Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra: Film is not about farmers’ protest

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Even as he was making Toofaan with Farhan Akhtar and Mrunal Thakur, another idea was sprouting in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's head. The filmmaker has long been keen to bring the plight of Indian farmers to the big screen. "I have been living with the idea for several years. But you can only do one thing at a time. When I get into a film, I tend to completely lose myself in that world and forget about [other concepts]," he says, admitting it's high time he put pen to paper and gave shape to the story.

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Over the past year, India and the world at large have been witness as the country's farmers have vociferously protested against three farm acts that were passed in
Parliament. Quiz Mehra whether his movie is inspired by the recent movement, and he says, "I have been working on the idea for the past five years. The film is not about farmers' protest. India has predominantly been an agricultural society, and yet we haven't seen movies that are based on rural India. For our cinema to become global, we will have to tell truly Indian stories, and not just present popular ideas to the world." However, he remains non-committal whether the drama will be his next as he signs off with, "There will be a time when I will tell that story."

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