Cinema’s Real Inspiration

Biopics,the world over,tend to be based on the lives of famous personalities — mainly because such projects enjoy an inherent audience interest. However,much like Dhulia’s lesser-known hero,Ananth Mahadevan has chosen to bring under spotlight a man whose inspirational story isn’t part of legends already. “Gour Hari Das was a freedom fighter who closely worked with Morarji Desai. Yet,after Independence,the government denied him a freedom fighter certificate. It took him a 32-year-long battle against the system to get his due,” explains Mahadevan.

Another common challenge that directors face when making a biopic is the misconception in people’s mind about the nature of the genre. While they are perceived as the chronicle of the subject,such films are usually the writer and the director’s interpretation. That,says Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra whose Bhaag Milkha Bhaag based on Milkha Singh will release on July 12,is what sets it apart from a documentary. According to him,it is important to understand the chronology of events in the subject’s life,but the story has to pitch the person correctly and not always the incidents as they happened.

“Take the film Gandhi,for instance. It has a scene where the Mahatma gets off a train to drink water and spots a woman with a child who barely has a piece of cloth covering her. While he is saddened by her plight,the woman thinks his gaze is inappropriate. After having water,Mahatma leaves the cloth covering his body by the tap,which the wind carries to the woman. Now,the incident may not necessarily be real,but the scene communicates Gandhi’s character to the audience,” says Mehra,who believes that inspired storytelling will always pitch the subject a tad more heroic.

But do filmmakers run their script by their subjects or the living family before embarking on the shoot? Bhavna Talwar,who is currently working on a film based on Guru Dutt’s life,says not necessarily so. “One is likely to face hurdles in case of loose adaptations where the necessary permissions are not sought. But if a filmmaker gets the character right,even when showing their weaknesses,such problems can easily be avoided,” she says.