The role of a writer in our cinema remains highly neglected, grossly underpaid, and most of the times remain anonymous. Sriram Raghavan, a writer himself who directors of repute approach when they need a script doctor made sure he credited Hemanth Rao for his contribution to ‘Andhadhun’. The frequent allegations that awards are given to appease more than appreciate are not totally unfounded but nobody is cribbing about ‘Andhadhun’ winning. Kannada cinema won a clutch of awards but Hemanth won it for co-writing the screenplay of this quirky tale that pleased the paying public and the critics too. The National awards were the icing. Hemanth spells out his role in the making of ‘Andhadhun’.
‘Andhadhun’ was your brainchild if I remember right?
It came from a short film I’d watched. I’d sent the script of ‘Kavalu Daari’ to Sriram Raghavan much before ‘Godhi Banna’. He had expressed a lot of interest in that. At that time when we were talking about collaborating, I came across this French short film. He watched it and called me in the middle of the night. He was very excited and said we should make a feature out of it. That’s how it started.
Did you send the script of ‘Kavalu Dari’ to Sriram because he’s a script doctor?
He was one of the filmmakers I looked up to. I was frustrated because I wasn’t getting any breaks in Kannada. This was before ‘Godhi Banna’. I had moved to Bombay to seek work there. I connected with Sriram. Our tates were similar. He was kind enough to host and spend time with me trying to understand the kind of films I wanted to do. I kept in touch after returning too. I always wanted to be a writer. I’m a writer first then a director.
How much of that short film is there in the film?
It was just the idea of a man pretending to be blind and getting into sticky situations. That’s all. After that, the characterisation like the antagonist played by Tabu, the actor husband and her lover are layers added into the script. The script takes off from where the short film ends.
Karnataka : Bengaluru : 05/10/20018 : Edited Hindi Film review Andhadhun
People don’t acknowledge stealing from feature films. Why would you mention this short film which most people wouldn’t have seen?
If you are a writer and honest to the profession you would know what it means. Everything we have is our words and ideas. It’s just the very ethical thing to do. I worked on the first few drafts of ‘Andhadhun’. I worked only on the first half of the story. The second half didn’t work for me and Sriram too. Some things were not flying like the organ donation stuff. Sriram and I stopped working on it. He made ‘Badlapur’ and I moved to ‘Godhi Banna’. He revisited it because it’s a script he thoroughly enjoyed. There was another set of writers. I’m really appreciative of the fact that despite all that he has acknowledged and given credit to my work after six years. That rarely happens in our industry. It speaks volumes of the kind of person he is.
Writing is a very lonely pursuit. Can it be collaborative? How can two people write one story?
It is collaborative if two people have the same wavelength and the same destination in mind. The routes would be slightly different but we could compare notes to check. It wasn’t like we sat together while writing. I’d heard stories about Salim-Javed sitting in a room and discussing ideas. I can’t do that. The freedom with Sriram was that he would mail a bunch of ideas and I would write mine. Several mails were exchanged. We added on each other’s ideas instead of changing them. By the time the film was made the other writers were working full time with Sriram. That’s the reason I felt the writers who worked till the end need more recognition and celebration. That’s the reason I haven’t publicised the fact that I’ve worked on the film. I didn’t want to steal their thunder.
There is a strong ‘Jhonny Gaddar’ hangover in the film...
(Laughs) That’s Sriram’s space and he enjoys it. He likes those pulpy thrillers and it percolates into his work. I enjoy it too because it’s a lot of fun. It’s like an interesting crime story on page 3. You wouldn’t like to be part of it but would read it.
Your writing too has an inclination towards crime. Are you fascinated by the genre?
Very much. It’s a very interesting world. My fascinations stems from the fact that it’s so alien to me. Thankfully I’m privileged to have wonderful parents and have seen the good side of life. I always wonder if the chips were down, how would things change... Crime is mostly out of necessity. True evil is a minority. It’s also the films I’ve grown up watching.
The box-office outcome for ‘Andhadhun’ was not surprising but the National award was. Do you think the lines are getting blurred between mainstream cinema and what was previously perceived as purely National award material?
I’m clueless about the National awards. I had a lot of regard for it but was extremely disappointed and hurt when Anant (Nag) sir was snubbed. It’s not because I directed the film. The film did well which is the highest award I’d want but the fact that his performance wasn’t recognised upset me. He’s been around for long enough and laughed it off. He asked me not to worry and said it was more important to reach the audiences effectively. I don’t know how it works because every year there is something that seems off. There’s always a version to it.
I guess you can’t please everybody...
That’s true. The thing about ‘Andhadhun is that’s it’s not completely mainstream. It’s true to the genre. If the same film had been made ten years ago it would have had two songs and a love story. It’s in a space in between. In that sense the National Award is not surprising.
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