Satire makes a story interesting – Feroz Abbas Khan

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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USA: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart… After a rather serious, sombre and dramatic Gandhi, My Father, eminent theatre personality and filmmaker Feroz Abbas Khan is now bringing his socio-political affair Dekh Tamasha Dekh. He has made sure though that the film is presented as an entertainer with a satirical treatment to it that makes the proceedings light hearted, despite a heavy subject.

Your Gandhi, My Father was much acclaimed but you still took quite some time to bring your next film Dekh Tamasha Dekh on floors. Why?
Many a times when you get good in one kind of cinema, you create a career for yourself. You keep chasing success through that formula or image of yours. You may get better and better but then there comes a point when you feel that there has been no real growth per se. I didn't want that for me, the need is to be challenged. Also, I need to believe that what I am doing is something that I haven't attempted before. I wanted to believe that the path I am taking is such which would end up with some surprising and very exciting results. Wait to feel that way with Dekh Tamasha Dekh has been worth it.

You did keep yourself busy with theatre in the meanwhile, right?
True, and as you can see in my theatre work, I have experimented a lot. From Tumhari Amrita, which is a famous play with two characters, to a huge musical to a play with Satish Kaushik (Salesman Ramlal) to an autobiography with Anupam Kher (Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai), I have gone through many directions.

Does it become a question of choice between films and theatre?
I have never lived with any such conscious calls; there is no plan for me. I travel through many medium, though I have to admit that the medium I am more comfortable and happy with is theatre. It is my home. This is the reason why after Gandhi, My father, I was back to doing what I love, which is theatre.

What prompted you to make Dekh Tamasha Dekh though?
The fact that I could set it up as a satirical take! I believe satire is what makes a story interesting and powerful enough to engage audience in a much larger number. This film and its form has allowed me to say what I wanted to for a long time.

Does the commercial under-performance of Gandhi, My Father hurt till date though?
See, a lot of times a film might not do good on the box office front but then the fact remains that Gandhi, My Father is one of the most important film that has come out of our county. While Richard Attenborough's Gandhi showed him as a mythical leader, my film showed him as a family man, as a much more 'human Gandhi'. In the long run the film has achieved what it had to achieve. Nobody lost money from it and everybody only gained. The film has an archival value to it; it is not a piece of junk that has been thrown away. It is the only film on Gandhi from India which is spoken about in the highest regard.

Article written by staff at Bollywood Hungama. Read more