Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Ghamasaan uses a violent cat-and-mouse chase between Maharaj and IPS Aditya Singh to explore moral ambiguity rather than simple hero-villain tropes. Dhulia insists realistic cinema cannot rely on black-and-white characters, showing Maharaj as both ruthless dacoit and devout music lover, while Aditya’s pursuit exposes systemic corruption and the grey ethics of law enforcement today.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India ahead of the release of his upcoming action-drama Ghamasaan, director Tigmanshu Dhulia (Paan Singh Tomar) makes it plenty clear that his film, often described as a "cat-and-mouse chase," does not have the clear cut black-and-white characters commonly associated with such a narrative.
Starring Arshad Warsi as the dacoit Maharaj and Pratik Gandhi as IPS Aditya Singh, Dhulia uses their violent, brutal and bloody chase to reveal just how much emotional complexity these characters, often seen as extremes, can really hold. In fact, as Dhulia puts it, a “realistic” movie will always have a grey character.
While Dhulia explains why there is no such thing as a black-and-white character and how Warsi's Maharaj fits that criteria, Gandhi explains how grey characters may mirror the current state of the world.
“Every character is grey. if you call it a realistic film, then you can't have characters that are completely black and white... when that happens, it affects the performances as well,” says Dhulia. He explains that though Maharaj is a ruthless and immoral dacoit at the very centre of corruption and gang violence, "he plays the dholak, he loves music, and he prays with all his heart and love. And he’s still a grey character.”
Gandhi's IPS Aditya Singh, who is determined to hunt Maharaj down, believes that morally grey and ambiguous characters can reveal a great deal about the current state of the world. “A person, from our point of view, could be wrong. But he is so married to that thought process that he is, in his mind, doing the correct thing,” he says, explaining that in the film, while Maharaj is completely driven by all he desires in life, Aditya has his own passion of catching the criminal as he follows a corrupt system of laws and legalities he is constantly trying to mend.
“But these choices tell us a lot about the system and the world we are living in today. In fact, this is not today’s story. This story may be 15 to 20 years old, but it is based on something true,” he believes.
Pratik Gandhi is next set to headline the historical period drama Hum Hindustani alongside Saif Ali Khan and Kunal Khemu’s Madgaon Express 2 which is set to go on floors early next year.
Produced by Jio Studios and Golden Ratio Films, Ghamasaan will release on ZEE5 on September 11.