Suman Ghosh’s film Kabuliwala has established a deep connection with the audience. The streak of houseful shows persisted and the film also garnered high ratings on platforms like BookMyShow. Audiences spanning all age groups have showered the film with overwhelmingly positive reviews, fostering an emotionally charged atmosphere during hall visits for the cast and crew. A t2 chat with Suman...

What is your biggest takeaway from the feedback you got for Kabuliwala?

What I found striking was that we got box-office success, critical acclaim and an amazing audience reaction. I follow the BookMyShow rating and there the rating for Kabuliwala was 9.1. That was hugely satisfying. In a sense, it was a win-win situation for us. I was very surprised by some of the reactions on social media and in private messages. A lot of people wrote long messages to me about their fathers or long-lost elderly people. Kabuliwala apparently gave them that same feeling... an emotional impact was created in them. It was very pleasing to get such first-hand reactions from the audience.

How was the response when you visited the theatres?

I have seen the film two or three times with the audience. I wanted to experience the film with the audience. From Nandan to Star Theatre to INOX, South City, what was very surprising was that after the film was over people started clapping. It was unexpected to me. It was a direct indication of how the audience loved the film.

What did Mithun Chakraborty have to say about the reaction?

Mithunda said that we had taken a big challenge. Bengalis are very sensitive and possessive about the text. From his perspective, he said that Chhobi Biswas and Balraj Sahni, two of the icons of Indian cinema, had played Kabuliwala before him. He was a bit apprehensive. But now he feels that we have done it. No one compared our film to Tapan Sinha’s film. That was very pleasing. Of course, I had that sense of responsibility when I was doing Kabuliwala. Mithunda said that in his career he has never got such praise as he is getting for Kabuliwala.

Were you surprised by some of the reactions?

I made Kabuliwala for a specific reason... celebrating love which is independent of religion, language, and country. This world is going through such turmoil. It needs to be celebrated what binds us as human beings. The fatherly love is independent of the country. An Israeli father feels the same as a Palestinian father. A Muslim father feels the same as a Hindu father for their children. So celebrating that pure innocent love was very necessary. It was very important to make this film.

Take us through the poignant climax sequence of the film. How did you design it?

We had designed everything beforehand. But I wanted to keep a sense of spontaneity in the climax. I want to give the entire credit to Mithunda. So, when he did this scene, it was so perfect... the way he performed it. I broke down on set and it was a bit embarrassing. Usually when Mithunda shoots such an important scene he secludes himself. But before he shot the climax scene he was cracking jokes. I found that very odd. It was very unlike Mithunda. I had worked with him in Nobel Chor before.

Later I asked him about this process. He asked, “You noticed that?” I said: “Of course.” He had rehearsed the scene with me many times... its emotional arc... a lot of dialogues were created through jamming between me and Mithunda.

He said that on the day of the shoot he had felt nervous. During rehearsal, he had cried at an early stage of the scene. “Where is the control over my craft?” he said. Mithunda felt that he should make the audience cry. “I should not cry,” he said. Then he decided to clear his mind... that’s why he was joking around. He started from a clean slate.

At the very end, when he shouts, “O Kabuliwala, O Kabuliwala” and walks away... that was impromptu. Abir (Chatterjee) later told me that he could not stop his tears. That is the magic of Mithun Chakraborty. He always keeps something for the moment.

When he shot that last scene, that anguish was so deep... during dubbing he said that it was sounding too melodramatic. I told him that I was not getting that anguish in his voice. After dubbing for two-three times, he realised what I was aiming for. Then he delivered a minor crack... in his voice... and that anguish came out. I told him it was perfect. It was a lesson in how to use the technique of acting to bring out the right emotion. It had the power to hit your heart.

What was the most challenging sequence for you to shoot?

The last scene... because a lot of what the audience would take home depended on the last scene. I was very alert that the pitch, tone... everything should be correct in that scene. That is the kick of working with an actor like Mithun Chakraborty.

Why did you set the story in 1965?

The general environment which you see now... there is a lot of mistrust between people. Abir’s character also says something similar. I did not want to situate the story now. I needed to push it to a certain period where it was not that far away but it will capture the situation we are in this world now. Also, the India-Pakistan war happened in 1965 and there was a general distrust of the other. There was a war going on, it was an uncertain time.

In hindsight, are there certain things that you would like to change about the film?

Not really... I had thought a lot for six months before we got on the floor. We had a lot of discussions. I got everything that I wanted. Kudos to SVF for that.

What happened to Razia?

I did not want to complete that story. Tagore’s story also did not do that. Will he get to see Razia again? Will Razia recognise him? Those questions are best left unanswered.

What is the genesis of Kabuliwala?

This journey started three years back when I was in Bombay and I wanted to meet Mithunda because my book on Soumitra Chatterjee was on the verge of release and I needed a blurb from him. He invited me on to the set of one of the reality shows he was doing with Karan Johar and Parineeti Chopra. I met him after a long gap of 10 years because in the interim he was out of circulation. I asked him whether he was interested in doing a Bengali film. I found it very touching when he said: ‘Tui jodi amake bolish tahole na korbo ki kore bol?’ Then I told him that I had thought of making Kabuliwala but I would only do it with you. I could sense from his body language that he was interested. For me, if he would not agree to play the role, I would not do the film. I had no immediate plans of doing Kabuliwala. I was supposed to do another film.

Later, when I was chatting with Shrikant Mohta, I told him that my dream is to make Kabuliwala one day with Mithun Chakraborty. But I also told him that I would only write the script once Mithunda agreed. And that is how the journey started. I called Mithunda and told him that Shrikant was also very interested in collaborating with him. I asked Mithunda: ‘Tumi amay bolo whether I should write the script or not.’ Then he told me to start writing it. So then I knew that the project was on. I started my research after that.