Filmmaker Harry Baweja recently launched the teaser of 'Chaar Saahibzaade: The Rise of Banda Singh Bahadur', which is a sequel to his 2014 hit, 'Chaar Saahibzaade'. In an interview given to a national daily, the 'Diljale' director expressed his take on animation films in India.
The animation movie is about Banda Singh Bahadur, who was a Sikh military commander, his life and journey to martyrdom and Baweja has plans to make it into a trilogy. Talking about the difficulty of showing a story related to religion on screen, Baweja said, "If you talk about difficulty on a scale of 0 to 100, I would say 100. It is very difficult. You not only have to be careful about the religious committees who guide you but also about each and every member of the audience. Religion has different meaning for different people and there begins the problem. So you have to be very careful in satisfying all of them. It can be a huge task."
Baweja feels that the animation industry died in India and then woke up again with 'Chaar Saahibzaade'. He said, "I think every other movie was about either Ramayana or Mahabharata or Hanuman or Arjuna. You can't give the same story to the audience again and again. Finally a stage came when I realised that we've got to give them something different. India still is not ready to accept that animation is a story that everyone can go and watch in a theatre. People here still think animation movies are only for kids. That perception has to change. Unless that perception changes, it'll be very risky for a producer to make a film." He added, "Hollywood did not wake up in one day. What they have achieved now has taken them 80 years since Mickey Mouse was first introduced by Disney. It's has been only one year for me, so give me 79 more and I'll show you the change."
In the interview, Baweja opining about the 'Udta Punjab' controversy, said, "If at 18 years of age you are allowing me to choose which government I want then how can the government, through the Board, decide which movie should I see or not see? Categorise the movie and leave it there.
The audience is mature enough to choose what to watch and which not to. Give the audience the right to choose and don't curtail the freedom of the filmmaker."
The animation movie is about Banda Singh Bahadur, who was a Sikh military commander, his life and journey to martyrdom and Baweja has plans to make it into a trilogy. Talking about the difficulty of showing a story related to religion on screen, Baweja said, "If you talk about difficulty on a scale of 0 to 100, I would say 100. It is very difficult. You not only have to be careful about the religious committees who guide you but also about each and every member of the audience. Religion has different meaning for different people and there begins the problem. So you have to be very careful in satisfying all of them. It can be a huge task."
In the interview, Baweja opining about the 'Udta Punjab' controversy, said, "If at 18 years of age you are allowing me to choose which government I want then how can the government, through the Board, decide which movie should I see or not see? Categorise the movie and leave it there.
The audience is mature enough to choose what to watch and which not to. Give the audience the right to choose and don't curtail the freedom of the filmmaker."