Nagesh Kukunoor: ‘Lakshmi’ is a fictional mix of a lot of real stories

Just as any other individual I too get affected by social issues around us but it’s just that I have the opportunity to tell a story through which I get to address those issues. My only prerequisite is whether it makes for a good story or not — if there is a hook I can work around.

The social relevance comes as the second or third layer of the film,well below a good strong story. When and how the audience distills it and absorbs the socially important elements in the subconscious depends on how engaging the story is.

My entry point into Lakshmi was an NGO I support,called Plan India,which also funds a lot of other NGOs. I happened to go to a couple of their rescue projects of the sexually exploited. As I would listen to these people,stories of unbelievable horror would emerge. But overriding the hell that the women go through — the mental and physical trauma,they are beaten and battered — they exhibit a ‘never say die’ spirit. No matter how you are and where you come from,you can’t help but marvel at their spirit.

Gradually a story began to emerge. The film is a fictional mix of a lot of real stories,at the centre of which is a 14-year-old girl who is abducted and forced into sex trade. In real life the girl,after she was rescued,actually won a court case and sent the people,who had forced her into the trade,to jail. This is loosely the centerpiece of Lakshmi.

I greatly admire the human spirit and the heroism of the common folk,which you can see in quite a few of my films. It appeals to me much more than the ramped up,over-the-top heroism we see in movies. My sensibilities as a writer-director have always guided me well,and that always keeps me away from making it preachy or write a scene where my protagonist will come out and start giving a lecture. I want to break the audience’s conditioned mind

and show them a different kind of heroism.

One needs a reality check of one’s standing in the landscape. I have never disregarded the money. Films are not made just so that the filmmaker can have a good time. The money is required for a filmmaker’s longevity and the producer’s recovery. But at the same time I don’t have the misplaced conception that I will address the largest common denominator with my film. I’m not here to just generate numbers,my idea is to tell a story and in the process find an audience. The Rs 100-200 crore clubs don’t make me relevant as a filmmaker. Filmmaking,to me,is not packaging. It’s about taking different and obscure stories that attract me and find a way to tell them in the best possible way.