Alongside producing the Victoria No 203 remake, Kamal Sadanah has also directed a festival film ...

Kamal Sadanah, actor from past decade of films like Rang and Bekhudi is producing the remake of Victoria No. 203 , which was originally directed by his father Brij Sadanah in 1972. Om Puri and Anupam Kher are enacting roles of Pran and Ashok Kumar from the original alongside Jimmy Shergill and Sonia Mehra who are playing Navin Nischol and Saira Banu’s character in this film directed by Anant Mahadevan. Ok, so all this is common knowledge but what’s unknown is that Kamal Sadanah has also directed a film which he will be releasing alongside Victoria No. 203 . In fact this film was complete almost a couple of years back much before he had started work on the Victoria remake. Kamal reveals, “The film is called Karkash and stars Suchitra Pillai along with Anoop Soni. It’s an independent film and in a different genre altogether. It’s a 90 minute film and deals with Indian male chauvinism and double standards. Basically, it’s my expression of showing the new Indian woman”. Ask him about his choice of actors and Kamal explains, “What I needed was a young Smita Patil and a young Nana Patekar. Somewhere in the scheme of things Suchi and Anoop fit the bill very well”. What story does he have to say through Karkash (meaning brute)? “It’s about a newly married couple and the chauvinism that takes place in their relationship. It shows the standard reaction on how men react when they feel threatened and how they resort to violence. Insecurities start creeping in them and their whole house gets displaced. Basically it talks about how the man thinks that aggression against his wife is his birthright. That is what I have tried to expose and after that is the turn around of this woman played by Suchitra Pillai. It’s about how I see the new Indian woman who has the capacity to turn the whole thing around without breaking up the marriage.” Sounds interesting but why the delay in release of Karkash when it was ready in 2005? “It is not delayed”, claims Kamal “I had sent it for several film festivals and after that I got really tied up with Victoria No. 203. A film like Karkash is not a dated film because it has a rural setting. So I intentionally decided to release it alongside Victoria No 203 .” How was the response to his films at the festivals? “Tremendous! There were a lot of festivals where Karkash was the only Indian film selected. In fact, they put me in the international competition section with some very big internationally known filmmakers. It was fantastic for me because it is not everyday a director gets to showcase his work on such a platform. It was a superb learning experience and the exposure was great. I’m waiting to see how our audience reacts to it now.” So when he has already tested his directing abilities with Karkash , why didn’t he take the responsibility of directing the Victoria remake as well? Kamal has a reason behind his decision. “I have been bought up with Victoria . I have known every aspect of it since I was a child. I have this emotional connection to the film and I think it would have been difficult for me to change or modernize anything for this film. I needed a completely non-biased mind to approach the script once again and I think Anant Mahadevan has done an absolutely great job to it.” In this age of modernization, was it a concern for Kamal Sadanah to keep the original essence of the film intact? “While remaking a film, in most cases, people just go and buy the rights which is more of a financial deal. Once the rights are transferred, they try and remake the film as they see it. But it is very important to know the essence and thought-process of the original film-maker and their basic approach over what they actually churned out. That was the advantage I had. I knew exactly what my father was trying to do with the original film.” Om Puri and Anupam Kher had their task cut out for them as they essay the roles of Pran and Ashok Kumar. Moreover, being seasoned actors Kamal and Anant might definitely have had an easier time. Kamal on the contrary says, “They agreed in a heartbeat to do the film, but the problem started after that. What was most important was for these guys to trigger off a chemistry which cannot be designed or be explained. Their chemistry is the most important part of the film. This is the first time they were working as such important characters together for a film. They themselves were very excited. It took a couple of breathing and after that it just worked out. Its one of those things where if the magic happens, it happens and if it doesn’t then you are stuck.”