In his first film, Dibakar Banerjee’s LSD (2010) segment Superhit Pyaar, Anshuman Jha played Rahul, an Aditya Chopra-crazed, film-school director. His character’s dreams of becoming a filmmaker met a dismal, violent fate in the film. Anshuman, though, has come up with his debut directorial Lord Curzon Ki Haveli, which might be quite different from what Rahul would have ever made. A chamber piece thriller, the film revolves around two polar-opposite couples, a long night, and a wooden chest, which might or might not be containing a body.
In a geeky chat with us, Anshuman talks about how a German play seeded the idea of the film, his love for Alfred Hitchcock, and which three directors were on his wishlist when he debuted as an actor.
Excerpts:
Tell me about the genesis of Lord Curzon Ki Haveli
In 2005, I had done a German play called Mr. Kolpert at Prithvi (theatre) and NCPA (National Centre for the Performing Arts). It was about two couples, a dinner party, and a mysterious trunk, and somehow that setup stayed with me over the years. Also, Rope (1948) is one of my favourite Hitchcock films. In 2019, I remember, I went to Bikas (Ranjan Mishra; the film’s writer) with a story about Asians in the West. The story stemmed from my meetings with my childhood friends who are now living in the US and the UK. These are people who studied and are now working there. Whenever I met them, I had this feeling that they seemed happy on the exterior, but inside, they were struggling with an identity crisis. They weren’t able to assimilate completely into a foreign culture. So, I took this story of two Indian couples and a Bangladeshi pizza delivery boy, which unfolds over one night of revelations, to Bikas, who turned it into a black comedy-thriller.
I read you had some trouble with the Censors….
(laughs) See, my point is this: we live in a democracy. So, whether you make a film or I make a film, or Karan Johar makes a film, the Censor Board’s yardstick should be the same. You can’t give one film a U/A certificate without removing expletives, and you can’t force me to remove gaalis (abuses) from my film and then still give me an A.
Running up to the release, a lot of press handouts called Lord Curzon… a Hitchcockian experience. What does the term mean to you?
Straight off the head, two things: thrills and atmospherics. He was the master of thrillers, but more than that, I was sucked into Hitchcock’s films through the atmosphere he created. With this film also our endeavour was that you feel like you are the sixth guest at this dinner party by the British countryside, and that’s where the lensing choice came from. You see, in Hitchcock’s films, the depth of field never changed. There were no zoom-ins or outs. The camera functions like the human eye. With this film, I wanted to go more classic and old school, with less theatrics and camera movement.
The score in his films also played an important part…
Oh yes. Sound was a huge factor in creating an atmosphere in his films. A lot of people remember the Psycho (1960) shower scene because of the BGM.
That screeching, ‘cree, cree’ BGM right when Mother goes for the kill, right?
Yes, that one. So, it’s not elaborate, right? There is no orchestra playing, but it is enough for the scene. Just simple, basic.
While watching Lord Curzon… Rope (1948) was frequently popping into my mind. You just told me it is your favourite Hitchcock film. Like Lord Curzon… it too revolves around a dinner party and a mysterious chest. Was it some sort of influence?
It wasn’t the only influence. When I saw Rope in my teens on a VHS tape, my mind was blown. It was an innovative way of storytelling. Show the murder in the first ten minutes, and the rest of the film operates like a ticking time bomb. Then, when I did Mr. Kolpert, even in that play, there is a trunk. Later, I read that the play’s writer David Gieselmann, was also a big Hitchcock fan. This mysterious trunk/ chest came back into my life when I visited some friends at their summer house in Britain. They had a chest in their living room which they were using as a table, and the whole evening I kept thinking, what if… (laughs).
You didn’t plan Lord Curzon… to be your debut directorial. Did you have any plans, as in how your first film as a director should be?
No. But as an actor, I was clear that I wanted my first film to be with either Dibakar (Banerjee), Anurag (Kashyap), or Sriram (Raghavan). It was quite crazy because, as a young actor, you don’t really have the luxury of choice, especially if you are an outsider. I actually have a diary from 2008 in which it is written ‘Choice of directors for my debut film: 1. Dibakar Banerjee, 2. Anurag Kashyap and 3. Sriram Raghavan.’
It's great you got your first choice…
(laughs) Oh, yes.