Mumbai’s King: A Q&A with Manjeet Singh

• October 09, 2012
• Article

Mumbai's King is your first feature film. Has this been a story that you wanted to tell for a long time? Does it include any biographical elements?

I had the story idea in mind for the past four years. It was a desire to share my childhood memories through this film and also to capture the audio-visual spectacle of the Ganesh Festival, which is the identity of the city. Perhaps this is the first film that captures the essence of the festival and its importance in the lives of Mumbaikars (Mumbai's citizens).

I couldn't film the Ganesh festival in the last two years, and this year, I made it a point to shoot the film whatever be the case. I wanted to share my childhood nostalgia through the characters of the film, borrowing from the real life experiences of the child actors and including real incidents from the neighbourhood where we shot the film.

Can you tell us how the title Mumbai's King came about?

During the Ganesh Festival, huge Idols are installed throughout Mumbai. The most famous idol Lal Baug Cha Raja is in an area called Lal Baug. Similarly, we have Andheri Cha Raja. Lord Ganesh is the Raja (King) of Mumbai during the festival, so we decided to use the title.

How did you work with the two young actors in this film?

I was so charmed by Arbaaz. He sells balloons near my house. The first interaction we had was a long one. He narrated his story along with his family's problems. I became fond of him. I included him as a character in the script. Rahul, the protagonist, was picked up from a pool of eight kids we got from the neighbourhood. During the acting workshop we tried to understand their challenges in life. Rahul had a problem of domestic violence, which was very similar to the protagonist's problems in the script. Luckily he turned out to be an amazing actor.

Slumdog Millionaire has carved an image in people's mind regarding life in Mumbai's slums. Your sharp, neorealist film has a very different approach toward its subjects. What impact do you aim to make with your film on audiences who may have certain preconceptions or prejudices regarding life in the slums?

Slumdog is a well-made film, which represents an outsider's point of view regarding life in Mumbai's slums. I was working on a script based on the lives of kids who sing in the trains of Mumbai. It's a coming of age musical film, with a mind-blowing score composed by Mathias Duplessy, who also did the music for my film. We started the film but it got stuck, because the producer ran into trouble. This was way before Slumdog came out. This script in a way exposed me to the lives of these kids who enjoy life to the fullest in spite of the problems they have in life. There was an urge to capture their high spirit and show it in the right light, using real life kids and their own stories without the manipulations of the market. If you visit the slums, you will not find villains popping the eyes off the kids, but you will definitely find boys chasing girls. The film is in no way a reaction to Slumdog but it is a very different film.

What challenges did you face when making this film?

I tried pitching my stories to producers, script development workshops, co-production markets and global funding program. I tried almost every existing avenue but got rejected. I then realised that people can't figure out words on paper so I decided not to waste time and started the shoot with the equipment, cast and crew I could gather at the time of the Ganesh festival. We made it to the Work in Progress Lab at the Film Bazaar. The film was shown to top festival directors and sales agents. Luckily it also won the award in the section, which had other films such as Miss Lovely and Ship of Theseus.

The festival circuit is a difficult proposition if you are a filmmaker from India. I was warned of a strong bias against the Indian filmmakers by internationally experienced mentors at the Film Bazaar, but did not believe it existed. It is sad that major festivals have just one slot for films from South Asia. Sometimes it's from India, sometimes not. Some festival directors think they know all about Indian Cinema. They have written books on perhaps the most reputed Indian filmmaker, but have a very superficial feel of Indian Cinema and end up selecting films funded by Bollywood. I have dear friends who are in senior positions in these festivals and have conveyed their helplessness. Hopefully the perception will change soon.

Thanks to the Toronto International Film Festival, the film got a great international platform, but I am still facing problems raising funds and getting respect from Industry.

How do you see the situation of Independent Indian cinema today?

Thanks to the advancement in digital technology, it has become relatively easier to make a film. Filmmakers who believe in themselves and are not concerned about not having a big name attached to their project are going ahead. These films need to be discovered; but unfortunately the media are not able to recognize the level of skills required to make such films. The films made with Bollywood studios, which are little bit different from regular Bollywood films are projected as independent films by media, because they have not really tried to explore what the real independent cinema from India is. I call these films as Bollywood Indies who get all the praise from media, get into festivals, get easily released in India and abroad without really pushing the boundaries of cinema while more edgier, independent films get ignored. A non-existing Bollywood benchmark is the saviour of such films.

The Indian cinema thus has three different zones: Bollywood, Bollywood-Indies, and emerging Independent films. While the Bollywood funded films find traditional distribution, there is no exhibition space for independent films. That's something filmmakers are fighting for as we celebrate 100 years of Indian Cinema.

What films have inspired you the most?

I want to tell stories, which are ignored and represent the struggle for basic human values in our country. I can relate to the films from South America, the Middle East and Far East Asia to a large extend, as the conflicts are similar. They are visually rich; and they present existing conflicts that are far more thought-provoking than those in the First World countries.

Özge Calafato