FILM INTERVIEW: VINAY SHUKLA
Director Explorers Women’s Sexual Libido in ‘Mirch’
The “spicy” National Award-winning director Vinay Shukla is back with this weekend’s release of Mirch, a film in which he highlights womanhood. Such an honorary and noble gesture should come as no surprise when one considers Mr. Shukla helmed the critically acclaimed film Godmother. In speaking with the Indian press via telephone about his latest venture in Mirch, which means “spice,” Mr. Shukla talked about what audiences will expect to see. Specifically, Big Pictures’ Mirch delves into the woman’s sexual libido in its attempt to “celebrate womanhood.”
“Mirch is a celebration of womanhood. There are four stories in the movie, and they are all about what happens when a women is caught red-handed with her lover and how she manages to wriggle out of the situation scot-free,” Mr. Shukla said over the telephone from Mumbai in his chat with the press. “But it doesn’t show women in poor light. It is about, if a woman has her wits, she can salvage any situation. That is, in essence, the content of Mirch, as well as the message. Women should go watch this film absolutely uninhibited and free.”
The lack of inhibition and portrayal of freedom is told through the eyes of a struggling filmmaker named Maanay (Arunoday Singh). Through her narration, Mr. Shukla hopes audiences will grasp the greater story of equality, fairness, and emancipation. Putting a unique spin on how Maanay’s narration is told, Mr. Shukla presented the tale in three different mediums. Effectively, he focused on the evolution of gender relationships in three distinct eras--ancient, medieval, and contemporary.
“At a deeper level, it is also about the gender equality in a relationship, and at a much deeper level, it is about how an artist finds his freedom in today’s mercantile world ... about the kinds of situations a filmmaker faces today,” he stated during his interview.
“The first story is from the Sanskrit classic, The Panchtantra, and placed in ancient times. Then it travels in its various versions to the modern times. The second story is placed in medieval times and is inspired from the 14th century Italian classic, The Decameron by (Giovanni) Boccaccio. The next is from an Italian fable set in contemporary times, and the fourth and connecting story has been written by me.”
Starring the likes of Konkana Sen Sharma, Raima Sen, Shahana Goswami, Ila Arun, Shreyas Talpade, Boman Irani and Prem Chopra, Mirch has already been the rave of film festivals in Mumbai and New York. Finally ready for public screenings with its release on December 17th, Mr. Shukla has been a keen advocate of presenting woman-centric films. Interestingly enough, expect a tad of a change in the director’s next venture.
“I find the stories fascinating, and these coincidentally focus on women. But my next script is not women-centric, for that matter. It’s about caste politics in Uttar Pradesh and about relationships,” Mr. Shukla shared in his telephonic interview. “There is no title as of now, and I haven’t decided the casting yet, but it will have a prominent actor.”
Speaking of prominence, Mr. Shukla himself rose to quite a solid position in Indian cinema. Starting off his career penning scripts and dialogues, the director worked on several productions--such as Hum Paanch, Raat, and Sameera--before becoming a household name in 1999 with Godmother. His second directorial venture after 1981’s Sameera, Godmother earned Mr. Shukla six National Awards.
From there, Mr. Shukla went on to direct Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe in 2002 before eventually getting around to Mirch, which finally hits movie screens in Bollywood on December 17th.
While there have been large gaps between productions, Mr. Shukla thinks things will be a tad different in 2011.
“I wish I were able to make more films,” the gold medalist out of Pune’s Film and Television Institute candidly confessed to the press. “Hopefully I’ll roll out my next year.”
Mirch opens in India in December 17th.
