It is a film that has been screened at over 20 festivals across the world till now and also been making headlines for the numerous awards it has managed to bag, before the official release slated for November 30.
While Kanu Behl’s ‘Titli’ has already earned its ‘festival’ tag, and created an impression that usually non-commercial, art film make, the director is quick to draw the parallels between his directorial debut and real life, all to ensure his film can't be referred to as parallel cinema. “'Titli' is a real film. It is about normal people. The characters in the film talk like us, behave like us and find themselves in a circumstance and try to combat it just like anyone of us. Honestly speaking, I don’t understand the concept of parallel cinema. For me film are of two types: jo smajh mei aati hain aur jo nahi samajh mei aati. ‘Titli’ is a simple film that doesn’t pretend to be a project that will tell you what you don’t know."
Critically acclaimed at the Cannes Film Festival, the film made a huge impact on Indian viewers with its first trailer. Referred to as crisp, gritty and gripping, the trailer represented ‘Titli’ as a heady mix of violence and drama. When we asked Kanu for the first reaction that he received from the audience, he said, “The first reaction was good. ‘Yaar bada interesting lag raha hai trailer’ ‘Aisa trailer nahi dekha kabhie’, ‘Kya hoga film mei?’ was the feedback that I received. So going by the first reaction, ‘Titli’ was successful at leaving an impact."
For the uninitiated, ‘Titli’ revolves around the life of the youngest son Titli (played by Shashank Arora) of a family that ekes out its livelihood by carjacking, and delves deeper into patriarchy and the violence that runs within the family.
Does the film use any instance that has been derived from his personal life? “Yes, the film is a reflection of my experiences. It does deal with the what I went through while I was growing up. To be honest, I had a strained relationship with my father, which I think is common with any young boy. My father has always been very tough and also rigid when it came to the idea of who he wanted me to be. Since I was a rebel, our discussions would very often lead to heated arguments, disagreements and fights. He had his way of doing things which made little sense to me. All of this – including the notion of patriarchy- in some way or the other, has been highlighted well in the film."
Kanu assisted director Dibakar Banerjee on 'Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!' and co-wrote 'LSD: Love, Sex Aur Dhokha' before making his feature debut 'Titli' which was produced by Yash Raj Films and Dibakar himself.
“It might sound clichéd but working with Dibakar is always an amazing experience. Each time I have worked with Dibakar, I have realized there is just so much to learn from him. His rigor, discipline, the way he pushes his story to the limit and inspire others – there is a lot that we need to imbibe from Dibakar."
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