Compared to the Spanish series Elite, its Indian adaptation Class is darker. Was that deliberate?
When I watched the original, I thought that was not my style of filmmaking. I thought the show had a lot of interesting material. Many of the characters and situations I could imagine being in India. However, I didn’t want to sugarcoat any of these things. I wanted to make a series that’s pulpy and addictive even as I touch upon real issues that we don’t talk about. This form of storytelling allows the binge-watching experience. Once you have an audience, you are able to explore those ideas that are otherwise not so easy to discuss in a series or film.
Class is the story of three underprivileged students joining an exclusive private school. Why did you locate the series in Delhi?
Delhi is the only city in India where we have such a massive gap between the rich and poor. In Mumbai, even a billionaire drives through a slum every morning. But in Delhi, you can live in a bubble. It is possible for the poor in Delhi as well to live in their own world. I was curious to explore what happens when people belonging to different classes go into each other’s spaces.
You are known for directing feature films such as Miss Lovely (2012) and Daddy (2017). What made you take up this project?
For a long time, I have been keen to make a feature around teenagers. I never found the right material. I was working in Italy when the pandemic began. That project fell through. That’s when I was approached to make this series. When I watched it (Elite), the plot seemed almost like an archetype. It’s like dealing with material like Hamlet or Othello. You have the plotline and you know the outcome. That gives the excuse to tell the story in a completely new way. The originality in this series is not the plot, but the form — the retelling of that story. I thought of taking the material and transforming it into something else.
What was the biggest task before you while adapting it?
Advertisement
The first task was to convince Netflix to let me do it my way. They knew what I liked in the original show and what didn’t work for me. The original show is already running on Netflix. For the adaptation, I wanted to change some of the key elements in terms of its gaze. It was a challenge to get everyone on board. They believed in what I was suggesting. Instead of calling it Elite, I chose to call it Class and focus on the relationship between classes.
Tell us about the writing process.
It took us around nine months to write. We kept making changes even after we started shooting. If we were making a show in India, in which poor kids come to an expensive school, I believed we should address the realities (of caste and religion) without taking a moralistic stand. I worked with Rajesh Devraj, Kersi Khambatta (who has written Being Cyrus) and Bhaskar Hazarika (who has directed Kothanodi and Aamis). People who have worked in independent cinema get my vision and dark humour. It was an eclectic group of writers and we were all on the same page.
You have worked with a relatively young cast for Class.
Advertisement
The choice to have completely new people was mine. I was very clear that none of the actors would be known faces or kids of famous parents. It had its own challenge as they didn’t know how to hold a scene or perform. We have used many long takes. We workshopped with them and built trust. It’s funny that they called me “daddy” on the set. There was a lot of frustration but also joy. These young actors are so authentic in front of the camera. However, in Class I also wanted to show the world of rich adults. If these kids are so wild, imagine how their parents must be like. We have seen rich people in shows but not the out-of-control rich characters that we have on the show. I needed actors who could understand how to do that.
A still from Class.
How did you get Ritu Shivpuri to play a rich parent?
I have a nostalgia for Hindi cinema of my youth even though I have problems with Bollywood as it exists. So, I thought it would be great to have Ritu and she was game. She asked me if I wanted her to be this rich mother, who is really nuts. I said, “yes please”.
You grew up in south Bombay. How do you look at privilege?
I have a complex relationship with privilege. My mother’s side of the family had wealth before I was born and they struggled to maintain that. My father came from a middle-class family in Nizamuddin in Delhi. This made me see things from different angles. So, class is a big conversation in our home. There was always this tension around it. That tension also existed in my school, Mumbai’s Cathedral and John Connon School. I was a bit of an outsider as a student and didn’t fit in. It was a prestigious school but it didn’t have kids whose families had insane excessive wealth.
Advertisement
When you think of the wealthy, it’s not a singular homogenous population. There are people who have money and there are others who are pretending to have money. I am interested in this kind of scenario. We didn’t have money but we were surrounded by kids who had money. In the series, though things are going downhill for the character of Yashika, she is trying to keep this illusion of having wealth. I probably would not have the subtlety, while telling this story, had I not gone to a school where all these dynamics played out.
How close is your show to the reality of modern India?
Advertisement
One of the initial criticisms we received was that this doesn’t happen in India. If you search online you will come across MMS leak scandals and Instagram group chat called Bois Locker Room. Honestly, I didn’t expect this level of debauchery or wealth (as shown in Class) in Delhi. In Mumbai, we don’t see that extreme level. We got a group of students who had graduated from some very expensive schools in Delhi. It’s from them we learnt about bodyguards who are appointed to protect the kids from themselves as they do drugs. That’s how we thought of creating the character of Bahuguna, Suhani’s bodyguard.
Will you be working on the second season soon?
It’s exactly my personality not to do season 2. For me, the excitement of filmmaking is doing something new. I don’t want to do another young adult show set in Delhi. In a way, this season has set the world and the tone. It is now up to another filmmaker to extend that world.
"relationship" - Google News
February 25, 2023 at 10:17AM
https://ift.tt/oVyJOcT
Class director Ashim Ahluwalia: ‘I have a complex relationship with privilege’ - The Indian Express
"relationship" - Google News
https://ift.tt/zIAYFTL
https://ift.tt/fQag6tU
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Class director Ashim Ahluwalia: ‘I have a complex relationship with privilege’ - The Indian Express"
Post a Comment