coronavirus The pandemic not only delayed work on “Lioness”, a satirical thriller on conservation, but also helped the team realize that they wanted to go for a different ending, which served as a wake-up call to the audience. Will work in me, says director Amit Masurkar
Hailed for its subtle exploration of human-animal conflict and patriarchy in society, “Lioness” follows Vidya Vincent (Vidya Balan), a forest officer who is tasked with capturing and relocating a man-eating tigress alive.
Masurkar, known for the National Award-winning “Newton” and “Sulaimani worm”, said it was writer Aastha Tiku’s idea to end the film with a horrifying picture of a possible future if humans do not change their ways.
“There are no easy solutions to these problems. In a film about conservation, we have to leave a question with the audience – what are we doing for others and for ourselves?” We had a happy ending in the earlier draft But when the pandemic struck, Aastha thought that the film would have to end with a wake-up call. She had once visited the taxidermy section of the museum in Mumbai and realized that the scene was the right place to be filmed, The filmmaker told PTI in an email interview.
Masurkar said the idea to make a film on conservation also came from Tiku.
“We were discussing several views on this subject for the last three-four years. We wanted to say that it is easy to destroy nature, but its conservation requires a lot of effort from the entire community.”
The film also explores the duality of human nature and the director stated that no character can be labeled simply as “Black or White”.
“Everyone has shades of grey. And we humans are part of nature – we are connected and we have to coexist.”
The functioning of the bureaucracy and its systemic rot appears to be one of the underlying themes in Masurkar’s films and in the case of “Lioness”, he also deals with patriarchy and sexism.
According to the director, it was a “coincidence” that Newton (starring Rajkummar Rao) and Vidya’s Vidya Vincent are both government officials.
“It gives me an opportunity to explore the intricacies of power and the different dynamics that arise from it. Patriarchy and sexism – these are themes that are seen in every movie because they are part of the society we live in. How the filmmaker explores it is his choice.”
Like his previous film, the acclaimed dark comedy “Newton”, shot in the jungles of Chhattisgarh, “Lioness” has also been shot on location in the jungles of neighboring Madhya Pradesh this time.
When asked if the two films are connected in any way, Masurkar said that both the films are in the jungle, but on different themes.
“Where ‘Newton’ is related to democracy, ‘Lioness’ is related to conservation and cooperation. ‘Lion’ is set in an area near the forest where a tigress (lioness is the Persian and Hindi word for tigress) who lives with her. She has been displaced from the original habitat, is trying to settle down. She comes in contact with the human inhabitants of that area and this sets up a chain of unfortunate events,” he explained.
The shooting of the film was halted in March 2020 in view of the nationwide lockdown induced by the coronavirus.
The cast and crew shot two-thirds of the film once the lockdown was lifted, under strict COVID-19 protocols.
“We wore PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) suits and face-shields during the indoor scenes as the actors were unmasked during the takes. We were in a bio bubble, and anyone who joined us had to be tested and quarantined. The post-production was also done remotely and we only met at the end when we were finalizing the color grades and sound mixing,” Masurkar said.
He said that due to these measures, there were zero COVID-19 cases on the sets.
‘Lion’ also stars Vijay Raaz, Brijendra Kala, Sharat Saxena, Neeraj Kabi, Ila Arun and Mukul Chaddha and the director says he is fortunate to have got this incredible ensemble of actors.
“Vidya immediately got on board when Aastha and I shared the story with her. At the writing level we had in mind Sharat Saxena for the hunter and Brijendra Kala for the master of Vidya. Other actors were suggested by the casting directors. Both Vijay Raj and Neeraj Kabi are crazy about nature. He is talented and can play any role!” said Masurkar.
He also credited casting directors Romil and Tejas for getting the right mix of actors for the film.
“His colleagues organized acting workshops for interested locals and created a pool of talent.”
About releasing “Lioness” on Amazon Prime Video amid the pandemic, Masurkar said that with theaters shut, the streamer was the “best option”.
“The film reaches over 200 countries simultaneously. The response has been great,” he said.
Next up for the director is a web series, which reunites him with Tiku.
“Aastha Tiku and I are making an OTT series. It is being written as we speak.”
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