Delhi: Two daily labourers are chatting away as they sit atop a shaky bamboo structure and try to fix a giant cut-out of a popular politician. "Kaun hai yeh h*****i," asks one to the other. "Aey, h*****i mat bol; yahan ka bahut bada leader hai," retorts the other, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Sleep-deprived and tired, their conversation is stopped in its tracks as a strong gust of wind dislocates the cut-out and it falls down on a drunkard stumbling right below, instantly squashing him to his death.
This scene, from Feroz Abbas Khan's socio-political satire 'Dekh Tamasha Dekh', showcases the apathy among the workers towards a charged-up political atmosphere in the country. Set in the mid-'90s, Khan shares that the idea for the film came from a Mumbai-based police official and a friend. "A fine gentleman, my friend, who took over as the Commissioner of Police in Mumbai after the communal riots and serial blasts, told me about a curious incident that he had witnessed," says Khan.
Set for a release in the middle of the general elections, 'Dekh Tamasha Dekh' revolves around the death and the religious identity of the man who is crushed under the politician's giant poster. A series of comic, tragic and sometimes hilarious events that follow as communal elements, political influences, police interference, angry lawyers and apathetic relatives plunge head-first into the drama.
Written by noted Marathi playwright Shafaat Khan, the film stars Satish Kaushik in the lead role.
"The film is part documentary, part absurd drama, part satire that portrays the bureaucratic indifference and the changing moral core and values of media in the onslaught of commerce," says Khan.
Shot under a month, the the movie was filmed in rustic locations like Konkan and Murud Zanjeera in Maharashtra.
Commenting on the current polls, the 'Tumhari Amrita' fame theatre director says, "I hope the film will make people think this elections".
Khan, whose 2007 debut film was a take on Gandhi's human and personal sides vis-a-vis his larger-than-life persona of a Mahatma, said that work was more difficult than putting this project together. "In 'Gandhi My Father', my challenge was to show Gandhi the man, the father, and his failure as a father against his iconic image of a Mahatma, who inspired generations. Balancing the two facets was extremely challenging," he added.
The filmmaker who dropped out of his Masters degree in Commerce from Bombay University to pursue theatre and said he was currently working on a new original play. "I have done theatre for last three decades. We had great fun doing adaptations like 'Dinner With Friends', also did some TV shows with Doordarshan and now this new play 'Messiah Tonight' in Hindi, which is about a man on a TV show, who listens to peoples' problems as an agony aunt," he said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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