Interview | 바카라�Empathy Is Missing In Society, Hence Missing In Our Films바카라�: Team Stolen

KT: What shocked me most immediately about the incident is how one of those men could have been me. I frequently go to remote locations for treks and hikes with friends. These guys went fishing and seemed to have similar likes and background as me. I felt scared as I used to think I was safe in my own country. How could someone wrongfully accuse one of child-kidnapping? That became the reason for me to deep-dive into the incident, and that바카라�s how I came about related subjects like vigilante justice, child kidnappings, the rich vs poor and the lack of trust in our system.

GD: KT showed me a clip of the incident while we were working on something else. During that time, I was trying to put together a TV series on missing children in India and was also trying to become a parent. I was thinking about the kind of parent I바카라�d become. We바카라�d already begun developing the idea, when I saw this video on Brut of a mother sleeping at a bus station바카라�somewhere in the heartland바카라�and this person adjacent to her wakes up and picks up the child and leaves. So, there were many ideas that stuck together, since we were trying to become parents around that time바카라�that바카라�s when we got the idea of a surrogacy subplot.

GD: We wanted the film to reach out to international film festivals too. As you know these days, lakhs of films are submitted to festivals, and most times critics don바카라�t go past the first 10 minutes. Hence, we realised that the first 10 minutes are very crucial in getting the audience바카라�s attention. So, the baby being picked up in the first scene was something always envisioned from the first draft of the script. Also, the last 10 minutes was something the audience would take away from the film, so it was intensely debated.

 AB: The first thing Varun Grover said to me after coming out of a screening was, 바카라�Achha hua koi maraa nahi, varna bardaasht nahi ho paati바카라� (I바카라�m glad no one died, otherwise it would바카라�ve been intolerable).

 SV: Since I write, these first 10 minutes were a huge learning experience. Usually, we tend to establish the characters, and then we bring in the conflict. We were going in the opposite direction here바카라�where we establish the conflict with the baby being picked up, and then we find out about these characters. It바카라�s an old trap when you바카라�re making a film about a social issue, where you start slow and establish the victim first. But certain novels tend to do this where you read the first line, and you바카라�re in. Like (Albert) Camus바카라�s The Outsider (1942)바카라�바카라�My mother died today or yesterday, I don바카라�t remember.바카라�

AB: One of the reasons why I wanted to stick to Raman바카라�s character was because I was afraid the audience would only side with Raman as the righteous guy, who wants to help. And they would view Gautam as a douche.

It happened to me in real life, where I바카라�ve been a part of a road mishap in Karnataka around 3-4 years back, and the situation deteriorated quickly. Thank God, some people recognised me as an actor and things calmed down. But till before that, it was really unsettling to have 50-60 people in your face, almost ready for battle. They were trying to break into my car. It was scary. And what was unfortunate was I was trying to help the person who had caused the accident바카라�my first instinct was to go check on them, because they had a baby in the car. Never mind the damage it had caused to my car. And that바카라�s when things went awry. Maybe, I shouldn바카라�t have gone; maybe, I should have screamed. I was using that experience into the film.

KT: Shubham was bang-on for the part of Raman. He can play any role, but I think he바카라�s especially great here. We knew we wanted someone who had a long-standing relationship with Abhishek, and so many of his actor friends바카라� names were floating in the ether.

AB: It was just one phone call, I think. Shubham and I were talking and KT overheard the conversation, and he was like, 바카라�This is exactly what I want for the film.바카라� It바카라�s the manner in which we speak to each other바카라�constantly berating each other. I knew there was a Raman in him. It바카라�s not an easy role, mind you. He바카라�s helping a stranger for no particular reason.

SV: One always wants to play a three-dimensional character. So, in my eyes, he wasn바카라�t just a good samaritan. I, KT, Gaurav and Abhishek discussed, and we decided that Raman바카라�knowing that he comes from privilege바카라�also has this stubbornness, especially in the way he speaks to cops. Raman knows if he speaks in English, and asks about the FIR, there바카라�s a power-play. I was certain the audience should feel Gautam바카라�s irritation for Raman, he shouldn바카라�t just be a 바카라�nice guy바카라�. I wanted them to be annoyed with Raman바카라�a stubborn younger brother, who isn바카라�t listening to his elder brother.

KT: The reason was pretty simple actually: I wanted to film during the magic hour, which you get for 15-20 minutes around daybreak, early morning. I wanted to maintain the immediacy of the film, be as close to the real time as possible. We had to do that in a single shot바카라�and once we were set up, all other choices were informed by this one thing that we wanted to shoot from within the car.

GD: I think it바카라�s missing from our society, and therefore missing in our films. As a society, I think we바카라�ve lost empathy바카라�or we바카라�re at least in the process of losing it.

 AB: It바카라�s a dying emotion, I guess.

 SV: I think 바카라�empathy바카라� and 바카라�honesty바카라� are no longer valuable emotions today. There바카라�s no point being a 바카라�nice바카라� person anymore; people praise someone who is 바카라�smarter바카라�. I think we바카라�ve embraced the Western philosophy where we incentivise smartness. Meanwhile, Eastern philosophy talks a bit more about empathy.

KT: Definitely. 

SV: Obviously!

AB: I think social media is a place where you can blurt out your most intrusive thoughts, without seeing an immediate reaction. Most of these things, people wouldn바카라�t have the courage to say in person.

KT: I think jealousy has increased. We didn바카라�t know what others were up to, but now constantly having other바카라�s achievements stare at us in our faces has resulted in more jealousy. It pisses off people바카라�constantly seeing the comfort of other people바카라�s lives, and not having it in your own life.

KT: It바카라�s probably desensitised us, we바카라�ve become okay watching misery and not reacting.

SV: I think the main emotion social media perpetuates is that of violence. I remember one of the earliest influencers on YouTube in India (actor Varun Pruthi) used to prank poor people, where he would tell them that I바카라�ll give you Rs 10,000, and the poor person would cry and hug him. This became 바카라�content바카라�. It reached a point where people began to see these things only as circus and radically began not believing sob stories online. They emotionally shut down, because no one really wants to be manipulated like that. 

AB: It바카라�s a news channel psychology, right? In the late 90s, when India got its first 24*7 news channels, it was the beginning of the end of news. You start catering to the consumer, and then you바카라�re creating news. We바카라�re all individual channels right now바카라�with 10, 500 or five million followers. Everyone is trying to cater to that viewership. Everyone wants to feel validated at the end of the day바카라�especially in a country like India, where the validation isn바카라�t coming through work.

SV: The trust has been obliterated바카라�

GD: We wanted to release the film in India, but we were also making it with the rest of the world in mind. It just so happened that the market crashed in 2023, and I remember between Toronto (International Film Festival) and Venice (International Film Festival) only one film was acquired, and that too it was by Richard Linklater film (Hit Man, 2023, by Netflix). We had offers for foreign territories like the UK or Japan, unlike on Angry Indian Goddesses (2015), which we sold in nine days and got a worldwide distribution deal. The problem with releasing it in a foreign territory is that it will reach India through piracy channels.

The challenge with releasing in India was that theatres wanted an event film. To compete with those, I바카라�d need a marketing budget of Rs six-seven crores at least. That would be detrimental to the project because we would never be able to recover that amount. So, we had to sit on it and as soon as the market got slightly better, they themselves called me. The moment we got global distribution바카라�which was the initial aim바카라�we wanted to go even bigger. We got four EPs because we wanted to reach out to their audiences too.

AB: Anytime I do a film which has something to do with our socio-political structures, I think the best takeaway would be conversation. Some audiences will watch it for the thrill, others will take something else away from the film. Someone from MP was telling me how they enjoyed the guy being thrashed by the mob and I was surprised to hear someone enjoy it. It바카라�s hard to predict what someone takes away from a film.

SV: I was going through the comments under the film, and someone over there said, 바카라�My moral from the film is, don바카라�t get involved.바카라� And it triggered a conversation, where someone responded to him, 바카라�Have you lost your mind? Did you not understand the point of the film?바카라� and it sprawled into a long thread. As Abhishek said, I think this is the best we can do. We need to change the culture here slightly바카라�artists can raise questions, they can바카라�t provide answers. We should stop cornering filmmakers and actors and asking them about a crisis in the country.