Shazia Iqbal on directing Dhadak 2 as a Muslim woman: ‘Box-office collection is secondary to the opportunity to make the film'

Indian Express

6 hours ago

Your debut as a feature film director with Dhadak 2 is being widely talked about. What are your thoughts currently?
Given how the industry has changed in recent years and streamers have come into dominance, it is a big thing to get a film released in theatres. This is a big opportunity for me. In spite of Dhadak 2 releasing with four other big movies, the footfall has increased by word-of-mouth. Hopefully, it will keep growing.
Do you see it as a breaking-the-glass-ceiling moment that being a Muslim and a woman film director, who is not from the industry, you have made a romantic film in which casteism is the central theme?
I think so and not because of any selfish reason. There are so many aspiring filmmakers, who don't see enough people representing them in terms of religion, caste or background. When they see an outsider, a woman from a marginalised community, directing such a production, they might think that if she can do it, we have a chance as well. For that reason, I think it is a big deal that a mainstream production house has given me this opportunity to direct a relatively big film — maybe not big terms of budget but certainly, in scale. The box-office collection is secondary to the opportunity itself. It is common to talk about insiders-outsiders. All the actors of the film, including the leads Triptii Dimri and Siddhant Chaturvedi, are outsiders. This might encourage someone to dream.
How helpful was it that Karan Johar, as a producer, wanted Dhadak 2 to remain true to the vision of the original Tamil-language film Pariyerum Perumal (2018)?
When I first met Karan, he had already watched my short film Bebaak (2018). He told me that the reason he wanted me to direct this movie was because I handled my own film with such sensitivity. That kind of gaze and lens was needed for Dhadak 2 as well. Irrespective of what happened with Dhadak (the 2018 movie was criticised for glossing over the caste-based prejudices), Karan wanted us to be true to the soul of Pariyerum Perumal, which is directed by Mari Selvaraj, who comes from the Dalit community. As someone who belongs to a marginalised community, I knew that if my film is remade, I would not want anyone to deviate from its core theme. While reimagining the film, we wanted to make our own film, but we did not want to override the original voice of the Tamil movie.
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There is a lot of criticism about Siddhant Chaturvedi being 'brown-faced' in the movie even though he has delivered a compelling performance as a Dalit law student.
Siddhant is not trained, but he is an intuitive and intelligent actor. I follow the process of speaking to actors extensively, and I try to build a relationship based on trust and openness. When an actor plays a certain character, he brings himself to interpret it. I wanted to tap Siddhant's vulnerability rather than saying that 'you went through that heartbreak, use it in this scene.' Even if you had not tanned Siddhant, we would have faced criticism. Then, people would have said we did 'Dharma-fication' of the lead actor. It is a high-saturation film and even Triptii looks four shades darker. Because Siddhant has used tan, people are commenting on it. Of course, one can question why we did not cast someone who is brown-skinned. Casting in films is a far more complicated conversation. To put the burden of fixing the industry on a debut director is not fair. Tanning is wrong, but it is also done in Tamil or Malayalam movies. Because it's a Dharma production and Karan is at the forefront of it, this is drawing more flak. However, my team and I are okay with this criticism because this conversation is also necessary.
Does Dhadak 2 mark a shift in Dharma Productions' approach towards mainstream romantic movies?
Yes, and I am at the edge of that shift. For someone who is trolled so much and called 'the flag-bearer of nepotism', Karan has brought together us outsiders to make this film. He has made a bold move because mainstream Hindi movies have a certain grammar. In the late '90s, the issue of identity took a backseat and movies became candyfloss. But if social relevance is once again part of mainstream storytelling, more filmmakers should embrace that.
Triptii Dimri has a monologue when she questions the idea of 'izzat' and if women alone are responsible for it.
Though casteism is the central theme of the film, I thought we needed to have a conversation about gender. We take the agency of a woman away when we tell her who she is allowed to love. Triptii's character needed that agency even as she is ignorant about the prevalence of caste-based bias in cities. Both my co-writer Rahul Badwelkar and I have been disturbed by the term 'honour'. We knew somewhere we need to bring her character Vidhi's voice into the film as well as question this idea of 'honour' and why women are burdened with it.
In one of the scenes, a bucketful of muck is thrown at Nilesh. How tough was it to shoot the film?
That was the point in the film when Nilesh (Siddhant) starts getting more assertive. As the film's narrative progresses, he is finding his voice. We wanted a moment of assertion when he was fighting back. We have instances of 'manual scavengers' being shamed. When muck from the gutter is thrown at him to shame him, Nilesh makes it his moment by not washing it off. He faces his tormentor, completely covered with muck and puts it back on the latter. Of course, we were not going to put muck on actors. So, the make-up team made it with chocolate and palak. We had the time to throw it on him only once. So, we rehearsed it beforehand.
Tell us about your journey as a filmmaker
I am not a nepo kid, but my father, Zahid Iqbal, worked as an assistant to filmmaker Ramanand Sagar. The trivia that I tend to share about my father is that he was involved with the casting of Ram and Sita for the DD serial Ramayan (1987-88). When I was studying architecture, production designer Sharmishtha Roy visited our college. I was influenced by how she spoke about films. After graduation, I thought of giving films a shot and worked on the sets of ads and shows. I started writing in 2011 while working as a production designer. To show that I can direct, I made the short film Bebaak. Somen Mishra, Dhadak 2's co-producer, got in touch with me after that and even showed it to Karan. I would say that my journey of making my debut feature film is about 18 years.
Did working on projects like the series Sacred Games help you find the support system?
When I was working with Anurag Kashyap on Mukkabaaz (2017), I told him that I wanted to direct a short. After reading the Bebaak script, he offered to produce it. We had cast someone else for the role that Nawazuddin Siddiqui eventually played. That actor stepped down days before the shoot, and I asked Anurag if he could ask Nawazuddin if he would play the role (of a religious leader),and Nawaz said yes.
What was your experience with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC)?
Karan wanted to save every cut and spoke to the members about why certain things needed to stay in the movie. This was an emotionally difficult experience for me. My parents raised me with certain values which included not being okay with something wrong in the society and to question things. With the censor board, I felt they were trying to tell us what to do or not do. Maybe I have said things too directly in this film and we will use more metaphors and symbols in the next one.
What kind of films do you see yourself making in the coming years?
Many are surprised that we made a mainstream film that's hard-hitting. I hope I am not tagged as a political filmmaker and not get work. I am more comfortable with being called a socially-relevant filmmaker and I want to make movies in the mainstream space. The film can belong to any genre, still you can make your statement. That's an art Koreans have mastered; Parasite (2019) is a great example of that.