'My Film Does Not Have An Agenda': Phule Director Anant Mahadevan On History-Based Films Facing Controversy (Exclusive)

Veteran actor and filmmaker Anant Mahadevan is gearing up for his next directorial titled Phule. It is a biopic on Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule, and stars Pratik Gandhi and Patralekhaa in the lead roles. The movie is slated to release on April 11, 2025, and The Free Press Journal recently interacted with Mahadevan, and spoke to him about Phule, history-based films facing controversy, why he hasn’t directed a superstar yet and a lot more…

When we told him that in the school’s textbook, there was just a small paragraph about Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule, the filmmaker said…

That is a very valid point you made. It was a film that was waiting to be made and asking to be made. Particularly, because both Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule have been relegated to just a paragraph or a chapter in textbooks. They are very vital; the issues that they handled, the way they brought it up and tried to solve it, all that is of great historical and social significance. For some reason, all that has been sort of brushed under the carpet by our historians. So, this is a film that was asking to be made and it is a very urgent film which is needed for this generation.

When was the first time you thought of making this movie?

I was writing a one-woman play for Nadira Babarji. She wanted to play Savitribai Phule and also several other characters around. So, I was doing research for the character and to write a play for her. So, basically, it started out as a play. But then, for some reason, we didn't end up staging that. But, I had a lot of research material with me. When my producers, Ritesh Kudecha and Anuya Kudecha, approached me, they coincidentally also spoke about Phule, and they were interested in doing it. So, we put everything together and that's how it happened.

How did the casting happen? These characters are from Maharashtra, but you have got an actor from Gujarat, and another is a Bengali. So, what made you think they would be perfect for the role?

Normally, I cast against type and it's not necessary that if I am making a film about characters from Maharashtra or a particular region, I need to cast from there. After all, Richard Attenborough cast Ben Kingsley as Gandhi, who was not even an Indian. We had sketches of Jyotiba and Savitribai. We did not have photographs of them. I needed actors who would look as if they walked out of the sketch. But at the same time, I also needed actors who would be outstanding actors. Pratik Gandhi, I worked with him in Scam 1992 as a co-actor, and I suddenly saw his range and his ability. I saw him as the second Sanjeev Kumar. Patralekhaa, I had seen her in City Lights. She had internalized that part, and I needed that kind of intensity. Both of them, now if you see the poster, they look like the sketch. So, it was like they matched. They ticked all the boxes.

When a History-based movie is made, it faces a lot of controversies like Chhaava, Padmaavat, Bajirao Mastani, and other films have. So, was there any hesitation before or while making Phule that my film should not get into any controversy?

I don't work with fears in my heart or in my mind, that whether a film would rub somebody the wrong way. It will only do that if you're trying to distort it or if you have an agenda. Here, we stuck to history. We are representing history. We are not interpreting history. We are saying it as it happened because they had already interpreted it for society, both Jyotiba and Savitribai. All I had to do was to make it relevant to today's times, and make the modern audiences see that these evils or these ills, these issues still persist, and how we can cleanse our society. So, my film does not have an agenda. My film has extensive research, and nothing can be debated. If anyone brings up any issue, all those points are there in the books of research that we had unearthed. So, none of it is fabricated. None of it is fictionalized.

Most of the movies that you have directed have relatively new actors. But, as an actor, you have worked with many superstars. So, why haven’t you directed a superstar in a movie yet?

There is one thing which Rishikesh Mukherjee told me personally, that Anant, when you cast, please cast correctly. So, it is a superstar who fits the part or it is a newcomer who fits the part; it all depends on the film and the character. My casting has always been a little out of the box, in the sense that I do not want to bring a very familiar face because then the face overcomes the character and overwhelms the character. When people see that superstar, they do not see the character, however well he might do it. So, for me, Pratik Gandhi and Patralkhaa are far more efficient in the roles of Jyotiba and Savitribai than any other actor or superstar.

Your first directorial Dil Vil Pyar Vyar (2002) had recreated versions of RD Burman songs. You were actually the one who started the trend of recreated songs in movies. But now, when you see it happening in mostly every film, how do you feel about it?

In 2002, when we made Dil Vil Pyar Vyar, you will be surprised; the first scene of the film is a singing competition, Voice Of India. There were no reality shows at that point of time. There was no competition. There was nothing at all. So, we started out with a futuristic reality show in that film. And then, using the music of R.D. Burman and recreating it was an experiment that I did. A lot of people told me, ‘Why the hell didn't we think of it earlier?’ Then all the remixes and everything flooded in the market and then the novelty of the thing wore out.

What’s happening next as an actor?

I am doing a lot of projects. I am doing a couple of web shows and I have done a couple of films as well. I hope the acting assignments turn out to be more challenging and more fruitful for me because that's what I've been looking for. But, yes, there are exciting scripts I'm working on and that should keep me going.