Q&A WITH SUDHIR MISHRA
Even as Mumbai ground to a halt with the lockdown, Sudhir Mishra stayed busy completing two projects. Though he insists he isn’t fashionable, he says he is always willing to adapt. Excerpts from an interview.
Q.During the lockdown, you’ve been putting finishing touches to the Netflix film Serious Men and the second season of Hostages for Hotstar. How hard has it been? For people like us who have grown up in another time, it’s hard, but, thankfully, I’m blessed with tech-savvy assistants who take into account my old-fashioned quirks. Luckily, I had finished shooting and editing both these projects before the lockdown. We will, for instance, deliver
Hostages very soon.
Q.Everyone speaks of ‘a new normal’ these days, but do you think the COVID-19 crisis will also engineer a new realism for cinema?
During this time, we have all needed to drop pretence. We’re all discovering who we really are. Those of us who write about the time in which we live are certainly finding it difficult. Those who write fluff might be finding it easier. I am also no longer sure if fluff is not good. It feels necessary in these times.
Q.You were close to Irrfan Khan and you have now directed Nawazuddin Siddiqui in Serious Men. Would it be fair to call him Irrfan’s successor?
I didn’t know I’d miss Irrfan so much. He was always so inquisitive, so curious. He enriched himself and the work. Similarly, Nawaz doesn’t have a typical reaction to anything. He is very skilled but the skill doesn’t show. But you know, when someone goes, he goes. You can’t replace him with anybody else.
Q.It’s been 15 years since Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi released. Do you think the film still has something to say today? So many young people still come up to me and say they love the film. There are films you’re meant to make. Finding that film is an accident.
Hazaaron... is about the vestiges of beauty that are left when youth fades. It is about compromises we make when reality confronts us. I think it’s a film that’ll last.
—with Shreevatsa Nevatia