Film begun eight years ago completed by director's son

Well-known Indian cinematographer Rajen Kothari was working on ‘Das Capital - Gulamon Ki Rajdhani’, a film that was envisioned in the 90s, when he suddenly passed away. Shot in 2012, the film, has now released on Cinemapreneur. The film was directed by Rajen Kothari and Dayal Nihalani. After Rajen’s untimely death, his son and actor Pratik Kothari, took over the reins and completed the project.

In an interview with Metrolife, Pratik talks about stepping into his father’s shoes and more.

What prompted Rajen to look into this subject?

For the longest time this was unknown to me. Back when the film was made, I don’t think, I had cared enough to ask him. I was just happy that I was getting to be a part of the film. Nonetheless, I did step upon this very recently in my conversation with the writer of the film Shaiwal, who had written a short story called ‘Arth Tantra’ and he had passed it casually to my father. When my father read it and especially the climax of the story he was so moved that he told Shaiwal that he would make a film on this story one day.

The protagonist in the film is a victim of a corrupt bureaucracy. Tell us about it.

Purshottam (played by actor Yashpal) is a highly complex character. He is a victim of the corruption but he is a party to it as well. He hardly has choice either. He needs that little bit more money to make ends meet. His seniors are more powerful and belong to a higher caste. They go scot free while the poor Purshottam, who has no power, finds himself stuck in the mess. He is a product of the rusted machinery and a victim of it also.

Tell us about your character. How tough was it to carry forward the film affter your father's demise?

I play Bhuletna in the film. I see my character as the alter ego to the protagonist. What Purshottam feels like doing but can’t do is eventually done by young Bhuletna. At a very young age Bhuletna has gone through a lot. It was indeed difficult to carry the film forward. I was just starting out then. As the cliché goes, it is a challenge to make films but to release them is even more challenging. From festivals to theatrical release everything was a challenge and a learning process.

What lessons has the film taught you?

I was involved in every aspect of this film. It was a wonderful learning curve to watch such fine actors and technicians collaborate and help each other to create a beautiful product. The shoot taught me to work under pressure. I saw it all come together. Gunjan Srivastava, our sound designer, gave me the biggest mantra of filmmaking when he said ‘It’s an audio visual medium. Audio comes first!’. I share this with a lot of my peers. The film has also taught me the value of persistence. It’s been eight years since the demise of my father. I felt like giving up on a lot of occasions, but then I pushed myself to walk that one step more. Craft is very important, but persistence is one quality you need to pull through.