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Exclusive interview with director Richie Mehta (Amal)
BY Alexandra Staseson
Perhaps it is the reverie of summer's season, but every so often we reflect back on those cinematic moments that we've cherished in the past, and wonder when we'll feel that way again...
And It is just then that a film comes along which, like a beautiful summer wind, picks us up along with it; into its cadence, into its tumult, and into its mysteriously sweet magic.
Like a warm wind, or even a tempest, invisible to the eye, its presence is made most known by the stirring of that which encounters it. The way it changes the shape of things and the way it moves whatever it touches. I believe that a good film moves through us, and we in turn, are moved through it.
AMAL, by director/co-writer Richie Mehta, opens in theatres August 8th and it is 'one of those films'. In my conversation with Richie, I was honored to learn how his film came to capture the hearts of audiences during festival fervour. Now, as AMAL is about to receive it's Canadian theatrical release, I invite you to read the generous insights into filmmaking and life that he has shared with me. His discussion will lend itself to the poignancy of the film AMAL when you see it. And here, he so generously shares with us the inspiring journey of making such a piece. After seeing the film, I hope you feel the same as so many whose hearts were swept away by this film.
Sincerely,
Alexandra Staseson
Alexandra:
AMAL is a rare gem of a film, with intrinsic beauty in the storytelling which in turn, moves us. What in your opinion makes AMAL a universal story? It has, and continues to touch the hearts and lift the spirits of many.This is why First Weekend Club is honored to support the crucial opening weekend of the film on August 8th. Why do you want people to see this film?
Richie Mehta:
We made this film for a simple underlying reason - to challenge the viewer's perception and definition of "wealth." This is something we infused in every scene of the film - it is always about money or going after that thing that makes you happy, which may or may not be genuine. I think these issues - which all relate back to what makes you happy, are very much in the zeitgiest right now. Its the most common conversation I find myself having in every day life - what do you want to do with your life, what are you striving for? And with AMAL, we used a rickshaw driver's life as a comparison point - someone who lives so far away from our Westernized life and lifestyle, and asked these questions, to illustrate how all of us - no matter where we live - are after that same thing.
Alexandra:
What was the inspiration behind you and your brother writing the script AMAL? You had first made it as a short film? DId you intend also to make it a feature or did it just keep knocking at your door asking to be made into something more?
Richie Mehta:
It was intended to be an exercise short film, and it certainly wouldn't let me go at least. I think I infected the rest of our team with my obsession over its themes, which Shaun (my brother) had originally unearthed in his short story. But it was the reaction to our short film - audiences were divided in a very good way as to whether the ending was positive or negative as we had hoped - that warranted in my mind another shot, and a really strong effort to expose these themes to broader audiences.
Alexandra:
Perhaps your wisdom will help film-makers and artists who have thought about making a short film with the intentions of seeing their feature's fruition. What was the process like, going from short to feature? Would you do it again? Was it easier in some regards? How was it perhaps more of a challenge?
Richie Mehta:
It was very time consuming to write. The thing is, as Shaun and I expanded it, we asked ourselves every day why are we doing this? We've already done it, so is this just a vanity thing and have we really run out of ideas in our 20s? That prompted us to go for broke and really make sure the project was worth doing. Each scene had to not only serve the central, very simple theme, but also be interesting by itself and cinematic. The idea was if we were going to ask the audience to give us 5 times as much time to end up with a similar point, we had to make sure we made it worth their while.
In terms of the production side, it's no comparison. It would be the same as comparing the short film experience to running a 100 meter race against your friends after school, while the feature is running a marathon in the Olympics. It took more stamina, more concentrated creative and emotional energy, more patience, more resources, than anything I could have imagined. People tell you this before hand, how different it will be, but one has to go through the gauntlet to feel it.
Alexandra:
You shot AMAL in New Delhi, India. What was the largest challenge to deal with while trying to ' take your Canadian film overseas to shoot?' Was the pre-production much different than you would have expected?
Richie Mehta:
It was far bigger than I'd imagined. I'm used to being self-sufficient, and if I need to shoot something small, with minimal crew, I can manage. But here, we had gotten three Indian stars to participate, so we had to provide the infrastucture to support them - which wasn't that outlandish - but we needed to make sure they had what they needed to perform. And that meant we had to up our game (all of us - Steven Bray and David Miller, the producers) and create a stable infrastructure in Delhi. It helped that I had family and friends to support us, but we were bringing 30-odd crew members from India, hiring just as many Indians, shooting 45 locations in 29 days, and casting more than 40 speaking parts in Hindi and English, it was just big for us first-timers. And many of our backers were uncertain as to whether we could pull it off, that was a tough thing to get through - the idea that it was do or die and we were alone in India doing this. But perhaps that was why the film came together.
Alexandra:
Westerners who visit India often feel a 'culture shock' so to speak when adapting to the pace of a different set of variables. So here you were, taking an entire film, AMAL, to India! Was there a 'film-culture' shock? How did people respond to you? How did you react and respond to the conditions you may have faced?
Richie Mehta:
I was used to it as I had spent many months there over the last 4 years, some on the short film, some on development on the feature. I speak Hindi, and I can blend in with no problem. But there were issues with some of the crew. We were very clear going into it that it would be an adventure, and we meant it. India's a place where if you spend enough time and allow yourself to really be there, you will learn more about yourself than you could imagine. You see the best and worst of what we are capable of being and doing in the same frame, right in front of you on a minute-by-minute basis, and it tests you in very tangible ways. To ask a skilled crew to perform their tasks optimally in these conditions is a lot to ask for, and some were not prepared. That was a real issue for us during production. Ironically, the Indians were very welcoming and open to us doing our thing, and gave us no opposition (at least none I can write of!)
Alexandra:
Was there ever a time, even a moment when you doubted yourself, or AMAL when say, an obstacle had you questioning the purpose or the path this film was on? What was it that gave you the notion to keep going and to see the life of the film stay true to it's spirit? How did you physically overcome the obstacle? And now, in hindsight, does that obstacle seem changed in size?
Richie Mehta:
There were many times. About two weeks before shooting, we lost our lead actress, and we were on the brink of losing the entire project. I remember thinking to myself we were so close to achieving everything we had worked for our entire lives, and equally as close to losing it. That's a very strange place to be, but we managed to figure things out by not over reacting. There were also the daily moments when I'd wake up with a fever (I was ill the first two weeks of production), take a cold shower (from my trickling tap) and as I shivered at three in the morning (North-Indian winter nights are freezing) I'd ask why are we doing this...what could possibly be worth all of this discomfort and solitude. Even when I saw David and Steven in those days, we were all in bad shape, physically and mentally. Here we were, trying to make a film about a rickshaw driver that we thought had these profound ideas about life, and we were putting ourselves through cheese graters to get there. In the end, again, I think this helped the film stay on path - there was far too much at stake for us to drop the ball. In hindsight you forget those sensations of course, and oddly enough I yearn to put myself back in those situations.
Alexandra:
I found some director's notes you've made that were interesting. You mention that "Amal", the film's lead character who, ..."Oblivious to concepts of greed and control, and subject to notions entrenched within Hindu doctrine, has accepted his duty in the world. Every incident and character in the film reflects his attitude and shows the friction that this type of attitude can generate." ... Will you expand on this ?
Richie Mehta:
Sure, Amal sticks to very simple rules that concern his routine, and those rules are unique to him in a survival-of-the-fittest world. (For example, NOT ripping people off to make a few more bucks and live a slightly better life). But when everyone around you is getting paid more, is able to go a little further with that money, and you're left in the dust because of it, who really wins? Is it the guy who never compromised his integrity, or the guy that had an extra five bucks in his pocket. Now when the one with integrity gets rewarded for that - in a currency that you covet - that can create all kinds of problems. But in Amal's case, it doesn't matter, simply because he's not comparing himself to others. That's one of the crux's of the film - As long as we compare our own success to others around us, your views of yourself and of the world will be skewed. I don't mean to sound like a preacher here, but these are some of the ideas that informed his character, and we tried to keep those in mind as we drafted his motives in each scene.
Alexandra:
How are you like the character Amal? Which parts of the 'way of life' according to the Hindu doctrine are most inspiring to you? Do you have a personal sense of duty in the world? If you aren't sure what it may be, what would you ideally hope would be your purpose? Have you always felt that way?
Richie Mehta:
Haha, I don't know how much like AMAL I am...I'd like to say I'd refuse a tip and not be devious in any way, but I'm a rather shrewd person (one has to be in the film world to get their way, especially as a director). But I do believe very strongly in the notion that if you listen to your instinct, and take every opportunity to follow the path it guides you towards (which takes a hell of a lot of discipline and effort) than the world will faciliate that decision. I've lived enough strange coinicidences that have made everything I've wanted in life to happen that I believe this.
I've always felt this way yes, but only in the last few years, as I worked on AMAL and really learned about myself, I've learned how to articulate these thoughts. At the same time, I also believe strongly in something that a teacher once told me - the film world (and essentially, the world itself) will take everything away from you at some point. It will rob you of your self-confidence, ego, pride, money, perception of reality, you name it. The only thing it cannot take from you - which is the one thing YOU can give away - is your integrity. I suppose that is a trait Amal has.
Alexandra:
Tell us a little about the casting of the film AMAL? How did you come to cast Rupinder Nagra as Amal? At which moment did you KNOW that he was Amal? What do you see as his strongest gift as an artist/actor? And also as an actor who works in the film medium and all it's from a technical on-set stand-point?
Richie Mehta:
I met Rupinder at the Reelworld film festival in 2003 in Toronto. We hung out, laughed, watched movies - saw some we loved, and some we didn't - and realized that we could do work that could get seen at this festival. My brother had just written AMAL the short story, and I asked Rup to read it with the idea of him playing the lead character and us going to India with a skeleton crew to shoot it as an exercise. He loved it, and spear-headed a fund-raiser to get some money to shoot the film, and we went. After the film was received so well, and Shaun and I expanded the screenplay, we always knew Rup would play Amal, so we based a lot of the characteristics of the feature character on Rup himself. He is that nice a guy, that sweet a person. On set, he was a pillar of support - any time I needed anything of him I knew I could depend on him. He became an expert on rickshaw drivers, and the greatest thing beyond that he brought was that in all the turmoil and madness of shooting on the streets, with all the uncertainty of what we faced, he would never let us down.
Alexandra:
What is the most funny, serendipitous or notable incident you can share with us about your time in India filming AMAL?
Richie Mehta:
There are so many. It could be the moment we shot the cow eating from a merchant's flower bag during the chase scene. We had hired a cow handler to bring his cow to eat the flour, and we literally had 10 minutes to shoot the scene. There was mumblings of cutting the joke as we didn't have time, but it was important to me - these little moments made up the fabric of the film. So we're ready for the shot, but the cow and the handler didn't show! It was disheartening. But in true India fashion, a stray cow walked by and started eating the flour. We did the shot three time, all great, and when we wrapped the real cow-handler and his cow showed, but we didn't need him. Among other moments, we had to shoot while crowds of thousands of onlookers surrounded us (and straddled the outskirts of the frame). But while it sounds like it was all haphazard, we were so adament about what we wanted to capture on screen, were able to seize any opportunity that arose.
Alexandra:
With AMAL, You've really illustrated to us how the sky is the limit. How inspiring! On the subject of "dreaming big", what is your 'dream film' to make someday?
Richie Mehta:
I would love to make a film on a Jules Verne novel. He dreamed far bigger than anyong I can imagine, and I'd love to take one of his visions and translate it. The most amazing aspect of his novels is the poetry of his language, even in simple description. It's not something I find in any recent novels of the past few years, or decades for that matter. I'd also love to do a version of "The Merchant of Venice," although I find Michael Radford's adaptation superb - I'd love to put myself through the ringer on that play. But before all of that, I have my own projects - a personal sci-fi film, a fantasy film, and a big baseball film I need to do, which I will as soon as possible.
Alexandra:
What would you say to aspiring film-makers, artists, and anyone who has the inspiration and heartfelt desire to do something much larger than they could possibly know how to facilitate, or have the resources to take-on? From your wisdom-through-experience, what can you share that you see as a crucial yet tangible element towards manifesting life- from a simple heart-felt intention into it's potential?
Richie Mehta:
Persistence is crucial, but there are many other factors. I think people underestimate just how much goes into making that thing in your mind, that intangible dream, a reality. It's not as simple as 'I want this,' and then it happens. The process of working towards it is so time consuming and lengthy, it becomes your lifestyle. So if you enjoy working 20 hour days, integrating your social life into your work, focusing 100% (and I really mean that) into this, you can make that happen. And since that process is within your control, you will have achieved that lifestyle as you wished. Anything else - connecting with the audience, making something that clicks, is bonus, as I suppose it is in my case so far. But those elements are out of your hands, so you can't rely on them to keep you happy.
Many thanks to director Richie Mehta for sharing his insights and experiences with us. I encourage you to support AMAL during its AUGUST 8th opening weekend, and beyond.
Please feel free to share this article, e-mail, post on your blog or website, and help us to support AMAL in the coming weeks!
Save me a seat?
Alexandra@FirstWeekendClub.ca
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