‘We Attribute Success To The Star, Failure To The Director’

‘Our
analysis
of
success,
like
failure,
is
so
reductive
and
so
one
dimensional
that
we
don’t
look
at
the
bigger
picture.’

Hansal
Mehta,
who
won
critical
acclaim
with

Aligarh,
Shahid,
and

Scam
1992,
has
just
had
his
first
major
release
since

Faraaz
in
2022.

The
Buckingham
Murders
is
a
crime
thriller
with
Kareena
Kapoor-Khan
in
the
lead
role.

Mehta
tells

Vanita
Kohli-Khandekar
in
a
video
interview
about
what
went
behind
the
making
of
his
second
international
project.

The
Buckingham
Murders
is
your
second
international
project
after

Gandhi
(in
the
making).
How
did
it
come
about?

The
script
that
came
to
me
was
already
set
in
the
UK.
I
have
been
wanting
to
shoot
something
outside
of
India,
that
reflects
the
subculture
that
Indians
who
live
abroad
represent,
a
more
authentic
portrayal
of
that.

From
the
time
Yash
Chopra’s
films
were
shot
in
the
tulip
gardens,
we
have
only
seen
the
pretty
side
of
international
locations;
we
haven’t
gone
into
their
inner
workings.

How
do
people
who
migrate
actually
live?

This
story
was
given
to
me
by
Aseem
(Arora,
writer)
in
2018
and
I
really
felt,
‘Yes.
This
is
a
possibility.
Telling
a
migrant
experience
story
by
using
a
murder
mystery
as
its
driving
plot
device.’

There
are
comparisons
with

Mare
of
Easttown.
Is
it
fair?

That
is
highly
reductive
and
lazy.
The
story
came
to
me
in
2018,
before

Mare
of
Easttown
was
ever
conceived.
I
signed
it
in
2019.

We
saw

Mare
in
2021
and
knew
there
would
be
comparisons,
which
is
fine.
But
saying
that
this
is
a
remake
is
a
sign
of
sheer
mediocrity
on
the
part
of
those
writing
like
this.

You
are
prolific
—
After

Scam
1992,
you
helmed

Scam
2003,

Faraaz,
Scoop,
Gandhi,
Buckingham,
there
is

Scam
3
(the
Subroto
Roy
saga)
coming
and
the
deal
with
Netflix.
How
do
you
navigate
them?

I
have
built
a
system
around
myself
that
is
efficient.
In
India,
because
we
are
so
disorganised,
we
question
people
who
do
this
on
a
regular
basis.

But
overseas,
you
see
the
output
of
directors.
Steven
Soderbergh,
Steven
Spielberg
are
churning
out
films;
even
Clint
Eastwood
at
this
age.

It
comes
from
being
organised,
having
a
well-oiled
machinery,
realising
that
there
are
a
lot
of
things
that
need
to
be
delegated.

You
had
mentioned
that
the
quest
for
the
mass
film
is
destroying
storytelling.
Is
it
still
true?

On
streaming
what
I’m
doing
is
a
long
form.
It
is
liberating.
I
enjoy
making
films
also
but
the
theatrical
release
is
getting
increasingly
polarised.

Our
analysis
of
success,
like
failure,
is
so
reductive
and
so
one
dimensional
that
we
don’t
look
at
the
bigger
picture.

Now
we
attribute
success
to
the
star
and
failure
to
the
director.

Does
the
industry
do
it
or
the
audience?

There
are
people
who
write
about
the
industry,
who
are
paid
by
the
industry
to
write
about
them.

And
they
are
read
by
the
public
at
large
because
they
are
all
over
social
media.

I
have
a
printed
price
list
for
every
post,
for
every
article,
for
every
feature.