While Kumar is not sure how he would cut even — “I know this is a big risk. But PVR has promised me that they would screen it in other centres if it did well at Select Citywalk” — the former naval officer’s bravado is in full display. “I did not want to make a Bollywood-style movie. My film cost me only Rs 95 lakh. I don’t have established names in the film since that would have hiked up the budget and I believe theatre actors capture the true essence of acting. They understand how a particular role needs to be essayed,” says Kumar at his home in Safdarjung Enclave.
Incidentally, the book was earlier turned into an 82-episode serial for Doordarshan, much to his disappointment. “I was only game for 26 episodes but the producers wanted more. Before I knew it, the serial had turned into something totally different from my novel. And I want to rectify it with my movie,” says Kumar, about the film that shifts from the 1990 to the ’40s and even has three songs, including a mujra.
Well, he has two other novels and who knows if they would translate into a low-budget experiment on the celluloid, but next time he would like to do it a little more glamorously, maybe with Tabu or Nandita Das.
