As a filmmaker, you have to react to the times,” says Sudhir Mishra, at one point in our conversation. The line probably best encapsulates his movies — be it Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2005) that is set against the Emergency, or Serious Men (2020) that studies class difference. Expectedly, his next, Afwaah too is built on the pillars of realism and relevance.
Through the Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Bhumi Pednekar-starrer, the director explores the menace of misinformation prevalent in India today. “If you repeat a lie often enough, today, it becomes the truth. You cannot convince a dumb lot of people that this is a lie. That can have dangerous consequences. I thought that was a great basis for a thriller, which also comments on our times,” says Mishra. He lived with the central idea of Afwaah for quite some time before putting pen to paper. After he finished scripting, the director could only imagine his Serious Men collaborator Siddiqui in the lead role.
Bhumi Pednekar and Nawazuddin Siddiqui
It wasn’t the actor’s talent alone that determined the choice. With Siddiqui having played several dark roles, Mishra wanted to showcase him in a new light. “He has always been cast in dark and criminal roles. In Serious Men, he was flawed, but he was also in love with his son. In Afwaah, I wanted to cast him as a regular human being — a part where you could cast any other actor,” he reasons, adding that Pednekar came to his mind when he was writing the movie. “You write and write, and then some person comes into your head. Sometimes, you get lucky when the person says yes. Casting Bhumi was easy.”
Also Read: Anubhav Sinha, Sudhir Mishra announce the release of Bhumi Pednekar and Nawazuddin Siddiqui`s ‘Afwaah`
The thriller joins Mishra’s list of unconventional stories. Tell him that the OTT boom has blurred the lines between mainstream and off-beat movies, and the director observes, “Now, [the different film industries] are joined like never before. When a Malayalam film releases on an OTT platform, it reaches [the Hindi filmmakers] at the same time as it does other [regional industries]. Had OTT come before, I think I would have made more films.”
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