Bollywood actor and producer John Abraham delves into the intricate world of modern warfare in his latest fact-based film, Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran, out in the UAE on May 24.
In 1998, India famously conducted three underground nuclear tests in a remote part of Rajasthan and declared to the world that it has nuclear weapons. It was an unexpected and sudden move that sent shock waves across the world and invited economic sanctions against India, but it was undoubtedly a historic development in proving the nation’s growing nuclear might.
Naturally, that covert operation was shrouded in secrecy, but Abraham and director Abhishek Sharma are determined to give us an authentic ringside view of how such a significant mission was carried out successfully.
It will play out like a terse high-stakes thriller, claims Abraham who plays the lead role of Captain Ashwat Rana. Everyone may know the ending, but his film will chronicle the treacherous path.
“There is so much of technical jargon in there and there are so many agencies like DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) and Isro (Indian Space Research Organisation) involved. So the big question remained about how we were going to encapsulate all that information and simplify it. Making all that information palatable was the most difficult job that we foresaw,” said Abraham in an interview over the phone.
Accompanying him in this irreversible feat is actress Diana Penty, who plays Captain Ambalika in Parmanu, which means atom. But she isn’t just a token woman in this testosterone-charged thriller, claims Penty.
The former model who has acted in films such as Cocktail and Happy Bhaag Jayegi and who grew up with an Army family background felt incredibly proud that she was approached for a role which required her to be a woman in uniform. She is no delicate darling in this film.
“It was a big feat that happened in 1998 in India and just the thought that I am in a movie that tells such an incredible story felt great. I have an equal footing here, just like the boys in this film and on the mission. The way he has written my character is that my capability was never in question because of my gender,” said Penty in a separate interview.
She saw films such as Zero Dark Thirty, the Hollywood hit that chronicled Osama Bin Laden’s capture, to prepare for her role.
But bringing Parmanu to the big screen was riddled with problems. Its release came into question when producer Abraham had a financial fallout with his production partner, KriArj Entertainment, which led to the film being delayed by more than 11 months (more on that later).
Excerpts from our interview with Abraham as he speaks about why his production was one of the toughest films of his career and why it isn’t a propaganda-driven thriller...
What should we know about Parmanu: The Story Of Pokhran?
I chanced upon this subject when my director Abhishek Sharma gave me a rough idea about the 1998 nuclear tests. My first thought was that this will be the most difficult film to pull off in my career. There’s so much of technical jargon in there. Making all that information palatable was the most difficult job I foresaw. But that was what lured me. I wanted this story about India conducting nuclear tests to connect with all. My intent was simple: when I decided to take on the project, I showed my team films such as Argo and Eye In The Sky and asked them what they inferred from them. They found them to be tense thrillers that made them wonder whether all those twists shown in those films would result in the mission being completed successfully. We were all clear that Parmanu — which means atom — should be such an edge-of-your-seat film that should make the viewers wonder if the mission that have embarked on will happen or not. Even if the end is very clear and we know the outcome, the process and the means to that end should be made interesting. But the by-product of watching Parmanu should also be that you come out of the cinemas saying ‘wow’ and feel proud that a nuclear espionage of such scale happened in our country twenty years ago. But the intent is that anyone who walks out of the film at the end should feel proud about being an Indian.
Nuclear operations are famously covert. How did you and your team gather information agencies that pride itself for their secrecy?
For the sake of confidentiality, I cannot reveal the names of the officials that we met. My director and team also met several of the officials from the agencies such as DRDO, Isro and the Indian army. There were times when we told categorically that certain details were matters of national secret and that information cannot be used in our film. We had guidelines as to what could be used in the film and we have completely respected them. For instance, we were told that the names of APJ Abdul Kalam [who had supervised the Pokhran-II explosions as the chief of the DRDO] or Rajagopala Chidambaram [physicist] cannot be used in the film. In a nutshell, I can tell you that 90 per cent of the film is accurate and that we have only fictionalised the names. What we have tried to simplify is the process so that it reaches the largest common denominator. It’s easy for five of us to sit in a theatre and say that we have made an intelligent film. For my pre-screening, I showed this film to three people who come from three different strata of society — an ex-Air Force officer, a school principal and a guy who served me tea. The Air Force official said that the film is accurate in the way the story has been told and the boy who served me tea told me in Hindi that this is one of the best films about India. He also said that he didn’t know that such an operation had happened in India and there were so many people involved in it. The principal felt that a chapter on that operation should be included in the syllabus so that every child knows why India is such a great country today. The point is that the film evoked such reactions. And what made me happy was that three people from three different sections of society enjoyed the film.
Can you think of any anecdotes during the filming?
When we did our research, we went to a small town near Pokhran called Khetolai in Rajasthan. I met a 65-year-old man and I was trying to draw details out of him. I asked him if he was around when the tests happened and he pointed to a wall of his house that was broken. Before I could say anything, he said: ‘my wall may have fallen down, but India made it big on that day.’ For me, I wanted my film to reach out to that man too. I don’t want to reach out to the South Mumbai person alone [alluding to the posh, cerebral crowd in Mumbai]. So director Abhishek Sharma has completely simplified the film and he has made sure that our film reached out to the most common denominator.
Since the film has patriotic undertones, were you worried that the film turns jingoistic or is reduced into a Pakistan-bashing film?
From the onset, we didn’t want to make a patriotic film. We were intent on entertaining the audience even if they don’t care about the Pokhran tests per se. The takeaway from my film is that they heads should be filled with a sense of awe about what India pulled off in 1998. My intent is not to make a patriotic film, but to make an honest, engaging thriller which is told with credibility and simplicity. It’s not a propaganda film. When I announced this film, they thought that I was making a flagship project for the Congress party, but I am not making this film for any political party. This is not an anti-Pakistan film or an anti-America or anti-China film. But the facts remain that America was testing their nuclear capability and so was China then. China was also supplying materials to Pakistan. These are facts known to everyone. We are not saying whether that’s good or bad.
This film has been a laboured project with your fallout over finances with your co-producer KriArj Entertainment. Did the movie suffer a lot?
Yes, there is going to be collateral damage when you don’t choose your partners rightly. I paid the price for it. I want to say it on record that I am thankful to the high court and the judge for ruling in my favour in just two minutes after he saw what I was going through. He didn’t want the film to suffer and wanted it to release smoothly. But we just didn’t have the requisite time to market this film. Dubai was one of our cities that we wanted to come and visit to promote the film. Unfortunately, we couldn’t due to this issue. But it is what it is.
Quote Unquote:
“I have been through a very rough patch as a producer. I am a smarter producer now. Now, I understand that you need to choose your partners right and understand where the money comes from. It is a lesson for all of us that we should not to go with people who promise you money, but choose people who are established players in the business.”
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Parmanu: The Story Of Pokhran releases in the UAE on May 24.
