Exclusive: Ram Kamal Mukherjee on 1770: The core subject is the love for the motherland and that is timeless and universal

To mark the 150 years of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Vande Mataram, Ram Kamal Mukherjee and Ashwin Gangaraju will adapt his Anandamath on the big screen. While Gangaraju will direct the project, Ram Kamal, who conceptualised the film, will work as the creator. Baahubali and RRR-fame V Vijayendra Prasad is currently penning the script as the makers are aiming to release it in 2024. Soon after the announcement while celebrating 75 years of India’s Independence, Ram Kamal talked about the film, his plans and a lot more. Read on…

Why did you choose Anandamath?

Why not? Certain subjects are timeless. Think of Shakespeare. Time and again his work has been reconstructed. The core subject of Anandamath is the love for the motherland. That is universal and that cannot be changed. We are aiming at releasing it in 2024 and the film will be contemporised and the scale will be bigger and with more grandeur. But the bottom line is that love for the motherland. And I am sure the film will resonate with the audience abroad also. There has been a sense of lack of security looming over the world. 1770 may give a sense of security to them.

Why aren’t you directing the film?

(Laughs) I did not want to direct it. There is a concept, predominantly in the West, that is of a show creator. In fact, there are many web series in India that have creators who are not directors. While I will be the creator, Ashwin Gangaraju will direct the film. Also, it is a multilingual film. It will be made in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali and Hindi. I did not want to be overconfident and take the whole responsibility when there are language barriers. And for me, it has never been ‘I, me, myself’. I believe in teamwork. A film is a baby. While I am the mother of 1770, Ashwin Gangaraju is the father of the child.

It sounds like an elaborate project. Did you think anything about the cast list?

Not right now. We are building the team. Character sketches are being made. We have not finalised the cast. Big films take time.

Meanwhile, in Bengal, we heard that you will be working for Noti Binodini. In fact, it has been reported that you finalised Rukmini Maitra as your Noti…

Not just Rukmini, I heard the names of Paoli, Rituparna Sengupta, Parno Mittra and several others playing the character. These are not true. Nothing has been finalised yet. Big films take time. And I believe in the official announcement. The cast will be announced only after we block the actors’ dates.

Also, I am neck-deep in 1770 right now. Noti Binodini is not going to be any ordinary film. If I want to create a period piece, I would like to make it a grand one. I don’t want anything shoddy. The major issue in the Bengali industry is that I don’t get the budget. A period drama needs a budget to recreate the set, makeup, costume lights and so on.

Does that mean Noti Bonodini will take a backseat now and your focus will be on 1770?

Not at all. 1770 will take time as it has just started. Binodini is ready to go on the floors.