Dibakar Banerjee says he can’t make Khosla Ka Ghosla today, finds the film to be ‘very patriarchal’: ‘All female characters are helpers’

Khosla Ka Ghosla is the story of a middle-class man falling into the trap of a property dealer and losing his savings. His sons try to get back the land for their father. The film won National Award for Best Feature Film in 2006.

A still from Khosla ka Ghosla. (Express archive photo)

Banerjee further explained, “It’s about the father and the sons. All the female characters are helpers, they are all enablers. The character of Tara Sharma in Cherry’s life is also an enabler.” On being asked if only the characters are patriarchal or the entire film is patriarchal, Banerjee firmly added, “The characters are patriarchal, the film is patriarchal. At the end of the film, all of them live together in that ‘train-coach’ type house. I don’t agree with it anymore. This is not how it should be. But that’s the ideology, that’s a different story.”

Khosla Ka Ghosla was shot in 2003 but there were no takers for the film. The first investors, Padmalaya Telefilms of Hyderabad, pulled out of the project, leaving things in mayhem. Tara Sharma, who played Meghna in the film had earlier told indianexpress.com, “Content is king, but distribution is god. It took a long time for the film to release. In fact, there was a time when we thought it wouldn’t just release at all and were quite upset. It was a small-budget film that went on to become a cult. It’s a timeless story.”

At this year’s Busan International Film Festival, it was announced at the Asian Contents and Film Market that Khosla Ka Ghosla is being remade in the Telugu, Marathi and Kannada languages.