Latest news with #RajivGandhiAssassinationCase
Forbes
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Nagesh Kukunoor Says Communication Was Tough On Sets Of ‘The Hunt'
Indian actors Amit Sial and Sahil Vaid on a poster of Nagesh Kukunoor's 'The Hunt Rajiv Gandhi ... More Assassination Case'. He has enamored the audience with his gripping tales on the digital platforms for years and Nagesh Kukunoor's latest outing is no less. The Hunt - The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case is his new Hindi web show streaming on SONY LIV. In an exclusive interview, Kukunoor recalls why he took up the project, the challenges he faced while working on it, and dwells on his politics in cinema and more. Nagesh Kukunoor interview Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and actor, Nagesh Kukunoor. (Photo by Chandradeep ... More Kumar/ The India Today Group via Getty Images) The Hunt - The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case showcases the journey that followed the assassination of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi on May 21, 1991. The SONYLIV show is based on Anirudhya Mitra's book Ninety Days: The True Story of the Hunt for Rajiv Gandhi's Assassins. Three decades have gone by since the assassination and the investigation that followed. Talking about the intrigue of the story, the filmmaker says, 'Honestly, what we knew about the investigation (from news reports) was just the broad strokes. Anirudhya Mitra's book gives us at least 20 jaw-dropping moments and that drew me in. Initially, I wasn't sure if I wanted to do it but Sameer Nair (CEO, Applause Entertainment - producers of The Hunt) told me the book 'reads like a thriller'. Once I read the book, I was hooked.' Elaborating on the reason why he took it up, the filmmaker adds, 'The biggest challenge—and also the reason I said yes—was stepping into a genre I hadn't done before: true crime. Also, I hadn't adapted a book before. Writing it meant figuring out how to dramatize a true story I wasn't part of. You constantly balance between staying factual and being engaging. Plus, many SIT members are alive—you want to respect that.' 'I worked with Rohit Banerjee, my longtime collaborator, and we brought in Sriram Rajan from LA for another perspective. Once the team was set, we broke the story into episodes. Even though Anirudhya's book gave us a timeline, real investigations are messy—A leads to B1 through B24 before C happens. We had to structure it into a seamless narrative.' Indian actor Amit Sial and filmmaker Nagesh Kukunoor during a photo shoot. (Photo by Chandradeep ... More Kumar/ The India Today Group via Getty Images) Kukunoor recalls that one of the most challenging parts of working on the show involved the language." Nothing was smooth — and that's what made it great. I directed 40% of the show in Tamil. Though I studied in Tamil Nadu, I haven't spoken the language in years. And much of it was in Sri Lankan Tamil. Many of the Tamil characters were played by Malayalees. Communication was tough, which is crucial for a director. We also shot in the sweltering heat and rain. But I enjoyed it—comfort zones bore me." 'It was the most challenging casting of my career. Casting Bay—Anmol, Akhil, and their team—did the heavy lifting. I shortlisted and auditioned actors. Amit Sial was brilliant. But when I moved to the Tamil segments, it was wild—Malayalee actors speaking Sri Lankan Tamil, directed by a Telugu guy who speaks Hindi and English. I had to explain scenes in English to one actor, Hindi to another, while they acted in Tamil. It was like the SIT itself—language barriers everywhere. That first scene took five hours to shoot.' The show took 58 days to complete shoot. 'The first scene set the tone. We lost light, ran behind schedule, and had to recreate sets elsewhere. But we stayed true to the language where possible. Looking back, it's funny—but on set, it was terrifying.' Asked about avoiding political commentary, Nagesh Kukunoor insists the show is not about politics. 'The show was never about that. What happened to Rajiv Gandhi was horrific, but the show focused on the investigation. I didn't want to justify or glorify anything. I simply stuck to the facts. Once I knew the objective, I focused on not pointing fingers or taking sides. My aim was to be as objective as possible—like a journalist. Even the LTTE scenes were handled with sensitivity. That's how I've always made films.' Indian actors Gul Panag and Ayesh Takia in a still from Nagesh Kukunoor's 2006 Hindi film 'Dor'. Kukunoor touched human emotions and raw personal sentiments in his earlier films such as Iqbal, Dhanak and Dor. Asked if he'd return to making films such as Dor and Dhanak, he says, 'I'd love to. I did Hyderabad Blues 2 long before sequels were a trend. I won't make a sequel unless I truly have more to say. But yes, I'm planning something uplifting, like Dhanak. It's been a decade so I'm ready.' Kukunoor started with theatricals but has been working on the digital platform for a long time now. What are the differences in functioning of the two? Kukunoor believes there are many gatekeepers when it comes to theatrical films. 'You need to convince producers, distributors, theater chains." He adds that when working on a theatrical film, one needs to keep a track of the runtime and even popcorn sales, but digital is simpler. "Digital is much simpler. You just need to convince one or two people and run with it. That's why I've been in this space for seven years. Making a film is easy. Releasing it? That's the real challenge.' (This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.)
Scroll.in
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scroll.in
‘The Hunt: The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case' review: A balancing act between fact and drama
The Hunt: The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case takes a while to find its tone. The show's prosaic title is the first indication of a balancing act between well-publicised facts and dramatisation, subtext and context, the thin line between justice and retribution. The Sony LIV series follows the Central government's investigation into Rajiv Gandhi's horrific death on May 21, 1991, in a suicide bombing carried out by a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam member. Gandhi was campaigning in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu for the Lok Sabha election. His Congress party had been voted out of power, and he was aiming to return as the head of state. Gandhi's gruesome demise was blamed on a misguided policy decision during his prime ministership: sending the Indian Peacekeeping Force military unit to aid Sri Lanka in its civil war with the LTTE. The Tamil Tigers, led by Velupillai Prabhakaran, sought to avenge alleged abuses by the IPKF, identifying Gandhi as a high-value target of their rage. The Hunt, adapted from Anirudhya Mitra's non-fiction book Ninety Days: The True Story of the Hunt for Rajiv Gandhi's Assassins, begins on Gandhi's last day. Gandhi (Rajiv Kumar) arrives in Sriperumbudur late into the night. A group of Tamil Tigers, led by the one-eyed Sivarasan (Shafeeq Mustafa), is patiently waiting for him. In the first of several miracles for the inquiry led by Kaarthikeyan (Amit Sial), a still camera containing photographs of the perpetrators survives the blast even though the photographer Haribabu doesn't. Haribabu (Vishnu G Warrier) is one of many local LTTE sympathisers, instructed to capture the impact of the suicide attack for propaganda purposes. The contours of Sivarasan's plot soon comes into view. Kaarthikeyan and his core teammates – Amit (Sahil Vaid), Ragothaman (Bagavathi Perumal), Amod Kant (Danish Iqbal), Radhavinod (Girish Sharma) and Ravindran (Vidyut Garg) – assiduously track down and interrogate the plotters. Sivarasan and his hardened aides manage to evade capture. Mounting pressure leads to the deployment of custodial beatings and even the threat of rape. The early episodes of The Hunt have a rough time setting up the conspiracy without boring viewers. The dialogue switches between Tamil and Hindi, with Kaarthikeyan – a Tamilian in real life – bizarrely shown as a Hindi speaker. (Some aspects of Sivarasan's dastardly scheme and the manhunt have already inspired plot points in The Family Man 's second season, in which an ex-LTTE operative tries to carry out one last mission.) After its initial clumsiness, The Hunt gets down to business. The screenplay by Nagesh Kukunoor, Rohit Banawlikar and Sriram Rajan gradually attains the rigour of an engaging police procedural. Pedestrian lines such as 'The Gandhi family is very unlucky' and 'Rajiv Gandhi must go!' (attributed to Prabhakaran, played by Jyothish MG) make way for the dogged pursuit of a formidable adversary. There are just about enough details of the larger political backdrop to satisfy the mildly curious viewer. The events explored over seven episodes remain sensitive, with unverified theories about the assassination still floating around. The show's creators sidestep the minefields presented by pro-LTTE sentiment within Tamil Nadu, or the role, if any, played by politicians in delaying the capture of the fugitives. This welcome lack of sensationalism does dilute the absurdity of the circumstances surrounding Sivarasan's end game. The absence of finger-pointing does not preclude attempts to understand the ideology of the Tigers. A character observes that 'One man's hero is another man's terrorist' – a reworking of an oft-quoted line from Gerald Seymour's novel Harry's Game. Although Sivarasan is portrayed as a comic book villain, his commitment to his cause, which is matched by the other Tigers, is unmistakeable. Parallels are drawn between the camaraderie within Kaarthikeyan's group and the solidarity between Sivarasan and his comrades. Amit Sial embodies the show's carefully calibrated approach. Sial's Kaarthikeyan is methodical, cool-headed, resigned even, whether firefighting with his bosses or facing the prospect that Sivarasan may never be caught. There are solid turns from Bagavathi Perumal, Sahil Vaid and Vidyut Garg as government officials bound by rules but not always contained by them. The overall feeling is of a job well done, despite the hiccups and the meddling. The motives behind the political double-dealing and Indian links to the storied separatist movement are left to other, more ambitious creators. Play
