National Award winning director Vinod Kapri’s new movie “Pihu” is a single character film. He says he has tried to keep the simplicity of the story intact as the film is based on a mind-boggling real life incident.
Asked if he took the creative liberty to fictionalize the story, Kapri told IANS: “I think reality is stranger than fiction, so when I read the story in the newspaper — of a boy stuck in an apartment without his parents, and what followed next — it intrigued me to write the script of the film.
“I also went to the police station to find out some more details for the betterment of the material of my film. When I started making the film, the only element which was there in my mind was to maintain the simplicity of the story because the situation was quite dramatic in reality.”
For the social thriller film, Kapri chose two-year-old protagonist Myra Vishwakarma. Directing her was a tough process for the filmmaker as one cannot make such a little child act. But the character of Pihu is the soul of the film.
“After scripting the story, when we started shooting, for the first few days it was going all wrong. Therefore, we decided to shelve the film. We could not do any ‘retake’ for any scene because a two-year-old cannot recreate an expression — something that a professional actor can do,” he said.
The solution to him came in the form of a multiple camera setup that captured the little girl from different angles.
Asked about how he directed her to give expressions and act in a certain way, the journalist-turned-filmmaker said: “Well, we had to act along at times. For instance, there was a scene where she opened the refrigerator and started throwing vegetables. On set, before shooting the scene, we started playing a game of throwing vegetables everywhere, and then she joined us.
“So, I instructed the rest of the crew members to clear the space so that she can play. That’s when we shot it.”
“Pihu” was screened at the 48th edition of the International Film Festival of India in Goa.
Having started his career as a television journalist, Kapri won a National Award in 2014 for the documentary titled “Can’t take this shit anymore”. It was based on the issue of open defecation for women.
He made his debut as a feature film director in 2015 with the film “Miss Tanakpur Haazir Ho”.
