Remember the epoch-defining satire Jaane bhi Do Yaaro? Released in 1983, Kundan Shah took satirical swipes at the corruption in our society. The cult film featured two bumbling photographers, one bossy female journalist, a corrupt builder and his associates, and a corpse throughout the plot.
Kundan Shah was back with another film that takes even larger potshots at politics. And yes, there was a corpse in P Se PM Tak which was released on May 29, 2015. In an interview with Subhash K Jha on the eve of the film’s release, Kundan Shah, “Yes, from the interval point onwards there is a dead man in the plot. But P Se PM Tak is not a sequel to Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro. In fact, I’ve written a formal sequel to Jaane Bi Do Yaaro. And that doesn’t have a corpse as a character.”
Having said that, Kundal Shah admits there are certain recurrent elements in all his films. “So in a way, P Se PM Tak is an extension to my treatise on corruption in Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro. There are bound to be certain similarities in everything I do, just as in Guru Dutt’s films where a tormented tortured protagonist whether the poet in Pyasa, the filmmaker in Kagaz Ke Phool, the wife in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam or the lover in Chaudhvin Ka Chand, was a constant presence.”
P Se PM Tak was Kundan Shah’s first release the ill-received Ek Se Badhkar Ek in 2004. “The market reality has changed since Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro. We can only hope for the best,” Kundan has his fingers crossed.
Though he claimed the heroine’s part in his new film P Se PM Tak is as powerful as Nargis’ in Mother India, Kundan Shah who made the cult comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro says he had a harrowing time finding the right actress to play the central character.
Recalling his experience, Kundan said, “The script was sent to many prominent actresses including Madhuri Dixit. They all had reservations about playing the part. I even thought of theatre actresses. I was looking for that spark which I had seen in Bhakti Barve when I signed her for Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro after seeing her on stage.”
At one time the project was all set to go on the floors with Mallika Sherwat in the lead. Even that didn’t materialize. Finally, Kundan had to settle for a newcomer Meenaxi Dixit to play the powerful part.
Kundan was baffled as to why he couldn’t convince any of the top heroines to play a prostitute who ends up becoming the chief minister of a state and then a candidate for prime minister. “I’d say the role has the emotional resonance of the female protagonist’s part in Mother India. The beauty of the character is that she doesn’t change as a person even as she goes from being a prostitute to a powerful politician. Though she comes from a brothel her joie de vivre is truly exemplary. My protagonist is a mimic. She can imitate anyone’s voice.”
That a filmmaker of Kundan Shah’s repute was reduced to knocking from door to door is a measure of the callousness of an industry where a filmmaker is judged from Friday to Friday.
