Anubhav Sinha, whose directorial venture Bheed recently hit screens, is a filmmaker to reckon with. Never one who shies away from relevant topics, he has films like Mulk (2018), Article 15 (2019) and Thappad (2020) under his filmography. The Free Press Journal met up with the filmmaker for an exclusive chat.
When asked how his films with a certain political narrative land in controversies, he disagrees and says, “My films do start a conversation and no controversy. The initial driving force of my films is the idea itself. I am at a phase in my life where I get attracted to such stories. This seems difficult but it all works out for me with some energy from the universe that helps me.”
Anubhav, who earlier helmed a series of love stories and superhero action films, suddenly changed his trajectory as a filmmaker with Mulk that starred Taapsee Pannu and the late Rishi Kapoor. It threw light on the communal imbalance in our Indian society. Sharing further on his filmography, he reveals, “When Mulk released, I realised why we make films. Before it was just a business to me, but now, it has become a medium of expression for me. Also, it didn’t happen overnight or because of any incident.”
He adds, “People who met me before Mulk claimed that I don’t resonate with the kind of cinema I made in the past. For me, it wasn’t a good feeling. I strongly believe that your personality should be a part of your films. I felt the joy of expressing myself after I made Mulk.”
Anubhav also feels that he doesn’t believe in any social responsibilities with his films. “The genesis of my films is not social responsibility, it is rather my attraction to something that I want to say. This is the only art form I know, I can’t write poetry,” he avers.
Social media is a pool of toxicity and the filmmaker and his films are quite an integral part of the syntax. “I know it exists, but I only use social media to communicate with the ones I care about. I do care about the comments, rest I read and that also doesn’t mean that I entertain adverse commentary. I observe, evaluate and try to understand the intent behind it,” he shares.
Anubhav, whose latest film Bheed didn’t see many footfalls in the theatres, also speaks on the reason to shoot the entire film black and white. “Monochrome is the wrong word. Black and white is also the wrong term being used for the film. The film is actually about grey and its various shades,” he explains.
Anubhav’s next production is Afwaah helmed by Sudhir Mishra and stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Bhumi Pednekar.
