I Wanted the Climax of Stree to Be a Talking Point: Amar Kaushik

“I wanted my film to be feminist without being didactic,” says the director of Stree.

Helmed by Amar Kaushik, Stree turns on its head a regressive urban legend. The director opened up to The Quint about the film.

Helmed by Amar Kaushik, Stree turns on its head a regressive urban legend. The director opened up to The Quint about the climax of the film starring Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor and Pankaj Tripathi, the sequel in the works, setting the film in central India, the criticism about an item number in a film with feminist aims, his journey into Bollywood as an outsider and more.

Q: A horror comedy is a curious choice for a debut, given the reputation of the genre? Is it your favourite genre? Was Stree meant to be your debut or did it just happen?

Amar Kaushik: I have always loved horror films. Horror comedy is not really an established genre in Bollywood. Raj & DK, who are the writers and the producers, approached me with the script and asked me if I’d like to direct it. I was so happy since it’s a first-of-a-kind genre. Of course there was, Bhool Bhulaiyaa. I was very excited to be able to do something different in my first film. It was also very challenging because there was no reference point. We had to grapple with many questions - how much should we scare the audience and just how many laughs should we aim for? How should we craft it in a way that one emotion does not overpower the other. It was risky but since it was my first film, there was no fear. We decided, Har scene ko ek film samajh ke kaam karenge.

Q: What were the challenges you faced in making the audience laugh and in terrifying them in equal measure while keeping the tone of the film consistent?

AK: When we were doing the shot breakdown, I had to keep in mind that I am not going too much into horror. In horror films generally, you set the mood for half an hour and then suddenly something happens. I didn’t have the time to set it up. I wanted to create horror with dialogue. Rudra, Pankaj Tripathi’s character sets the tone. Sumit Arora has done a fine job.

The horror had to be reflected on their faces. The horror is - chudail uthake leke jayegi and the humour is in chudail nanga utha ke le jayegi.

I was very clear while constructing the scene as to when I wanted horror in a particular scene and when I’d like to induce laughs. In the scene, where they are downing alcohol and making their way into the old fort, the background score and the mood sparked horror but then suddenly when the proceedings start to get too serious, they almost trip on a rat in a way that it makes you laugh.

I had to get back into horror mode in the sequence again for Stree’s entry. I had to shoot it without any comic expressions and VFX then. So what was crucial at that point was a silence of 15 seconds. These measured tactics constitute craft. You have to know your scenes and transitions.

Rajkummar Rao in a still from the film. (Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

Q: When you think horror comedy, the recent films that come to mind are Great Grand Masti and Golmaal Again. But you managed to weave in a subversive tale. Must have been a tightrope walk - the horror, the comedy, the message - what was non-negotiable?

AK: My upbringing in Indian cinema is such that, I’ve never worked on anything crass or deprecatory - be it Aamir or No One Killed Jessica (on which I assisted). That’s the influence of the kind of filmmakers I have worked with. I didn’t want people to just laugh and leave the theatre. So a message was very important for me but I didn’t want to be preachy.

I didn’t want a character to sermonise. I wanted to hold a mirror up to the audience and the society with this film. Audience ko pyar se samjhaoge toh woh samjhegi. (The audience will get your message if you take the compassionate route). I wanted my film to be feminist without being didactic. I am lucky that this was flawlessly weaved into the film by the writers. I will continue to make films that translate my sensibilities without being in-your-face with the message. 

Going by my previous short film, Aaba, about an old man awaiting his demise, people were skeptical about me dabbling in comedy. But I was sure that a few days after watching it, a lot of subliminal themes would reveal themselves to the viewer - the fact that men have to wear sarees in the film, the dialogue, ‘yes means yes’, Naye Bharat ki Chudail - all these details have a purpose.

Q: How familiar were you with the world of Chanderi and its people before setting the film there?

AK: I grew up in Arunachal Pradesh but my grandfather stayed in Kanpur and I completed by graduation there. I love driving there. I think I was going to Gwalior. Late into the night, I stopped at a very eerie place. I stayed overnight at a guesthouse and then next day, I found out that it was Chanderi, famed for its sarees.

With the small fort overlooking the town, the imagery and the vibe of Chanderi stayed with me. When we started discussing the film, I knew I wanted to take the story to Central India. A six-hour drive from Bhopal, we went for a recee to Chanderi. I was told that no film has been shot there yet. After getting there, I could see every scene from my film unravel there, unfolding in the lanes and I knew that Stree was meant to be shot here. The producers were concerned that the place was too far but when I Whatsapped the images to them, they were immediately on board. I didn’t want to shoot the film in a fictitious place. The viewers can’t relate to made-up places.

Q: You grew up in Arunanchal Pradesh? Has that informed your work in any way? What was it like for you as an outsider who worked his way into the industry?

AK: Being an outsider had its advantages. I didn’t have to please anyone - chacha, mama or fufa from the industry. My experience as a person from a small town helped me survive in this industry. There was no such pressure on me. Of course, there was that anonymity too. I started with a TV show and then went on to work on Aamir as an Assistant Director.

I knew that it is not so easy to break through and direct a Bollywood film. I have observed a lot of people on sets and read a lot about them making it in this industry. I didn’t mind waiting to make a film for ten or fifteen years. All I could do was - work hard, try to write, meet people and be integral to my work. I was very happy working as an AD too. That was my learning. I wouldn’t call it my struggle. Yes, there was a time when I didn’t have a place to stay or enough to eat. I overcame that. I wouldn’t romanticise it by calling it a struggle. It was my experience and I was sure it would count in the future.

Behind-the-scenes of Stree.(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

Q: From being an assistant director to working with non-actors in your short film, Aaba to being a debut feature director working with actors like Rajkummar Rao - did the experience of being on sets change? How?

AK: I’ve been in the industry for 10-12 years. Being mindful and observing people helped me learn a lot. I learned to manage people on the sets during the course of the assistantgiri I did. But when you are sitting in the director’s chair, it’s a huge responsibility. While working on Aaba, I went to Arunchal Pradesh, where I grew up. I wanted to test the waters and see where I stand, I wanted to assess my skills as a filmmaker. Working with non-actors in my short film helped me discern if I’m able to extract good performances. I didn’t have to worry about returns with Aaba. I didn’t have to prove anything to anyone but myself. Can I make something that’s worth watching? But things were drastically different on the film set of Stree.

There were 200 people looking to me - the director for guidance, be it the sound guy, DOP, actors - they were watching my every move. That seat in front of the monitor felt like a challenge. There was an awareness that the producer’s money is riding on your decisions. When the call time was 9 am on the first day, I arrived on the sets at 7 am to absorb the mix of gratitude and edginess, I was feeling - a culmination of so many years of watching films to now making my debut feature. After that I shed all the pressure. My job was easier because of the formidable cast. When you are in show business, entertaining the audience, it has to be a fun set. I used my experience as an AD to create that environment. 

Director Amar Kaushik considers the script as his bible.(Photo: Amar Kaushik)

Q: This film has on board two directors who have written the film - Raj & DK and the producer is also someone who has turned director recently. What was their creative involvement in the film?

AK: They are seniors, trained directors. So their inputs were valuable. But once the script was locked, they placed their trust in me and told me, ‘This is your film now, take it forward’. When Dinesh Vijan and Raj and DK saw the rushes of the first few days and saw that I was on the right track, there was no message or phone call from them with any suggestions or instructions. There was a sense of freedom and confidence. But I consider the script, a bible and follow it.

A still from Stree.(Photo Courtesy: Facebook)

Q: Which was the toughest scare to shoot? Is there anything you’d have done differently?

AK: I asked myself this question when the film was being edited. The way I wanted to make this film - I was able to do justice to it. Perhaps a few years down the line, the gift of hindsight may lead me to think of a few scenes that I could better. But today, I wouldn’t change anything about it.

Some people have issues about the climax but I completely stand by it. I wanted the climax to be a talking point. I didn’t want the run-of-the-mill ‘happily ever after’ ending. I want people to arrive at their own conclusions. As a film enthusiast, I would love to explore the possibilities and the ‘whys’ behind ambiguous scenes. And I longed to have an end for my film that fuelled this kind of curiosity and here I am! 

The interval point where the Stree abducts the friend, that was the first scare that I was shooting and I enjoyed it immensely. We were shooting that at around 12.30 - 1 am and Abhishek Bannerjee channeled this visceral fear on his face. There was a deafening silence and we were kind of living that scare. Fear was in the air. Barring the face of Stree, we haven’t used VFX in the film. It was all live shooting.

Pankaj Tripathi and Aparshakti Khurana during the promotions of the film. (Photo Courtesy: Facebook)

Q: There is this desi, Ramsay, old-school horror influence in your film...

AK: Absolutely. I have grown up on Bollywood films. I started watching world cinema only about seven years ago, when I came to Mumbai. Before that, I lived in Arunachal Pradesh and then Kanpur. I would be terrified of the Ramsay films and the sound of the Zee Horror Show theme. So yes, that influence is there.

Bollywood aur regional cinema mere andar bhara hua hai. When you think of contemporary horror films, the template is - a quaint, isolated location, a big bungalow, a strong breeze sends the curtains flying, the lights go off and the spirit arrives. I wanted to veer away from that and dig into relatable, desi horror. A desi chudail (witch) wandering the streets alone - the same streets that people regularly tread instilling a fear in the residents of that locality. I wanted my desi bhoot to wear an old Chanderi saree. 

Q: Was the climax deliberately designed to accommodate the idea of a sequel?

AK: There was definitely this idea of a sequel. We didn’t want a ‘The End’ to the film. We may start writing the sequel soon. But I liked the idea of leaving the film on that note, where we don’t know who has come back. Which chudail has returned? I think now we will answer the questions in the sequel.

Q: Critics seem to have a common grouse against the film - for a film that has larger feminist aims, there’s a token item number and that Shraddha Kapoor’s character is rather passive. How would you react to this criticism?

AK: The idea of including an item number in the film is to let the audience in on the mindset of the residents of the town. It also tells you why Stree comes there at that time every year. They wait for the whole year for a girl to come and dance during this festival. I wanted to weave in the story within the song. Here you can see that it’s the gaze of the witch who is observing her surroundings.

The idea was to depict ki ladke masti kar rahe hain. Then you find out how the first person to be abducted is the person who wanted to exploit the woman who comes there. You later join the dots to find out the motivation of Stree, her back story.

As for Shraddha, she is always there. She wanted to get things done by the squad of men. Critics and viewers will understand why Shraddha was passive in some parts, in the sequel.