Anubhav Sinha’s ‘Assi’ has been released in theaters today. This film, based on rape incidents in the country, has been in the news since its announcement. However, when this film was announced, people thought that Anubhav Sinha was bringing the story of Assi Ghat of his hometown Varanasi. But it soon became clear that the story was based on a sensitive and important issue. Regarding the film, the director says that the basic idea of the story is inspired by newspaper headlines.
Box office numbers the subject of gossip
Regarding box office numbers and critics’ ratings, the director says that even minor things like box office collection and star rating in reviews limit the discussion to one number. Whereas the real issue should be a matter of concern. These figures are a good source of gossip. I hope the audience is understanding this. They do not understand what is total earnings worldwide, total earnings in India and net earnings in India. What they don’t know is that the producer gets less than 50% of the quoted amount. Figures like Rs 400 crore, Rs 700 crore and Rs 800 crore seem very ambitious. But I hope the audience will not take these figures seriously. If I could I would not declare my statistics, no matter how good or bad they are. But I can’t stop it.
Films like ‘Assi’ are watched even in small towns
Anubhav Sinha believes that he will break the notion that films like ‘Assi’ are not for the masses. He has visited 40 second tier cities of India as part of his grassroots campaign ‘Chal Cinema Chalen’. He says this is a misconception. He said that now I can say that such films are not seen in second-tier cities. They only watch movies like Jawan or Kantara. Of course he likes those movies more. But he has a lot of interest in these films also. The problem was that we were not able to show them the film properly. Therefore, this time my entire campaign is focused on door-to-door campaigning. For the last two months we have been promoting the film in small towns.
‘Assi’ will do well at the box office
Anubhav says that Assi is the most commercial film made in this incarnation of mine. I am confident that it will do very well at the box office as it is extremely dramatic and fast paced. It is full of lies and shocking twists. The court scene is always interesting for the audience as they get a chance to participate in the debate. They evaluate the judge.
Really got to know the atmosphere inside the courtroom
Regarding the courtroom, Anubhav told that I have two senior female lawyer friends in the Supreme Court. We told them the story. He said, ‘You guys do such dirty court shooting. Have you ever seen a court?’ I said, ‘Yes, Supreme Court.’ So he said, ‘That’s why! You have seen that quiet, sophisticated courtroom where everyone listens quietly. But the case of the film will not go to that court. The very next day I visited Patiala House Court in New Delhi and was stunned to see the view there. I realized that I had filmed the courtroom scene of the film ‘Mulk’ wrongly. This courtroom is very crowded and disorganized. I really liked the coolness of the courtroom. The courtroom is so engrossed in its work while your life depends on it.
