Bioscopewala actor Adil Hussain: Kabuliwala is one of the most beautiful stories by Tagore

Bioscopewala actor Adil Hussain talks about Tagore’s famous short story that inspired the film.

Starring Danny Denzongpa, Geetanjali Thapa, Adil Hussain and Tisca Chopra, Bioscopewala is an adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore’s popular story Kabuliwala. The story by Tagore is a favourite among children as it speaks about the humane connection we develop with another human being at an age when we make our decisions purely on the basis of feelings. Adil Hussain, plays a pivotal role in this retelling of the classic story by Deb Medhekar. Indianexpress.com got in a conversation with Adil Hussain where he spoke about cinematic adaptations of literature, the impact of Tagore’s work and his character in the film.

Adil elaborates that he grew up reading Rabindranath Tagore and also participated in a few Rabindra Sangeet competitions as a child. He tells that the works of Tagore work on a human level. Adil says, “Kabuliwala, I think is one of the most beautiful stories that Tagore has ever written. It’s the coming together of two hearts of different genders, age groups, cultures, ethnicities, social backgrounds. It is about love between two strangers.” An important aspect of this story is the non-judgemental relationship that the primary characters share with each other. He continues, “It helps the viewers of the film to empathise with another human being without being judgemental. It’s the most human story which was the forte of Tagore in all his writing.”

Adil plays the role of a photographer in the film and a crucial one too. “My character is modelled on a very famous photographer. It’s a character through which Deb (director) is trying to sort of bring out the extreme conflict of interest. One is pure love for his daughter and the other is towards a man who he doesn’t know properly. But at the same time, it is the greater love for another human being.”

Story continues below this ad

Often times we have seen that the films adapted from literature are judged quite a lot by book readers. Films like Lootera, Haider, Dev D have been adapted from literary works and one can’t help but avoid the comparisons between the original story and the director’s interpretation. To this Adil says, “I think the advantage of a novel is that it does not have a limit of how many pages one can write. The depth of the characters, the description, the mood, it creates a vivid imagination in the reader’s minds. It is a very imaginative journey for a reader to read a well-written book. But in films what happens is that everything is almost described and narrated. Film is visual medium and reading is an imaginative medium through the words.”

After Bioscopewala, Adil Hussain will next be seen in Rajnikanth starrer 2.0.