Mumbai-based filmmaker Nikhil Mahajan’s environmental thriller Raavsaaheb is his third project to find a home at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), playing in its international competition.
Mahajan’s career has shown range and diversity, both in terms of the stories he tells and the genres and styles he works in. After studying at Sydney Film School, his debut feature, Pune-52 (2013), was a neo noir about a detective struggling with issues of masculinity; second feature Baji (2015) was a vigilante superhero film; and Godavari an emotional family drama. Internationally his works have screened at festivals from Vancouver to Zagreb.
Inspired by real incidents of tigers straying into human habitat from forests and reserves in the Chandrapur region of Maharashtra, the Marathi-language film looks at conflicts between conservationists and a greedy local mafia who wants to exploit nature for its own selfish reasons. Raavsaaheb also looks at the bigger picture of mining, pollution and other related environmental issues; as well as following local people seeking justice for a tribal girl.
The cast includes leading Marathi actors Mukta Barve, Mrunmayee Deshpande, Sonalee Kulkarni, Rashmi Agdekar, Mohit Takalkar and Jitendra Joshi.
Sales are handled by Planet Marathi, which produces alongside Blue Drop.
Raavsaaheb is about human-animal conflict. How did you embark on this unusual idea?
I read some news articles about the man-animal conflict in the Tadoba region in Chandrapur, Maharashtra [where hundreds of people have been killed by tigers and leopards straying into the human habitat]. This was happening six hours away from my home, in my own state, and I had no idea about it. I started digging deeper…The film came out of necessity for creating awareness about this issue.
I visited Chandrapur up to 20 times. I met the Forest Department officials, I met the police, I met the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and all the multiple players. I met the tribal people. I met everybody who was affected. I started realizing that there were a lot of perspectives to this story, and everybody was right in their own way. I realised that it can’t be a film with a single protagonist, so I created the narrative of going back and forth with one incident [of a tiger coming into human terrain] via multiple protagonists and points of view.
How challenging was it to shoot the film?
The film was shot entirely on location in Chandrapur, Maharashtra over 27 days. It was extremely difficult to shoot in the forest terrain. It was risky with a lot of tigers and leopards roaming freely. So, we were very concerned about crew safety.
The highlight of the shoot was a six-minute long take at the end of the first act. It was rehearsed for two days and filmed at night in the heart of the actual forest with 200 junior artists and the entire ensemble cast. In India we are not allowed to shoot with wildlife. So, the tiger in the film is created with CGI.
It’s your fourth feature film and each one has been radically different from the other. Does that motivate you as a filmmaker to not be pigeonholed with just one style of filmmaking?
I think it has been very counterproductive for me, because generally, if you do one genre well, then you keep getting more work of that kind. Since they have not been able to identify me with one, work doesn’t get commissioned to me. I won’t be the first person that a Netflix or an Amazon will come to. They can’t pin me down to horror, or thrillers, or drama, or whatever else. But I think for me the motivation is more to do with what I am feeling strongly about than what genre I’d like to dabble in. I would rather pick an important story first and then choose a genre that will serve it well. I’d say the motivation is just to tell stories that excite me.
Your previous films have travelled to multiple international festivals round the world. What made you decide to have the world premiere of Raavsaaheb at IFFI?
It speaks about a major issue in India. IFFI seemed like the perfect fit. It’s a festival that has been taking my films so there’s a relationship there.
Also, it’s a commercial film. I always knew that it’s not going to make it to a lot of conventional international festivals because for some reason they mostly pick up very arthouse Indian films. But, at the same time, they pick really commercial Korean films.
Most of [the A festivals] have a certain aesthetic. They all show only a certain side of India. Those festivals only usually show mainstream films like what Anurag Kashyap makes. So, it feels nice when films like Lost Ladies or Sthal-A Match make it to Toronto. I think that should happen more often.
After IFFI, we’ll send the film to the Pune International Film Festival because they have a Marathi competition, and to New York Indian Film Festival, because all of my films have screened there.
What makes IFFI special? Is it homecoming of sorts?
It’s home ground. The audiences have been amazing. They are film lovers. The festival is very open in terms of the genres. They don’t take only arthouse films. It’s slightly friendlier to semi-commercial films, like mine, that are not outright mainstream but not arthouse either. I’m still trying to keep my cinematic expression alive while trying to strike the balance between mainstream and arthouse.
There are a lot of filmmakers, like me, who get to show the film to an audience that will get a more nuanced understanding of the film, get some of the deeper themes in the film, and that’s very satisfying as a filmmaker.
You pitched Raavsaaheb previously at Film Bazaar?
It was in Film Bazaar’s Co-Production Market in 2021.
I’ve had another script in the Screenwriters’ Lab at Film Bazaar back in 2013 called Dainik. I still hope to make that film. It is based on a true story from 1970s Aurangabad, about a politician and journalist coming together to publish the city’s first daily newspaper.
Film Bazaar helps increase your network. It helps to broaden your horizons. I’d recommend it to anybody who’s trying to break in, anybody who’s trying to make films that are different.
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