If you don't judge a book by its cover, why judge a film by its title? With his latest film Haraamkhor too running into trouble with the censors, Bollywood's most outspoken filmmaker, Anurag Kashyap, wonders whether it is our false morality and hypocrisy that really impedes freedom of expression.
The title is intriguing - as the Urdu word is more used in anger or derision than in polite conversation.
Asked about it, Kashyap, who is one of the producers of the film, told IANS in an email interview from Mumbai:
“Let's translate 'haraamkhor' into English... (Then) everybody speaks it every day 10 times”, he added.
The movie, releasing on Friday, has been to film festivals in New York and Los Angeles, and across cities in India too, earning its share of praise for its story, its treatment by debutant director Shlok Sharma, and performances by Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Shweta Tripathi, who play a teacher and a student in a romantic relationship.
But the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) last month gave it a green signal with a U/A certificate.
It's been a tough journey for the movie, which took off with crowdfunding via Facebook and was made with under Rs 1 crore.
"It is difficult to find exhibition (for a film with such a theme), and to try to explain why you are making this film to people who just see it on the surface. I think a lot of people also had a problem with the 'Haraamkhor' title without seeing the film,” Kashyap said.
Shot in a village in Gujarat, Haraamkhor seems to exude the flavours of the Indian hinterland. Interestingly, the rural milieu is finding increased space in the Hindi film industry.
Does he think Bollywood's narration of love stories has undergone a mature transformation?
"See, the audience has grown up. Look at the success of Dangal. There is no love story in there, there are none of the usual traps in it and it is one of the biggest hits of all time.
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