Entertainment / ANOKHI & A Decent Arrangement at the ReelWorld Film Festival

ANOKHI & A Decent Arrangement at the ReelWorld Film Festival

Entertainment May 15, 2013

by Geeta Wahab

I got a chance to watch A Decent Arrangement which premiere at The ReelWorld Film Festival and I instantly fell in love with the message director Sarovar Banka was sending out. Here is what he had to say about this feature film.

Geeta Wahab: What inspired you to write this movie?

Sarovar Banka: I thought that it was strange that someone who was of Indian heritage, but born and raised in the US like myself, if they wanted to could go to India and have an arranged marriage. It seemed very incongruous and like a great entry point for a script about the complexities of culture. But what really drove the project forward was the instinct to try to explore what kind of character would seek this out and their motivations for doing so. There have been other films about arranged marriages but I don't think many if any have sought to explore this intensely personal dimension. And while the film is certainly meant to be funny, we take process of getting an arranged marriage, and the characters and their evolution through this process quite seriously. So I thought the film could offer a unique perspective on a universal idea – the ways that we seek happiness.

GW: What was it like to work with Shabana Azmi?

SB: It was amazing to work with Shabana Azmi. She's so experienced, so prepared, and so specific, that as a director I was always looking forward to her character's scenes and seeing what might happen next. I always view things through a collaborative lens and it was amazing for me to see the camaraderie between someone like Shabana Azmi and Adam Laupus, who was starring in his first feature as a lead character. It was also helpful to have someone like her on the set, not just for her tremendous abilities as an actor, but as someone who had done this many times before, to steady us. At the same time, she was so collaborative and game for anything "out of the box" that we wanted to try. I think it took a lot of trust on her part, and I'm tremendously grateful for it.

GW: Who are you hoping the movie appeals to?

SB: It's easy to say "anyone" or "everyone"- and I'm sure many filmmakers think that their film appears to a broad range of people. We've screened it around the world however and it's gone overly wonderfully with all kinds of audiences- audiences with only South Asian faces in the crowd and audiences with no South Asians at all. I think we bridge a cultural gap in a way that is hopefully very inclusive, since our main character is really an outsider in his surroundings. Despite its depth, I feel it has a certain sense of humor and lightness, which makes it a film that can really be enjoyed by quite a range of people.

GW: What was the experience like of filming in India?

SB: It was quite challenging and also absolutely amazing. It's hard for me to separate out what challenges were due to the fact that this was my first feature and that it's very difficult to make almost any movie, and what difficulties were encountered by shooting specifically in India. But Chandigarh was such a vibrant city, and the people were so kind, that I think we were all inspired a bit by the place around us. And our cast and crew, almost all of whom were Indian, made shooting in India a joy because they were so fantastic as people and artists. Also, one great thing about shooting in India is that there are so many less doubters than say in the U.S. – people go out and make movies all the time and so it seems like there is a "let's just go and do it!" attitude which inspires me.

GW: What is the significance of showing India in a more real light?

SB: Well, the film aims to be fairly realistic and accurate, most specifically to place and the way we tried to portray the city of Chandigarh, a city which is rather unique in India. It really is a character in the film in its own right and we tried to capture its essence in the film to the extent we could without drawing away from the story.

But to get to question, there have been a fair amount of films that I believe have attempted to show a realistic side of India, either village life or the sometimes harsh realities of city. And while I love many of those films, I wanted to base a story in the India that I encountered when I visited family in India which seemed different from that. The world of A Decent Arrangement is a fascinating semi-urban setting coupled with the nuances of family life, and offset by the evolving cultural landscape fueled by young people. The idea is not to try to be entirely representative of life in India- I couldn't do this as certainly as couldn't make one film about life in America – but to be as true as possibly to the place where we set the story. We tried really hard not to make a fake version of India based on our assumptions, and instead simply present another viewpoint and perspective on a very complex place. To that end, and to the degree with which we succeed, I give much credit to my Indian collaborators, actors and crew, who helped guide us.

Because of our attention to detail, I think some people in the West may be surprised by how similar some things are, or how much they intersect with the story before them, while even audiences and reviewers in India have reacted to the film's specificity. At the same time, I hope that sort of quietly we put a little window into a world that some people in the audience

may not have known existed, and surprises them.

GW: What other festivals/showcases can we find your films at?

SB: We've already screened at over 15 festivals and I'm not sure how many more festivals we will be playing at. But we will finally be screening at Brown University, my Alma Mater, later this month. I'm very excited to screen in it in the place where I was first introduced to many of the influences that inspired me to want to make films.

GW: What are some inspirational words you would say to a young film maker?

SB: I think that things take a very long time, often way way longer than you expected, and just to keep at it no matter what. Like our films and our characters, we evolve. And don't listen to anybody if it doesn't strike you as true, including and especially people offering inspirational words of advice.

A Decent Arrangement will be shown this Friday, April 12, 2013 at the ReelWorld Film Festival. Please visit reelworld.ca for details, times, location and other film listings. For more information on the film, visit adecentarrangement.com.

Photographs courtesy of Manideep Chakravartty.

Geeta Wahab

Author

Cultivating a life she loves, Geeta (@geets.suites) is chasing all her passions, including her love for home décor. As a brand new home owner, her current journey has launched her further into that world - check out her Instagram @geets.suites for tidbits of her story and other decorating pieces. A...

COMMENTS

Interview With Samit Kakkad, Writer And Director Of Aayna Ka Bayna

Q&A With The Director Of The Sound That Broke The Silence

Premiere Of The New Song And Trailer For The Film FUKREY

Arshad Khan, Filmmaker

STANGE ADDICTIONS

Frieda Pinto & Director Kashyap At The 11TH Annual Indian Film Festival Of L.A.

Mustang Productions Ghazal Night In Aid Of CARE Pakistan

Interview With The Reluctant Fundamentalist Director Mira Nair

TV Fun Facts

TOIFA Winners Thrill 38,000 At BC Place

Sunny Leone's Item Song 'Laila' In Shootout At Wadala

Award-winning Documentary Blood Relative Premieres At Hot Docs

The Manhattan Cocktail Classic Opening Night Gala

Bollywood Film: Gippi

Madonna In Malawi

Deepa Mehta's Behind-The-Scenes Look At Her Latest Film Midnight's Children

Sir Ben Kingsley, Nicole Scherzinger, Anupam Kher & More Honoured At 3rd Annual 'The Asian Awards'

The NYC Red Carpet Premiere for MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN

Justin Timberlake's 'Mirror" Music Video

Pitbull Performs At The IPL 6 Opening Ceremony

Man Of Steel Trailer

ANOKHI'S 10th Anniversary "All-Star" Event Was A Night To Remember!

Bulletproof Backpacks For Your Kids: Extreme Safety Measure Or Necessity?

11th Annual Asian Music Series

Kai Po Che Film Review

Celebrity Birthdays In June

Music, Movies And Gossip In Bollystar A Brand New Board Game

Wellesley Wives

Move To The Ragas And Rhythms

Our Chat With '90s Bollywood Star Raveena Tandon

Making The Biggest Beats With DJ-A-Slam

9th Annual HSBC City Of Bhangra Festival 2013

Tips On Having The Perfect Girls' Night In!

Public Speaking Toastmasters' Style

Film Review: Patang (The Kite)

DesiFest 2012 Rocks It Alright!

Indian Filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh Dead At 49

Summer Camp Time!

Roshni- The Light Of South Asia (Vol.2)

The Book Of Mormon Brilliantly Breathes New Life Into Musical Theatre

Karan Brar Makes Waves In The World Of Disney

Let's Learn Salsa!

Celebrity Domestic Violence- Laughable, Enjoyable, Cashable

Little Mosque On The Prairie

The Dhol Revolution

Up Close With Rohan Fernando

Interview With Dan Lin, Producer Of Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows

Up Close: A Chat With Actress Vidya Balan

Lady Gaga's Ist Trip To India!

Interview With Abhay Deol At Masala! Mehndi! Masti

Anything Other Than Naked: Book Review

No 'Thank You': My Day As An Extra In A Bollywood Movie

`Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani` Breaks Into US Top 10 - Weekend Movie Charts

ANOKHI & A Decent Arrangement at the ReelWorld Film Festival

by Geeta Wahab

Geeta Wahab

COMMENTS

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE