Another Angry Young Man?

I have resigned from Bollywood,now I can make the films I want to,” says director Vivek Agnihotri. His last film,the erotic thriller Hate Story,has become a box office feat,much to the surprise of critics and chagrin of the moral police,and Agnihotri can afford to forget his debacles such as Chocolate and Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal. Now,he is taking up the role of a social commentator with his next films Freedom,Buddha In a Traffic Jam and the remake of the classic 12 Angry Men.

The filmmaker’s social activism places him alongside fellow director Dibakar Banerjee,whose Shanghai,a disturbing drama of politics and land aquisition,has been declared a blockbuster (despite competition from the masala entertainer Rowdy Rathore). He could also turn for advice to actor Aamir Khan,who is pointing out some hard truths in the hit television show Satyamev Jayate.

A few days ago,Agnihotri stopped by Chandigarh en route to Kullu and clarified that it was no ordinary holiday. “We are going to Kullu to give final touches to the script of Freedom,” he says. “Freedom is an angry film because I am an angry man,” he says,launching into a tirade about this “driverless country,wasted youth and the fact that we are sitting on a ticking time bomb”. Fittingly,shooting begins on August 15.

He adds that,after Hate Story,producers have been calling in large numbers but he is only interested in social commentaries about “a morally corrupt society living in quiet desperation”.

Agnihotri’s next venture Buddha In A Traffic Jam will release on September 28. It is a political drama that explores the problems in tribal areas from the perspective of a B-school student.