Filmmaker Santosh Davakhar is heading to Los Angeles to screen Gondhal, India’s official submission for the Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards. He is also gearing up for a commercial re-release in India. We caught him at a busy time, straddling two worlds — speaking to members of the Academy, and the Indian public.
The pitch, though, is roughly the same: to make India proud.
Davakhar’s Gondhal is an unconventional candidate for the Academy Awards. It didn’t premiere at any of the coveted foreign festivals. Instead, it was in competition at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), where Davakhar bagged the Silver Peacock for Best Director, the first Marathi film to do so. Its initial commercial release, too, did not raise any dust. And yet, the film is back on track.
Davakhar, who owns a construction company and self-funded both the film and its Oscar campaign, is confident. The film is set over one night in the 1960s, in a village where the Gondhal — a ritual of theatrical renditions invoking family gods — is being performed to celebrate the impending wedding of a feisty Suman (Ishita Deshmukh) to the innocent, perhaps important Anandrao (Yogesh Sohoni). The richest man of the village (Suresh Vishwakarma) and his son (Nishad Bhoir) hover around, the son’s rapacious eyes on the bride. Over the course of the night, secrets, hopes, and blood spill.
In a conversation with THR India, Davakhar speaks about his journey in cinema and putting together a film that he hopes will strike gold at the Oscars.
You came from a working-class family in Kalyan, through coaching students and construction firms, into cinema. How did you arrive at the movies?
There was an incident when I attended a wedding in my family, where underprivileged kids dressed in rags were not being allowed in. Eventually, they were allowed to sit in the corner and eat, but on shabby plates. I noticed one of the kids was blind, and he accidentally mixed soil into his food. That shook me, and that’s what moved me to make Party (2013), my first short film, and I fell into filmmaking.
Before Party, I was mostly watching Indian films. But then, I started watching international films. At Cannes, in 2017, where I screened my second short film, Adnyat, I watched over 40 films in 12 days. I even did a short FTII course. Then, I read Robert McKee’s Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting, which taught me how to write a screenplay: act one, midpoint, act two, etc. I never assisted anyone on set. I learned it on my own. My first AD helped me a lot.
I realised the world’s perception of Indian films is based on themes of poverty and casteism. I wanted to make a film representing the rich heritage of India. That is why I decided to make a film on Gondhal, something I have seen growing up.
But your film does delve into issues of class and dowry...
But there is no casteism. There is a class difference, but that is everywhere. So is poverty. But films like Slumdog Millionaire (2008) use India as a negative backdrop to win the Oscars. I really want to change that perception. I want to proudly represent India.
Besides, without class differences, there would be no drama in the story, and that is something I have seen from childhood.
Can you talk me through the ambition of that opening 24-minute single take?
I was fascinated by Birdman (2014) and 1917 (2019) [both films are sewn as a long single take]. Even Roma (2018) has lots of continuous takes. Therefore, I decided to write something that takes place over one night. But then, while writing the screenplay, I had to allow my characters to respond and expand, and while expanding, I realised that if I wanted it all in one take, I would have to restrict myself. Instead, I restricted myself to only the opening shot being a single take, following Vishnu, the grandson who enters the Gondhal festivities.
Why have you set the film in the 1960s?
In the 1960s, illiteracy was prevalent, and that allowed me to write Suman as a character from that time — a postcolonial era, where women were not really allowed to be seen in public, go to school, or get educated. Today, our president is a woman from the tribal community. Also, because there was not much electricity in the 1960s, I could also use light interestingly.
How did you get Ilaiyaraaja to compose the score?
See, period films in our time fill scenes with music and too many instruments. I wanted something minimalist. With that, I decided to approach him. I showed him the trailer of my short film, which had BGM from Gondhal. He had one condition— that he would come to my native place and watch a Gondhal for two days. Imagine, at the age of 83, he is ready to learn more things. Then he went back and designed the BGM for Gondhal. It was a blessing.
Finally, what was the response to the film in the USA? People spend more money on their Oscar campaign than their film’s budget. How are you faring?
Right now, I am also in the same place. We made the film for ₹4.5 crores. We have spent the same amount so far for the campaign, in the first phase. Initially, we budgeted for ₹2 crores, but India has given us a responsibility, so we need to give our 100 per cent effort.
We need to screen the film for Academy voters, advertise it, and make it visible. We are working with a PR company in LA. We don’t have any big producer or distributor. Initially, I was worried about whether the film would travel, but those who have watched it there have liked it.