Interview with National Award-Winning Director Shubh Mukherjee

IANS INDIA

Shubh Mukherjee, a National Award-winning filmmaker, is well known for his contributions to the Indian film industry, including launching singer Honey Singh in his debut project. His most recent film, Kahwa, based on true events from the post-militancy period in Kashmir, received a standing ovation at Cannes 2024 and is now preparing for its release in India. In a recent interview, Shubh shared insights about Kahwa. He explained, "The film portrays the aftermath of the Burhan Wani incident, during which a curfew was imposed across Kashmir. At the time, I was filming a travel documentary there and witnessed the lockdown firsthand. It was a tense period, not only for the military but also for the civilians of Jammu and Kashmir." When asked if he anticipated any political backlash from the film, Shubh clarified, "The film doesn’t take sides politically. It’s simply a reflection of the post-militancy environment."   #ShubhMukherjee #Trending #2024 #BollywoodCountry #BollywoodNews #BollywoodGossips #BollywoodUpdates #BollywoodNews #Bollywood #Bollywoodcelebrity #BollywoodHindiNews #ians

Transcript

00:00So I think I was in Kashmir in 2016 when I was doing a travel documentary called

00:11Trip With Me and it so happened to be that when I was in Kashmir it was just

00:19post the Burhan Wani encounter and the whole single spell curfew that Kashmir

00:25it was actually one of the longest single spell curfews that Kashmir had

00:28ever experienced or witnessed. So for example when we saw COVID Kashmir had

00:34already seen that problem way way before you know when we experienced what COVID

00:39was like total sense of lockdown all services shut down mobile and internet

00:44was off so everything being off Kashmir had already experienced that kind of

00:48situations. For me that was very new and very very interesting to see from a

00:53human standpoint because there was army outside every house there was all the

00:58shops were shut there used to be something called a deal that for how long

01:03will the shops be open. So I was very fascinated by just the visual that no one is

01:09coming out of the house, no one is doing anything you know army everywhere what

01:14is going on it felt like a fortress and that is when I realized that Kashmir has

01:18you know forever had this kind of a situation but just at this time it had

01:22gotten really worse. So I used to always wonder and ask myself that this army is also

01:27standing outside the house, this is not a house for them and this is not normal for a common man

01:32because there is an armed force standing outside their house so they are not able to do anything.

01:36So obviously these are people from two different ideologies, different mindsets they are

01:40not on the same side. What if there had to be a relationship between these two

01:47different sets of people so what if an army guy had to communicate with a local

01:52what would their conversation be like? Obviously it would be that you move out of my house

01:56what are you doing? You have come to ruin my environment and the army guy would also think that

02:00every person who is Kashmiri, is he a terrorist? Is he going to do something wrong?

02:07So there would be an animosity between the two. What if a bond is created between the two?

02:14So to create that bond I said that how can a bond be created? Because for the army guys

02:19we feel that the army guys are standing with a gun which is more powerful but I was also thinking

02:24from their point of view that they also stand there so they stand there for hours and hours

02:29not to see anyone, not to do anything, no activity, no entertainment.

02:34So equally it was for me, you know people who are not living normal lives.

02:39A lot of people used to say, Kashmiris used to say that the army guys are coming and ruining.

02:43But I can understand if you say this about the government but what is the fault of the army guys?

02:48They are just in a job, they're doing their duty. So for me I wanted to think from these two human

02:54sides and that's how I thought of Kava and I thought that if I could blend these two human

03:00sides together that is how I got inspired of writing Kava and making Kava basically.

03:10We make films for an audience and we make films very selflessly although you know

03:16there is a very selfish motive that you are liking the film a lot but when we gauge or judge a film

03:24we are also judging it from a point of view that the audience will cry here, the audience will laugh

03:29here, the audience will clap here. So I think we make films from that perspective, any film

03:34we make that the audience will like it, you know at the end of the day it's a medium of entertainment,

03:38it's a medium of creativity, it's a medium of art. So whenever people appreciate anything that we do

03:45I think that's a very satisfying thing because you know that okay you're thinking right,

03:51I think it's an awakening for you that you are thinking as a common man,

03:58your communication is reaching more people than it should and I think that is a very very good

04:05feeling because when more than 10 people in a room also appreciate what you're doing

04:10then you're thinking right, you're sane, you're not going to do anything extraordinary,

04:14you know it's good to do something out of the box but not so much that no one understands.

04:19So I feel that when people appreciate the work you do then at least you're in the right direction

04:25basically. So that's what I feel, I don't take it back home and I don't live with it because I also

04:30feel that everything that you create has a certain life. Today a lot of films are being re-released

04:35in theatres, yesterday I saw Khosla Ghosla is being re-released. So I'm sure today it will get

04:39appreciation, today it will get appreciation in theatres more than it got at that time,

04:43in theatres. Tumbadh got appreciation now. So I feel that every film has a life and a span

04:49when people relate to it, appreciate it. So I'm glad that it happened for Kava.

04:59So I honestly don't think of all these things when I do anything, when I create anything.

05:03In fact, I have a dream of creating this production entity where we will be one of the

05:09most vocal voices about beautiful stories in the country. So I've never thought, you know when I

05:17made Shakal Pe Mat Ja also in 2011, I was very young to be directing a film that time but I

05:24had made it about how airport security has been weak, you know. And it's good to have

05:32things going on smoothly. So I'd made a film about that even then, that you know the way

05:3826-11 happened in Bombay, it happened because it was possible, you know. It was possible for

05:43somebody to enter with the board. I still hear podcasts that a lot of, you know, somebody like

05:49Adaud Ibrahim would have entered, you know. And I don't, I am not surprised because it's very

05:54possible. Although we have great security forces but there are possibilities of lapses.

06:00So I don't think, I am very worried about the political. I feel that for me, it is not about

06:06a political issue, it is about a human issue. It is not about which political party should be there

06:10but it is about the fact that two sides of human beings are not comfortable in living in that,

06:16were not comfortable living in that era that there is an army in front of my house and army

06:21just being deployed for the heck of army being deployed. So I feel that was the issue I wanted

06:26to address and I think I didn't, I didn't have any burdens.

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