CREATIVE LIBERTY: HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH FOR A BIOPIC?

The recently released webonly film Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl courted controversy after the Indian Air Force (IAF) objected to the portrayal of its work culture in it. They said that in a bid to glorify the screen character of ex-flight Lt Gunjan Saxena, the film “presented some situations that are misleading and portray an inappropriate work culture, especially against women in the IAF”. Another recent project, Shakuntala Devi, too drew criticism about how the over-the-top drama overshadowed the brilliance of the legendary mathematician.

Thus arises the question that when it comes to real-life stories and biopics, how much creative liberty should a director or writer take?

Tigmanshu Dhulia, who helmed the biopic Paan Singh Tomar (2012), says it’s subjective, adding it should be fine as long as one is not deviating or changing history. “If a film is on a person or an event which not many know of, then I could take a lot of liberties because nobody knows about that person. But fictional elements should be minimal. You may fictionalise a private moment, but beyond that one should not, as then it becomes unethical,” he says.

Lamenting how Bollywood films, which claim to be on real life, lack research, director Ananth Mahadevan says many get carried away. “I took the pain to do so much research when I made films such as Gour Hari Dastaan (2015) and Mee Sindhutai Sapkal (2010). Bollywood directors somehow feel it is okay and well within their rights to romanticise the subjects they pick up, whether it is a sportsperson or an Air Force pilot or mathematician,” he says, adding, “They feel it’s alright to go over-the-top and over-dramatise situations. They don’t care if something is authentic, they think creative liberties can be stretched.”

No stranger to dealing with real-life stories, the man behind films such as Shahid (2013), Aligarh (2015) and Omerta (2018), Hansal Mehta says, “When you make a true life story it is about the intent of the filmmaker. It should be to actually tell a story and to let the world know of the person in a better way.”

Filmmaker Ali Abbas Zafar says there are two types of films, one inspired by real stories which can be fully fictionalised, and others completely based on reality which go on to become biopics. “I think as a filmmaker what is important is to have that clarity of thought. If you dabble in something in hardcore reality, I think you need to be 100% authentic to the story. If you are making something loosely based [on real life] then, as a writer and director, you can take the liberty of making a film which has combination of fact and fiction,” he says.

Echoing the sentiment, director Vivek Agnihotri says while there is no written rule about how much is too much when it comes to creative liberty, there is some restraint one should show while recreating a real-life story. “One can take leeway as long as it does not tamper with the original story. A bit of tweaking is fine with dialogue and scenes, but it should be in tune with reality,” he shares.

TIGMANSHU DHULIA HANSAL MEHTA

Stills from Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl and (inset) Shakuntala Devi