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3 questions
ashvin kumar ,
film-maker
His short film, The Little Terrorist was nominated for an Oscar in 2005, and now, he is all set to release his first
commercial film, The Forest, starring Nandana Sen, Javed Jaffrey and Ankur Vikal
ELLE: The human-animal struggle is a common enough theme. How is The Forest different?
Ashvin Kumar: I was inspired by Jim Corbett’s book, The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag, because he managed to evoke sympathy for those beasts, by illustrating how they turn into man-eaters due to human interference. What I want to do with The Forestis communicate this to a mass audience in a non-documentary manner.
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ELLE: Such films, sadly, see little commercial success in India. What are your hopes for this one?
AK: Indian audiences deserve much better films and they’re also making it clear that they appreciate small-budget films that are entertaining, well made and have excellent stories. Also, I don’t see just India as my market. I spread my risks by releasing the film in various countries that appreciate global cinema.
ELLE: What can we expect from your production house, Alipur Films?
AK: Global films with great local stories and artistic integrity. As Indian film-makers, we cannot afford to ignore the rich historical and cultural resources we have. I see myself tapping the Indian milieu for rich narratives and then taking the films to global audiences.
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