Geetu Mohandas: Oscar was a “secret desire”

Basking in the glory of her debut film, Liar’s Dice, representing India at next year’s Academy Awards, Geetu Mohandas laughed as much as she talked during a long, late-night interview with tabloid!. In between, she excused herself to go live on TV channels relentlessly pursuing her on her big day, or to calm her infant daughter craving for attention. The telephonic interview ended when she told me that she was about to drop dead holding the receiver in one hand. Excerpts:

An English title for a Hindi film is rather unusual.

Liar’s Dice is a pirates’ gambling game of cups and dice. The title packs a lot but can’t be translated into Hindi. So I have retained the working title. The film is actually a bilingual in Hindi and a little known Himachali dialect.

What are the Oscar prospects for Liar’s Dice? Do you know the films yours will be pitted against?

Frankly, I don’t know what lies ahead. Liar’s Dice’s competitors, I gather, are several films which like mine, participated at Sundance in January 2014. We picked up five international awards in various festivals before the Film Federation of India [FFI] jury unanimously chose Liar’s Dice to represent India.

Did you have an inkling that the FFI jury will pick your debut feature film?

I had a big hunch and a secret desire that has been fulfilled. I knew the race would be tough as there were strong films by distinguished directors in the fray. But my stars shone. Luck obviously played a part in my success. I thought the jury would pick Nagraj Manjule’s Fandry. In fact, Fandry is the only other film besides mine which I have seen. It’s awesome. I watched it a few days ago on board a Singapore Airlines flight while returning home after the Japan Nara international film festival. l was touched by the genuineness of the director and his story-telling technique. I thought Fandry is the best film among the 30.

What are your film’s strengths and weaknesses?

Weaknesses are only for me to know. I am not sharing them. Strength-wise, various aspects appeal to different people. There is an undercurrent of politics in the film, and a romance between two unlikely characters.

Would you call yourself a left-wing filmmaker?

Why not? I’m from a hybrid, vibgyor family holding lots of political views. Let’s say I’m discovering my own ideology and political persuasion. My father and my husband have very clear, but diametrically opposed political views. So I’m caught between the devil and the deep sea.

Is a cinematographer spouse a solid second line of defence for a director?

Oh yes — no doubts about it. He is my eye. He understands the director and her vision and executes it. It’s a hand-in-glove existence.

Is representing India at the Oscars a bigger honour than the two National awards your film received?

The two can’t be compared really. My husband Rajeev Ravi got the best cinematographer National award for his camera work in Liar’s Dice, while Geetanjali Thapa picked [up] the Best Actress award. But the Oscars and National awards juries are different. I have grown up watching, applauding and aspiring for National awards as an actor before I became a director. In that sense, National awards are very special. Anyway, awards are only an icing on the cake.

Yes, the cake is more important than the icing. And you seem to have baked an excellent cake.

[Laughs] Thank you for the compliment. I thoroughly enjoyed the process of making a decent film. I’m amazed that I have reached somewhere with a small film which nobody wanted to fund not too long ago. So, it was a big struggle. But I had a dream. Awards were never on my agenda but they are certainly a validation for the hard work. I’m overwhelmed by the recognition. But I do remember being asked to explain why there are no stars or songs in Liar’s Dice. Of course, I refused to compromise. My faith in myself never wavered because I foresaw a magical climax if I persisted.

What are your favourite films and who are directors you admire?

That’s a tough question considering that everyone in the industry is a friend. Many short films have impressed me. I travel a lot and get to see plenty of world cinema. But the films we usually name as our favourites are the ones we remember instantly when questioned, but they are not necessarily films which have impressed us the most. So one has to think long and hard to do justice to our most memorable films.

— S.N.M. Abdi, an Indian journalist and commentator, writes for Gulf News.