Nikhil Nagesh Bhat decodes exploring strength of ‘a girl-next-door’ through thriller ‘Apurva’

New Delhi, Oct 31: Director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat says he wanted his latest film “Apurva” to be a cautionary tale for those who consider women “the weakest link” of society.
To drive the message home, the writer-filmmaker said he conceived the Chambal-set story as a thriller as he believes the genre is consumed a lot by the audience.
Starring Tara Sutaria in the title role, “Apurva” is the story of an ordinary woman who faces extraordinary circumstances and will do anything to survive. The film also features Abhishek Banerjee, Rajpal Yadav, and Dhairya Karwa.
“In a film like ‘Apurva’, our society is very misogynistic. What I wanted to tell (with this film) is that ‘Don’t think women are the weakest link’. Don’t treat them like that because you never know if a woman rises you’re in for trouble.
“If that message needs to be told in a way that’s acceptable that’s why it’s a thriller because it’s (a genre) that you consume a lot. That’s the kind of films which I want to say,” Bhat told PTI in an interview here.
The filmmaker, whose another thriller “Kill” received rave reviews at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), said he wrote the script for “Apurva” back in 2009.
“Unfortunately, a lot of incidents like this have been happening in our country and outside. The idea of the film is that you are having a very good time in your life and you are in a very happy state and suddenly one incident happens and it just changes everything in that matter of a second… This is how life is. One small incident just changes (everything).
“To put a girl-next-door in this situation and give that option that you can fight back is extremely important as a message with a lot of entertainment. It is intense but there’s a lot of entertainment, banter with Rajpal sir, Abhishek, Sumeet and Aditya, the four of them are there which makes it interesting as a film,” he added.
Bhat, also known for films such as “Brij Mohan Amar Rahe”, “Hurdang” as well as web series “Rasbhari” and “The Gone Game”, said he is currently concentrating on “Apurva” and “Kill”.
“I’ve done different kinds of genres… I don’t know what I’m going to do after this. I would say that I have not tasted blood yet,” he said.
Yadav, who plays one of the antagonists in “Apurva”, said it’s easy to play a character that’s “fully negative or fully comic”.
“The kind of character Nikhil ji has given us, it gets difficult. Life is like that. What you want to do, what situation you are in, what is happening or not happening according to you. You can’t accept it or get out of it. These characters may appear simple on the surface but you have to take care of a lot of things while playing them,” he said.
The actor said his character should not get any sympathy from the audience.
“All characters in this film are designed from Apurva’s point of view. It’s easy to carry a character when it’s one shade. When it comes to 3D characters, you learn as an actor and you get to see the director’s interpretation.
“If the message to society is clear from the film, there is no problem in playing such roles. The characters, played by Abhishek and I, are monsters for the society but if even 100 people have a change of heart after watching the film, that will be a win for ‘Apurva’,” he added.
Yadav, popular for his rib-tickling performances in films such as “Hungama” and “Bhool Bhulaiyaa”, also reflected upon the evolution of comedies in Indian cinema.
“Why do we need the comedies of that time? If there was no social media, Facebook or Instagram 10 years ago, that was the aura of 10 years (why those film snippets went viral)… Now, the whole world has become a small village. After COVID, the kind of innovative thoughts the young generation has… We are all new people.
“Today, there are attempts to do the best according to the situation. Maybe 10 years later, we say ‘Look at the kind of work we did post COVID and now’… We must also change depending on the situation and time at least in a decade. We were comfortable at that time (with the set-up), but we are more comfortable today,” he said.
“Apurva” will arrive on Disney+ Hotstar on November 15. (PTI)