New Delhi:
After their critically acclaimed collaboration in Dharm Bhavna Talwar and Pankaj Kapoor have reunited for Happi, which the director says is inspired by Charlie Chaplin's cinema.
Talwar says she has been a huge fan of Chaplin since her childhood and has tried to imbibe the essence of the legendary filmmaker's art in her upcoming movie, which hits theatres on April 15.
"I have been terribly in love with Chaplin's work. I have seen his films throughout my life, whether in my childhood days, growing up years or now. So yes, there is a definite impact that his films have made on my psyche. And it was hard to ignore it when we started working on Happi," said Talwar.
The director says the idea of Happi was suggested by Pankaj. The veteran actor had written the story years back and when Bhavna read it, she decided to bring it onscreen.
"When Pankajji narrated this story to me, I started thinking about how I would want to tell it on screen. I have closely observed Chaplin's language of telling a story on celluloid. The way he made comments on human beings or the political situations is something that was so characteristic of him. It was this thought that I wanted to take forward through Happi."
The movie tells the story of a man who comes to a big city and is surprised with the manner in which people live life there.
With no time to spend with their own friends and family and hardly finding a moment of their own to smile, they are in a constant rush, something that only ends up amusing Happi further.
"I started thinking that if Chaplin would be put into such a situation, how would he react? This is what proved to be a starting point for Happi," says the director.
From the technique perspective though, Talwar choses to keep Happi as contemporary as it gets instead of going back to the style that Chaplin adopted for his films.
"I have been true to the theme but when it comes to technique, I didn't think of making it in 'Black & White' or as a silent film. Instead, I chose to present the film as modern day interpretation of Chaplin's cinema and we have tried to stay true to the inspiration."
Bhavna first went back to the drawing board and also finished reading books on Charlie Chaplin. One of them also happened to be Chaplin's biography.
Talwar says she has been a huge fan of Chaplin since her childhood and has tried to imbibe the essence of the legendary filmmaker's art in her upcoming movie, which hits theatres on April 15.
"I have been terribly in love with Chaplin's work. I have seen his films throughout my life, whether in my childhood days, growing up years or now. So yes, there is a definite impact that his films have made on my psyche. And it was hard to ignore it when we started working on Happi," said Talwar.
The director says the idea of Happi was suggested by Pankaj. The veteran actor had written the story years back and when Bhavna read it, she decided to bring it onscreen.
"When Pankajji narrated this story to me, I started thinking about how I would want to tell it on screen. I have closely observed Chaplin's language of telling a story on celluloid. The way he made comments on human beings or the political situations is something that was so characteristic of him. It was this thought that I wanted to take forward through Happi."
The movie tells the story of a man who comes to a big city and is surprised with the manner in which people live life there.
With no time to spend with their own friends and family and hardly finding a moment of their own to smile, they are in a constant rush, something that only ends up amusing Happi further.
"I started thinking that if Chaplin would be put into such a situation, how would he react? This is what proved to be a starting point for Happi," says the director.
From the technique perspective though, Talwar choses to keep Happi as contemporary as it gets instead of going back to the style that Chaplin adopted for his films.
"I have been true to the theme but when it comes to technique, I didn't think of making it in 'Black & White' or as a silent film. Instead, I chose to present the film as modern day interpretation of Chaplin's cinema and we have tried to stay true to the inspiration."
Bhavna first went back to the drawing board and also finished reading books on Charlie Chaplin. One of them also happened to be Chaplin's biography.
