Shoojit Sircar: Tough to strike a balance

Shoojit Sircar and Vicky Kaushal. Pic/AFP

Whether their films showcase the achievements of celebrated sportsmen, or that of martyrs, makers of Hindi films have often taken cinematic liberties under the pretext of making them consumable for the masses. However, Sardar Udham maker Shoojit Sircar claims to have steered clear of the tendency to dramatise the part of the freedom fighter, enacted by Vicky Kaushal.

"It was difficult to maintain a balance. We wanted to capture [the era] via the right costumes, and sounds without getting [engrossed] in it. We didn't want to portray it as a chest-thumping character because with such a film, it is easy to take that route. It was a conscious effort [to not make him look larger than life]," he says of the Amazon Prime Video project.

Kaushal in the film

As eager as they were to replicate with accuracy the period that this film is set in, Sircar says they ensured that they stayed true to the story. "Sometimes, [we can get] sidelined by the scale of the film. We didn't want to mess with the crux of the movie, which trains attention to the character. A film should look good, but should not overpower the story."

So eager was he to narrate the tale of the fighter who avenged the death of those he lost in the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre that he wished to ensure he had acquired enough filmmaking skills to do justice to it.

"I kept asking myself if [I was] in the right frame of mind to make it, and whether or not I was literate enough. Was I the right person to comment on this [subject]? After working on eight films, I felt this was the right time to do it."

Kaushal's act in Masaan (2015) was enough to woo Sircar. He opines that he had the required personality to pull off a film of this calibre. "Unless you have the required emotion to drive this film, it is not possible to make it."

Also read: Vicky Kaushal shares new look from upcoming film 'Sardar Udham'