20 Years Of AMU: Shonali Bose Looks Back At Her Film On The 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots
Q. What triggered Amu?
A. I was in the first year of college in Delhi when the 1984 anti-Sikh riots happened. I was deeply impacted by it. I never wanted to be a filmmaker, only an academician. But then my mother passed away under tragic circumstances and I left for the US. But I didn’t like academics. So I became a filmmaker. I needed to write about the mother-daughter relationship. The 1984 riots coalesced with my mother’s death. I realised how important it is to provide comfort to the grieving.
Q. Amu is a film with a strong message.
A. Yes, my ex-husband and I were activists in the US. And many members of my family including my parents have been activists. But I was very sure I didn’t want Amu to become a shrill message film. My ex-husband and I had read the script to independent filmmakers in LA. They insisted we put more politics in the film. We managed to mask the politics in Amu and we’re proud of it.
Q. The film’s message is warning us against forgetting the lessons of history that needs to go to the young generation.
A. Yes. I discovered the young generation knows nothing about the 1984 riots. But can you believe a member of the censor board asked me why the young need to know something as painful as the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Q. The casting .. real-life activist Brinda Karat is interestingly cast very close to her personality?
A. No, I didn’t cast her because she was an activist. It’s a very difficult job to play oneself. Subhashini Ali is uncomfortable in the two scenes that she has in my film. I cast Brinda Karat because she’s a good actress. I was very sure about the faces and personalities I wanted. I must confess I auditioned 50-60 actresses for the title role. Being in LA I hadn’t seen any of Konkona Sen Sharma’s work, not even Mr & Mrs Iyer. I had gone to Konkona’s mother Aparna Sen to play the mother. She said she was no longer acting. Then she asked me about the daughter’s role and recommended Konkona. I needed an actress with depth and a lot of interior stuff going on. In Delhi, I finally saw Mr & Mrs Iyer, and right from the theatre’s parking lot I called Aparna. Konkona did an audition in Delhi. I immediately knew she was my heroine Kaju.
Q. What about the girl who plays Konkona’s childhood version?
A. As for the little girl who plays Konkona as a child, she was discovered by Brinda Karat. When we shot the riots she was terrified and she wouldn’t come. For the next riot sequence I got her father into a turban to play one of the rioters. Then I told the little girl, Apne papa ko dhundo.Woh udhar hain.?Then we got her real brother to play little Amu’s brother. Each time he was put on camera he wailed for his mother. That worked well for the film.