Anubhav Sinha feels small films need 2x marketing budgets to reach people: 'We don't serve it to them conveniently'

Anubhav Sinha is reuniting with Taapsee Pannu for Assi, which also stars Kani Kusruti in the lead role. The director spoke to HT ahead of the film's release.

Director Anubhav Sinha has helmed both kinds of films - a superstar-led big-budget extravaganza like Ra.One, and a tiny film shouldered by relative newcomers in Tum Bin. Over the last decade of his career, he has carved out a niche directing independent films that tackle social issues. The latest in this series is Assi, which showcases a rape case. Ahead of the film’s release, the director spoke exclusively to Hindustan Times about the depiction of rape on screen, the challenges of taking small films to the theatres, and more.

Anubhav Sinha's Assi, starring Taapsee Pannu, releases in theatres this week.

Assi stars Taapsee Pannu and Kani Kusruti in the lead roles, with the former playing a lawyer and the latter a survivor of sexual assault. Talking about the genesis of the film, Anubhav says, “Anger happens along the way, when something nags at you persistently. Most of the anger is towards yourself: What have I done about it?”

‘Never an idea to use rape to create a hero’

Mainstream Indian cinema hasn’t always earned acclaim for its depiction of rape or sexual assault. Countless films in the 80s and 90s used it merely as a tool to forward the hero’s story. Anubhav says he knew he wanted to be different, not just from those films, but also from the few films that got it right. “I was aware of certain films that I value on this subject matter, such as Damini or even Insaf Ka Tarazu back in the day,” he says. “You think of those films because you don’t want to do something that’s been done before. You are making sure you aren’t making anything of that sort. I was aware of what had happened, and it was never an idea to use rape as a tool to create a hero.”

‘It's a challenge to take the film to the audience’

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a notion in Indian cinema that the so-called smaller films cannot succeed in theatres. Assi hopes to change that. Talking about what it takes to promote such a film, Anubhav says, “I finished making a film. Now, I need X amount of money to take it to you. You could be in Etawah, Agra, or Jamshedpur. I need to take my film to you. Over the past few years, we have started believing that if you are on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, you are sorted. But the world doesn’t work like that. You can be sorted. A whole lot of political campaigns happen on social media, but they have ridiculous amounts of money that no movie can spend. It’s a challenge to take the film to the audience.”

Anubhav has been travelling the length and breadth of India to work on the promotions of the film for the last few months. “I have been travelling across towns of North India for the last four months, and I have realised they want to see Assi and Article 15. But it has to reach them that this film is coming out on this day. We think much less of how difficult it is. In Mumbai, we think everyone is looking for trailers. But they are not. 90% of their life is something else. So, it’s a challenge,” the director says.

He feels there is an audience for this kind of film, but the marketing needs to match it. Anubhav adds, “If these films had twice or thrice as much budget to promote them, our jobs would be much easier. The audience is waiting for Assi, not specifically Assi, the film, but a film like Assi. On the previous occasions, we didn’t serve it to them conveniently.”

All about Assi

Apart from Taapsee and Kani, Assi boasts of a strong ensemble cast featuring Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Kumud Mishra, Supriya Pathak, and Manoj Pahwa, along with cameos by Naseeruddin Shah and Divya Dutta. Produced by T-Series, the film releases in theatres on 20 February.