by Subhash K Jha

Banaras, its director Pankaj Parasher has to admit, has got to be his most interesting-looking film in recent years.

"It took me a while to get here," says Pankaj who started his career in feature films with the much talked-about Jalwa in 1986. Today he has teamed up with his Jalwa hero Naseeruddin Shah once again.

Pankaj is frank about his friend. "Naseer has become more sarcastic over the years. At times it borders on being hurtful. But I give it back to him. Because he's become a director now, Naseer is becoming defensive. He thinks we're all going to pounce on him.

He has promised to hold one show for all his directors....But I think I'm his closest frind. When I called him to offer a role in Banaras I said there's bad news and good news. Bad news is that I'm making a film.

Good news is that Naseer is playing God in Banaras. I told him it was a ten-day role. He never asked about the money, never went through the script, just landed up in Banaras for the shooting."

Pankaj's precursor for Banaras was a documentary that he made called Enlightened Man. "What do you mean no one has seen that?" he protests, "300,000 people saw it. We cannot base perceptions of success on one section of the audience alone.

How can you say that a film which gets appreciation in the multiplexes is more important than one that's seen by thousands and thousands of people all over the world? If you say my Tetra-pack ad with Tabu isn't important I'll agree with you. But it keeps my kitchen fires going. I shot fourteen ads with Tabu in three days."

So Pankaj has worked with one of the best actresses today. "Or you could say she had worked with one of the best directors," Pankaj shoots back. And now Urmila in Banaras.

"She was my first and only choice. Please don't slot her in a non-glamorous image for Banaras. Urmila is very very glamorous in seventy percent of Banaras. And what is your definition of glamour? I think a woman without makeup in a white saree is extremely glamorous. But I chose Urmila for her acting.

We had two or three others in mind. But we needed someone with a high emotional quotient. Urmila was perfect. One could never say from her initial films that she'd be where she is today. Urmila never tried to over-intellectualize her performance. There were lots of depths and dimensions to her character.

Another type of actress would have just questioned and questioned...After the first day we sent her a bouquet ...she was that good. Urmila's response, 'Why're you sending me a bouquet now for my performance?

You'll have to do it every evening.' I called the producer L.C. Singh and he wondered if she was an egoist. The next day Urmila explained, there were so many wonderful scenes in Banaras and such a pleasure to enact them. In Banaras she goes into unexplored area."

Is this Pankaj's comeback? "It's all in people's mind. If you go through my cv there're two thousand things that I've done besides Jalwa and Chalbaaz. It genuinely doesn't bother me what I'm known for, or not known for. ...I'm getting fabulous feedback for Banaras.

We recently screened the film for 75 foreigners including the Dalai Lama's personal physician. They came out with tears."

The Dalai Lama may watch Banaras soon. "Banaras was always simmering within me. When I was at the FTII I made two films...one was a story-based fiction film which was a comedy. It got me the gold medal. The other was a documentary on mental illness. I made it only when I was 21.

Yes, I could 've taken the serious route as a filmmaker then and there. But I was too sad a person...jobless, broke, misunderstood....I didn't want to make solemn films. Banaras has happened when I'm ready for it. It had to happen when I was ready for it.

The producer L.C. Singh walked into my life with a great budget and let me do what I wanted. I was given total freedom. We chose Javed Siddiqui to write the dialogues because we knew the atmosphere would be argumentative. We wanted that."

Recent experiences in filmmaking haven't been too pleasant for Pankaj. "There were several reasons for that. I can tell you off the record why Tumko Na Bhool Payenge didn't work. To make a film—comedy or serious—you need like-minded people. I need room to flower as a creator.

I'm too sensitive and shy to go to a producer and say, this is what I want to make. Maybe I wasn't pursuing success as hard as I should've. After Jalwa I should've made slick thrillers.

And after my last film Inteqaam I should've made a comedy. But I've always had guts. 25 years ago I made the detective serial Karamchand, remember? Everyone thought it wouldn't work."

Pankaj returns to television after a long gap. "I'm doing a series of twenty-six hour-long thrillers for Sony. We start shooting on 18 April. I'm producing and directing. These are mini-movies. They'll be slick and fast-moving,with rock music. My kids don't know what I did with Karamchand on television. This series is for them. I'm very impatient to start shooting."

The TV series will have a mix of well-known tv stars and new faces. " Naseer will be acting in one of the episodes. Dimple will be in another..And I've got a group of twelve writers who've been at work on the project.

Immediately after, Pankaj does a comedy feature film. "Yes,I'm back to comedy after Chalbaaz. There's a maari-maari on the price. But the producer is big. It will be a wacky funny new kind of comedy. Very nice script. But it won't be female-centric like Chalbaaz.

Sridevi has gone on-record to say it's her favourite film. I need to do comedy to unwind after Banaras ....Though Banaras was a real joy to make.

Every morning we'd be up for shooting at 5. At 6 we'd see Dimple Kapadia coming down from her bath in the ganges with sandalwood on her forehead. She did the film to be close to the Ganga. She went to every temple in Varanasi.I hope her prayers have paid off.I hope Banaras works"