On the first and third day of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI-52), Bollywood filmmakers were in the spotlight. During an In-Conversation session, ‘Creating Cult Icons: India’s own James Bond (007) with the Family Man’, the show’s creators (Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK) spoke about the power of authentic storytelling. Manoj Bajpayee, who plays the protagonist Srikant Tiwari, joined the discussion virtually.
"The resounding popularity of The Family Man can be attributed to the authenticity and realism that the character of Srikant Tiwari is rooted in. The idea of this character came from observing people in everyday life, and we thought that if James Bond was from Chembur, how would he be?” Raj and DK shared.
Samantha Ruth Prabhu shared what drove her to essay the character of Raji. She said, “Female actors tend to get uni-dimensional characters and there is this fear of your performance becoming repetitive, which can happen if you choose roles that are in a familiar emotional space. However, with Raji it was very different and exciting.” Samantha is, incidentally, the first South Indian actress to be invited as a speaker to the film festival.
During a Masterclass 'Creating Cinematic Success and Storytelling of Sardar Udham', director Shoojit Sircar and producer Ronnie Lahiri spoke to an inquisitive audience about their experiences while making the film and on their lives as filmmakers.
On how they worked as a team, Ronnie said, "I live in Goa, curate live music while Shoojit loves football and lives in Kolkata. Whenever we want to make a film, we just get together in Mumbai, make the film and leave the city." When asked why so few movies were made on important issues that remained ignored, Shoojit said, "An idea is good but as a director, I need to see if there's a script on that idea that I can make a film for two hours."
"In all my films such as Piku, October, etc., there's some kind of association with my own life. My mother was comatose and I had to be with her in ICU for three months. It is this that I tried to show in October. So, ideas for all my films have been drawn from personal experiences. I have followed the masters of cinema such as Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Akira Kurosawa, etc. And yes, all my film studies have been in film festivals."
