While the mind doesn't instantly make the association, Rajat Kapoor's films have almost always had an element of crime and misdemeanour—be it Raghu Romeo(2004), Mithya (2008) or Kadakh (2020), which was a crime thriller. However, with Everybody Loves Sohrab Handa, which began streaming on ZEE5 on April 10, Rajat dabbles in a genre film — a classic whodunit that unfolds at a hill station cottage. That was the starting point for him, the filmmaker shares. “I began with the thought, ‘Let's see if I can crack a whodunit. It was during the COVID time, and I started playing around with ideas. Once I arrived at the main twist, it was then a matter of how you build that point, who are the characters involved, how complicated things can be, etc. It took me 30 days to finish the script,” Rajat says.
However, besides the whodunit exploration, what was also crucial for the narrative was a commentary on the present times. Rajat elaborates, “There is a newsreader doing expose, just because it's bringing in money. Madhavan (Ranvir Shorey) talks about being doomed, how we are burnt out, and how we have become sellouts to society. Everything is a comment on the world we live in.” Tying all these characters is Sohrab Handa (Vinay Pathak), a rich, boisterous cynic who remains unfiltered amidst the double-standards of everyone around him. When we label Sohrab as an unlikeable character, Rajat Kapoor gently expresses his disagreement, adding, “Sohrab might be a bully but he’s such a charming and magnetic guy because of his frankness. Others are just drawn to him in some way. There is that duality about him.”
While Everybody Loves Sohrab Handa was finished in 2023, the film found an OTT release only after three years. His previous film Kadakh too was a straight-to-OTT release. We ask him if he sees any particular merits or demerits to streaming culture. Rajat responds, “The good thing about OTT — I am not worried whether the film will be there on Monday. There is peace that if you are not watching it today, you can watch it tomorrow, next week, or after a month — the film will be there. Sometimes, the word of mouth takes that long. On the other hand, if it had released in theatres, it would have been so much fun. So, there is that gamble as well.”
Rajat further reflects on the OTT landscape. For one, he sounds very assured about never making a long-form series. Why, we ask. “My mind works in 90 minutes. I am very much a film person. I don’t think I can write long-form. Secondly, there are too many restrictions that come with a series — about casting, or budgeting it a certain way. We make small films, but series budgets are even smaller. You have to shoot 8 minutes a day. That is bizarre —- I don’t think you can do justice to your writing that day. Your attention drifts away from visual enhancement, and goes towards simply churning.”
Another thing Rajat remains firm about is his social media escape: the filmmaker is not active on social media, nor does he carry a mobile phone. How does he keep in touch with the audience's taste or the film discourse? He explains, “It’s not like the world didn’t exist before social media. When I go out, so many people meet me and say, ‘Thank you for making Ankhon Dekhi,’ or ‘I enjoyed Kadakh a lot.’ If the new has to reach you, it will.” Instead, Rajat talks about what he finds more essential to his working process. “I don’t watch many films, unless someone is doing a great job — then you want to watch it as work as art. But as filmmakers, it’s important to be in touch with oneself rather than seeing what other films are being made. You just have to dig deeper within yourself. I don’t want to make what’s trendy, but rather what excites me.”
Mithya (2008), which remains Rajat Kapoor’s biggest theatrical success, came at a time when the ‘multiplex cinema’ was on a rise. The filmmaker takes cognizance of how things have changed since his last big theatrical film Ankhon Dekhi (2014), adding, “There has been a slow downturn since 2009. In the last 5-6 years, it has become worse. It’s quite bleak, frankly.” With the growing diktats around definitions of a “theatrical film” and diminishing space for experiment, there is smaller space for filmmakers like him in the present times. Rajat, however, veers my attention towards Iranian cinema as a defying example. He says, “Do you know how much censorship there is in Iran? And yet, they've been doing it, making great cinema for the last 40 years. I don't think it is fair to say that we have restrictions, as an explanation for not making good films. We are not making good films because we are not pushing ourselves enough.” On home ground, the filmmaker mentions the likes of Rima Das (Village Rockstars, Bulbul Can Sing) and Gurvinder Singh (Anhe Ghore Da Daan) as shining examples of indie cinema. “Our film industry understands the logic and mechanics of the market, works like a factory around that, and this marketplace has been there forever. If an independent filmmaker wants to discover their voice, they have to find means within the alternate landscape. They manage because they must, because they have no choice. They will steal, sell their house, but somehow make their film.”
Rajat says he too remains optimistic on a personal level. “When multiplex era came, we weren’t prepared for it. When OTT platforms arrived, they carried a lot of hope in the beginning. Now they have also chosen a side. So, some new disruption will come and this too will change after 2-3 years --- It has to,” he concludes.