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Well-known star, film writer, and filmmaker Saurabh Shukla, understood for his flexible efficiencies and impactful writing, just recently assessed his early partnership with director Shekhar Kapur on the 1994 biographical action-adventure movie ‘Bandit Queen’, calling it an extensive knowing experience that taught him the value of finding humour even in the darkest stories.The movie, based upon the life of Phoolan Devi, as detailed in the book “India’s Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi” by Mala Sen. Directed by Shekhar Kapur, the film starred Seema Biswas in the titular character.
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In a special interview with ANI, Shukla shared, “Shekhar was the first film director I worked with, and I was an avid fan of his films, Mr India, Masoom, and the third was Bandit Queen. When I met him, he was a big man for all of us.
He and cinematographer Ashok Mehta. He (Shekhar Kapur) taught me a lot, both technically and emotionally.”Assessing his experience throughout the making of Bandit Queen, Shukla remembered that in spite of the movie’s grim and extreme topic, Kapur constantly searched for minutes of humour.“It was a gruesome, gory film, but Shekhar used to search for humour in that. There was a scene we shot, ‘jo edited ho gaya aur film mein aaya nahi’ (which did not make it to the final cut)…So
there was a robbery sequence in the village. People were running here and there in panic… There was a liquor shop where two dacoits were throwing bottles, and a villager watching them said, ‘Itni nikal rahe, ek aad hume bhi dedo’ (You’re taking out so many, give us one too).
Even in that darkness, Shekhar found a funny, human moment,” he stated.The Jolly LLB star included that this viewpoint left a long lasting impression on his imaginative impulses.
“In that film, in the company of Shekhar, I understood that without humour, it’s half, not a complete picture. That’s something I still follow,” Shukla included.He even more applauded directors like Shekhar Kapur and Ram Gopal Varma for their capability to authentically catch regional dialects and feelings, even when they are not from those areas. “Shekhar ko language nahi aati thi..haan, Hindi aati hai unhe.. his Hindi was that of South Delhi, but he understood rhythm.
I’ve seen him often close his eyes during a shot, just listening to the rhythm of the dialogue. That rhythm, that sound is instinctive.
..” he kept in mind.Outlaw Queen went on to win the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi, together with the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Film and Best Direction that year.On the work front, Saurabh Shukla is acknowledged for his remarkable functions in movies such as Satya, Nayak: The Real Hero, Yuva, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Barfi!, and Jolly LLB, to name a few.