Director Anubhav Sinha’s film Mulk is easily the most discussed and debated Hindi film of 2018. This thought-provoking, intense, and layered social drama drew both critical acclaim and box-office success when it released in August 2018. While calling out the prevalent atmosphere of Islamophobia in India, the film is balanced in its portrayal of communal animosity and the feeling of victimhood.
Looking back at the making of Mulk, director Anubhav Sinha tells us an interesting story about signing on Rishi Kapoor for the film. Rishi Kapoor’s role as Murad Ali Mohammed is undoubtedly one of the finest in his career. Since Anubhav had never worked with Rishi Kapoor he was slightly nervous when he went to narrate the script of Mulk to him. The director also did not have an alternate actor in mind if Rishi Kapoor turned down the film. The first thing Rishi Kapoor said on seeing the script in Anubhav’s hand was “Are you going to narrate the whole script to me?” to which Anubhav said yes, but Rishi said “Just give me a 20 minute summary of the story, in our times the writers used to write the script on set while the shooting was on.”
So Anubhav then sat down and thought up of the 20 minute short narration of the film that he wanted to make and Rishi Kapoor loved the story as soon as he heard it. “There’s no hero in the film,” was Rishi’s first reaction, to which Anubhav said that there is you, there’s Taapsee, there’s me and there’s the script - these are the heroes of my film.
And that’s how Mulk started to roll.
If you haven’t caught Mulk yet, watch its world television premiere on Sunday, 25 November at 8pm on & Pictures.
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