Now playing in theatres

According to Kaul,it is theatre that helped him realise his movie dream. When he decided to make the movie,help poured in from different quarters. The funds for the movie — that Kaul calls a “cooperative” venture — too were raised by contributions from various people. Even as Kaul goes on to list the kind of help he received,he keeps repeating that the root of these people’s generosity lies in his theatre. “They all love my plays. That’s why they were willing to help me in whichever way possible,” reasons Kaul. His plays,often featuring very ordinary characters,tug at the viewers’ heartstrings with a text that is imbued with poetry and contains simple philosophies of life. In the film,the writer-director touches upon the issue of menfolk disappearing from the villages in hilly terrains of Uttarakhand.

Like Kaul,Takalkar,too,has worked mostly with his theatre colleagues for the movie. For him,every scene was like “a unit of theatre” and it was conceived with the support of his cast and crew. “We even held rehearsals for scenes just like we do for plays. This made the process of picturisation easier. That apart,since I have been working with most of the actors,including the lead Sarang Sathaye and Radhika Apte for several years now,we could understand each other’s need without spelling it out,” says Takalkar,who has worked in nearly 10 movies as an editor.

However,unlike Kaul,who had developed the movie’s story during his many trips to Uttarakhand,Takalkar was living with the story of The Bright Day for nearly a decade. The movie revolves around Shiv,who leads a normal life with a supportive family and a close group of friends. Yet,one day,he sets out on a journey to discover what he seeks in the outside world. Before Takalkar finally decided to capture Shiv’s story on camera,he revisited his earlier script,which eventually also increased the film’s budget. The film was shot between September and December last year at various locations across India.

While Hansa has been invited to various festivals,The Bright Day will have its world premiere in Toronto. The former will release in seven cities of India in December under PVR’s Director Rare initiative. Kaul is keen to screen it in certain towns in Uttarakhand as well,since he wants people of the state to see the film set in their region.

With their movies complete,both Kaul and Takalkar have moved their focus back on theatre. Kaul directed a play called Gorakh,which has the Film and Television Institute of India,Pune,students as its cast. Takalkar is currently toying with the idea of adapting the play Aristophanes’s Lysistrata for stage. He is clear about not directing another movie unless he feels a strong urge to go behind the camera again.