Acclaimed Mumbai-based film-maker Ketan Mehta, who is awaiting the release of his movie “Rang Rasiyaa” based on the life
of legendary Indian artist Raja Ravi Verma, feels that history tells us more about today than about the past.
“We are all
historical beings and something within us drives us to connect to history. History tells us more about today than about the past. Almost all my movies barring Maya Memsaab are in some way historical,” Mehta, who has made contemporary classics like “Mirch Masala” , “Mangal Pandey: The Rising”, “Maya Memsaab” and “Bhavni Bhavai”, said from Mumbai explaining his flair for historical movies.
“I am sure 'Rang Rasiyaa' will be released this year,” he said. The movie, which was supposed to be released this year, is stuck in a war between the film producers and multiplex owners.
Gujarat-born Mehta, who has received several awards for his movies, has been declared the UTV (United Television) director of the month (June 2009).
Mehta is currently working on a couple of scripts which includes a science fiction with a contemporary twist and a historical thriller. The historical thriller, says Mehta, is a global project with a crossover cast.
“I love making historical movies because they need sustained and detailed
research. It took me 12 years to draft 'Mangal Pandey's' script and three years to write it. A lot of research also went into 'Sardar'. I had to travel a lot to get the audio visual right and the period set accurate and authentic,” Mehta said.
While Sardar is a biographical movie about freedom fighter Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Mangal Pandey is about the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 and the Hindu sepoy from Uttar Pradesh, who sowed the seeds of India's fight for Independence. Both the movies were widely acclaimed.
Mehta plans to follow up the success of “Mangal Pandey: The Rising” with a sequel. “But it requires a long gestation period”.
“Film-making is not a way of earning livelihood for me and neither a way of life. Each film is a new adventure and research,” Mehta said.
Even “Rang Rasiya”, says Mehta is a historical movie “though it talks more about the freedom of creative expression”.
The movie is a leaf out of Raja Ravi Varma's “artistic inspiration and his obsession with his muse Sugandha in whom he saw the divine.”
Mehta, as he claims, has tried to make a statement through “Rang Rasiyaa”.
“I think the socio-political milieu of our country does not favour artistic freedom. Look what's happening to M.F. Husain - the kind of controversy he has courted. It shows an intolerance to freedom. The Censor Board in India is an outdated institution which has no meaning in a modern democracy. It speaks of regressive, constrained and conflicting minds. In Europe and America, no one has to right to cut or censor movies. They only grade the movies and attach a statutory warning for viewers below 18,” he said.
“Rang Rasiya” had attracted controversy for a nude sequence featuring lead actress Nandana Sen.
“But DVDs and the Internet are gradually changing mindsets by allowing viewers to watch uncensored versions of movies,” he said.
Mehta, who is still in the process of discovering the genre he wants to specialise in, loves musicals.
"But the musicals made in Bollywood (Mumbai) are rubbish. No one will be able to make movies like 'All That Jazz', 'My Fair Lady' and 'Singing in The Rain'. We do not believe in the purity of genres. We mix them up and serve them as 'pav bhajis',” Mehta laughed, signing off.