Of Love in Bihar

producer-director Praveen Kumar has received a warning from the Censor Board of India. “They have

a problem with the word maa in a scene where the protagonist,holding a hand-grenade says,“aise ande teri maa ne diye honge”. In another

dialogue,they have objected to the word ghanta. I was shocked,as I

recently saw a slapstick comedy with prominent stars,where the name of one of the characters was Ghanta Singh,” says the 47-year-old,who feels that his absence from mainstream Hindi cinema is accountable for the complications.

Touted as a dark comedy with elements of a thriller,Jo Dooba… is set in a quintessential small town in Bihar and revolves around Kesu (Anand Tiwari),who falls in love with an American girl (Sita Spada),who is in town for research on Madhubani paintings. Also playing important roles are Vinay Pathak and Rajat Kapoor. “I considered other actors for the comic role,like Raghubir Yadav and Rajpal Yadav,but I finally settled for Vinay and Rajat,” says the Ramjas College graduate.

With over 23 years of experience in Hindi cinema,Kumar has several critically acclaimed short films and documentaries to his credit,including his co-production Kali Salwar,which was screened at Rotterdam in 2003 and at the Montreal Film Festival in 2009,and Naina Jogin,which won the National Award for Best Arts/Cultural Film in 2006. However,the making of Jo Dooba… was a stressful experience. “Being a director and a producer was very excruciating. I had to work on the creative and marketing aspects of the film,” says Kumar,who conceptualised the film during his time at St Michael’s boarding school in Patna. “I used to observe people from a distance and make stories around them,which my friends used to find very interesting,” he states,adding that the movie also makes an attempt to remove the cliches associated with Bihar. “I have shown Bihar in all its fullness and

not as violent and crime-ridden,” says the filmmaker.

“I’m putting my best foot forward,” adds the filmmaker,who is also facing trouble with the tagline,‘There’s nothing more dangerous than a Bihari in love’. “People have asked me ‘why did you write that?’ My honest answer is that it’s not intended to ridicule anybody. We have laughed at unpolished jokes on other communities and we should be able to laugh at ourselves,” he says.

The filmmaker is also excited about the screening of the film at the Spectrum Section of the South Asian International Film Festival,that will take place in New York from November 9 to 15.