Hansal Mehta on Padmavati protesters: They are ignorant fools, not torchbearers of our culture
They have delivered National Award-winning films when they have collaborated together. Rajkummar Rao and filmmaker Hansal Mehta are known for serious, content-driven cinema that strives for a better society. But when the artists, who have collaborated for films like Shahid, Citylights and Aligarh, are not working on a movie, they make for helluva company.
During a candid conversation, the Hindustan Times got a peek into a never-seen-before avatar of Hansal and Rajkummar - friends who joke about almost everything and talk about the most intense topics in a humorous manner.
Hansal is the creative producer of the web series Bose Dead Or Alive that features Rajkummar and Patralekha. Rajkummar essays the role of Subhash Chandra Bose in the series being produced by Ekta Kapoor. Talking about the lead, Hansal said, “We got Rajkummar to play the energetic Bose. He (Rajkummar) is very energetic, in spite of his handicap (Rajkummar broke his leg recently and was still walking on crutches when we met for the interview).”
When reminded of how fast Rajkummar managed to walk despite the crutches, Hansal added, “He is preparing for a role where he plays an Olympian.” Only for the actor to declare, “Breaking news, and a lie!”
Talking about his role, Rajkummar said, “Honestly, I am not the conventional cast to play Netaji. So there was a lot of preparation required, I started with gaining 12-13kg, shaved my head. But more than the looks, it was the internal preparation that mattered to me. I read a lot of books on Netaji’s life, his autobiography is there, that helped me a lot. Also, there is so much of material available on internet. I saw lot of documentaries to understand Netaji’s body language and voice patterns. I listened to his radio speeches. Our script too had so much material and that helped me a lot.”
Hansal elaborated on the relevance of the biopic and said, “At a time when we have begun to take our freedom for granted, it is essential we revisit the sacrifices that led us to this freedom. We are seeing this environment of intolerance right now because we are ignorant of what our forefathers went through for this freedom. This (Bose Dead Or Alive) is contemporary -styled dramatisation of the evolution of Netaji from Subhash to Bose to Netaji and then the Rashomon like mystery of his disappearance.”
Asked if he feared protests as we are seeing against Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati, Hansal said, “Fear and filmmakers don’t go together. People need to see it, and if I have provoked you to debate, I succeeded. They (protesters) are ignorant fools, they are not torchbearers of our culture and they are the ones who need to watch Bose the most.”
“I think this environment (of protests against films and art) empowers you. There won’t be a rebellion if everything is good. There should be more political films made in this environment,” he added.
And the conversation suddenly turned to Rajkummar being declared a misogynist and a feminist at the same time! When two fans greeted Hansal and Rajkummar, Hansal replied naming both while Rajkummar only took the woman’s name, inciting the filmmaker to taunt him. “Male chauvinist!” said Hansal, to which Rajkummar retorted, “Who, me? I am the biggest feminist alive.” Luckily, the actor got an affirmative nod from his co-actor and girlfriend Patralekha.
When the discussion turned to the rampant pollution and smog in the national capital, Hansal said, “We are yet to venture out in Delhi smog. Hopefully, we will return to our Mumbai city with our lungs intact.”
“I am told it has improved. It is getting better day by day,” Rajkummar added, but Hansal was quick to take a jibe, “Defensive Delhiite!” The actor announced, “I am a proud Delhiite!”
Rajkummar and Hansal revealed they are planning another project together. “Whenever we are on promotional tours, our discussions have made way to our next film. Even today, we came up with a script, quite different from what we have already done.”
Watch the entire discussion here:
Interact with the author @swetakaushal
Follow @htshowbiz for more
Get more updates from Bollywood, Hollywood, Music and Web Series along with Latest Entertainment News at Hindustan Times.