Vipul Amrutlal Shah: Nothing we say will be without evidence

A still from Human

Vipul Amrutlal Shah bids adieu to 2022 with a smile. The filmmaker's "most amazing year", marked two decades since the release of his directorial debut, Aankhen, and also had him reinvent his style of cinema. He admits that while he enjoyed shifting his attention to production, he would have also taken pleasure in directing more films. Discussion around the failure of his directorial ventures, like his last one, Namaste England, doesn't perturb him. "I came back with the web series Human, after all," he says of the show that earned acclaim, and featured his actor-wife, Shefali Shah. "Now, I plan to direct at least one film or web project every year."

Stills from The Kerala Story

Incidentally, Human was initially planned as a theatrical release, before the pandemic. "But, the script turned out to be long, because in each draft, while we wanted to incorporate the medical scam, we didn't want to leave out the personal stories of the characters. So, I thought it would be a better idea to make it into a web series." A second season, he says, is likely to be underway. "We are trying to write it. If we can crack it, it will become a reality."

Vipul Amrutlal Shah

Meanwhile, the teaser of his upcoming production venture, The Kerala Story, which tells the tale of women who were trafficked and manipulated by a terrorist outfit, attracted controversy. Needless to say, the film's subject invited criticism, with several individuals questioning its accuracy. "We will address [the accusations] in due time. Nothing we say will be without evidence. When we present our facts and figures, people will get the answers. Whether they choose to accept them or not is their choice. Director Sudipto Sen has researched extensively for four years before starting the film," he says of the Adah Sharma starrer.

Given that political organisations find sufficient fodder in cinematic offerings to stir controversy even when there may be none, will Shah's film - which is directly linked to religion - categorise him as a pro-establishment filmmaker. "We are making a film on a big tragedy. If I feel that I want to tell this story as a filmmaker, then, discussion on whether I am pro-establishment or not will only reflect an individual's point of view. As a filmmaker, I only think of the story that touches my heart, and moves me enough to want to narrate it."

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