting. “We interviewed all the scientists who were a part of the tea have over 100 hours recording,” he says, adding that they were briefed about the tone of the film and how the team intended to fictionalise the story.

Mission Mangal, headlined by Akshay Kumar, features Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha, Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari and Nithya Menen. Was it difficult to get the ensemble cast? Jagan says, “Our script was designed with Akshay sir at the centre, he gets the team in place. Then, we wrote characters with back stories, like there’s one who is married with a grown-up child, while another’s husband is in the hospital. Every character reflects our society and has a good reason to be in the film,” he asserts, reasoning, “While presenting a film to actors of this stature, it is important to have meaty parts for everyone.”

Last month, ISRO launched Chandrayaan 2, India’s second lunar exploration mission. Is that a potential subject? “Sci-fi is an interesting genre, and I will pursue it as one of my core strengths. And now that you have given me the idea, I will think of it,” he chuckles. Jagan would love to work with all Bollywood actors but doesn’t rule out another collaboration with Akshay. “I am grateful that a superstar like him agreed to work with me. If a script suits him, I’ll go to him again,” Jagan concludes.