‘Udta Punjab’ is lucky; my film got 91 cuts’, says Nagesh Kukunoor

Filmmaker Nagesh Kukunoor is a happy man, despite his film ‘Dhanak’ pitted against a powerhouse like ‘Udta Punjab’ at the box office.

The latter film has grabbed headlines for all the wrong reasons; the latest being a piracy hack that saw ‘Udta Punjab’ leak online two days before its global release.

However, quiz the Indian film director and Kukunoor isn’t worried about competition from the star-studded film.

Speaking with ‘Emirates 24|7’, the director says: “I am happy for ‘Udta Punjab’. Happy that they fought this battle in court over its censorship row and emerged successfully with a win and just a single cut, compared to the 89 cuts that were proposed.

“But we as filmmakers would be foolish if we think this victory would change anything in the way films are certified and censored in India.”

Kukunoor, who shot to fame in 1998 as an actor-director with his coming-of-age film, ‘Hyderabad Blues’, revealed the battle didn’t stop and decade ago and wasn’t going to stop now.

“‘Udta Punjab’ is lucky. They were hit with 89 cuts; back in 1998, ‘Hyderabad Blues’ was hit with 91 cuts,” he revealed. “Imagine, this happened four years after Shekhar Kapur’s battle with ‘Bandit Queen’.

“He took his film all the way to the Supreme Court to get a release in India. When we cited this case to the censor board four years later, thinking some precedent had now been set, they spoke to us like street thugs and promptly told us off that each case was different and we would have to fight bitterly to get that movie released as it was meant to.”

Nearly two decades have passed, and Kukunoor’s latest is a far cry from the NRI romcom that catapulted him into the limelight.

‘Dhanak’ (translating to Rainbow), which showcased at last year’s Dubai International Film Festival’, has opened across the UAE, after sweeping awards across 17 film festivals around the globe – including several in the Best Film category.

The road film narrates the bond between a sister and her brother. Pari has promised her visually challenged brother Chotu that she would help get his eyesight back before he turns nine.

When she spots her favorite star Shah Rukh Khan on the poster for an eye-donation drive, she is convinced her hero will help her on her mission and the two children embark on a journey of adventures.

Speaking about ‘Dhanak’, Kukunoor says: “The movie is a simple, yet poignant story of Pari and Chotu and their journey to achieve their dreams. It is a film that not only appeals to children, but for anyone who wants to sit back and enjoy and fun ride that is simply entertaining.”

Salman vs Shah Rukh

The film’s plot also markets on the headline-grabbing rivalry of two of Bollywood biggest actors and often warring superstars, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan.

Quiz him about this premise and Kukunoor says: “I have always grown up seeing the best sibling bond is not the kind of nonsense you see in Bollywood, but one where you have a brothers and sisters often bickering over the smallest of things.

“When I set the premise for Chotu and Pari, I thought back on what would these two fight about and at that age, your film idol often turns up in posters on your bedroom wall. So I thought, why not; one can love Salman, while the other worships Shah Rukh.”

Have the two superstars in question seen the film that banks on their star power?

“Unfortunately, no,” reveals Kukunoor. “We have spoken about it at times but it has yet to happen.”

Not known to many, the premise of the film has been taken from an ad film that Kukunoor had seen several years ago.

He says: “Not the Shah Rukh-Salman rivalry, but ad film for a courier company saw the person travel across all ends of Rajasthan to deliver his package. The film never saw the light of day, but I thought the premise of this ad would work well as a feature film and I got to work.”

The movie has also now made it into a book, which has been adapted by Anushka Ravishankar.

Quiz the filmmaker if viewers should take in the book or the film first and he says: “Definitely the film. The book lends a more imaginative conclusion to a sweet journey.”

‘Dhanak’ is now playing in UAE cinemas.

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