Filmmaker Nitin Kakkar’s Filmistaan turned out to be a pleasant surprise of the year in 2014. The film was about a Hindi film obsessed guy who gets caught with terrorists and it starred Sharib Hashmi, Inaamulhaq, Kumud Mishra, Gopal Dutt and others. On the film’s 11th anniversary, which happened on June 6, Inaamulhaq got talking about it in an interview with us.
11 years of Filmistaan: Inaamulhaq recalls, “We had a cot in the name of vanity van which was rented at Rs. 50 per day”
Your most vital film to date Filmistaan has completed 11 years
Hello sir, first of all thank you very much, you always keep writing so much about my films, I am really grateful so like (it). I had talked about Nakkash, that was a special film. Filmistaan is basically a more special film than that because that was the first film that brought me into the limelight and probably everything that I have, it was given to me by this film.
How did you get Filmistaan?
I was writing for TV before this and had done only one film, Nandita Das’ Firaaq. After that, the same type of offers started coming, so I stopped and I was looking for a script, which can do miracles and so my search ended with Filmistaan. So, when this script came in front of me, there was no question of not doing it. I neither thought of my remuneration nor anything else. I decided I was doing this film. I am still grateful to director Nitin Kakkar for choosing me for this role.
How was the experience of shooting in the deserts?
It was an amazing experience during the shoot. The four of us, me, Sharib Hashmi, Kumud Mishra Bhai, Gopal Datt and the entire team, all of us met for the first time through this film and even today that friendship of ours is intact. So, just like our friendship developed on-screen, it developed off-screen as well, so it is very interesting. It was a coincidence that later we became such good friends that even today we do Filmistani.
What is that?
People know us through that film, and the experience was great. As it often happens with low budget films, there were challenges too. We had to shoot in a limited budget. There was a limited timeline. We got only 20 days. The options to shoot it were 35 days if we shoot on digital and 20 days if we shoot on film. Nitin Kakkar wanted to pay a tribute to cinema, so he preferred to shoot on film.
Were the actors taken into confidence?
Nitin asked all the team members if we are ready to take this challenge, if we can finish it in 20 days. We were so passionate that we said we will definitely do it. So, before going to shoot the film, we did all the most probable improvisations that could be done and we went on the set with proper preparation.
Did everything go as per plan?
There were different problems on the set, the temperature in Rajasthan was 49°- 50°. It was a desert and it got so cold at night. Then there were no facilities. We had a cot in the name of vanity van which was rented at Rs. 50 per day and in that too we used to try to get a share of it and we had an elderly senior who used to occupy it, so we used to wait for the ‘vanity van’ to get empty and we could relax, so it was a very hectic schedule.
I believe you shot an obscure village in Rajasthan
We used to travel for two hours daily from Bikaner to a village called Pugal, which is not even on Google (for the record, it is). It took two hours to come back, so we hardly got three hours to sleep because we had to finish it in 20 days. So, we took on all those challenges without any pain because we knew that something special is happening, something very rare very interesting. We had the feeling that this film will do something amazing.
So, you were prepared for the recognition?
We did not have much hope that it will win many awards or something will happen. So, anyway the film was completed. And then after that the struggle that happened afterwards, it took two years for it to release. Everyone had the same question: The film is good but who will watch these people? There was no one there for the audience to come for. We were nobody at that time and at that. There was no OTT then, nor this kind of cinema had started coming which was without stars. So, this question always echoed in the air for two years that the film is good but who will come to watch them.
How did the film finally release?
We kept waiting. But during this wait, good news used to come, like in Rotterdam we got the Critics Choice Award for Best Film, then we got it in Kerala. Across the world, this film got 27 awards internationally, in which I got at least six awards as a supporting actor, best actor in a supporting role. We used to be disappointed that it was not getting released, but by then we got good news that it got a standing ovation in a certain place in some corner of the world, and the belief was also growing ke der ayega par durust ayega. So, finally it came well and the feedback from people was that we entered this film with zero expectations and came out with 100% satisfaction. This film opened the way for many other small films, which were not getting released in those days and it made its mark at the box office.
Filmistan actually profited?
It earned ten times more than the cost. Then it went on various OTT platforms. Where is it now, I don’t know. People want to watch it. They message us but we don’t even have an answer as to where to tell them. It has been eleven years now, but this film still energizes people and I am thankful to all the audiences who have loved it. I hope that whenever Indian cinema will be remembered, it will be remembered as one of those cult films, if not today then tomorrow it will achieve the position it deserves. I wish all the best to all the people associated with this film. More such films should be made, more such cinema should come. People like you who are encouraging this kind of cinema, thank you very much.
More Pages: Filmistaan Box Office Collection , Filmistaan Movie Review
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