Writer Amitosh Nagpal pens realistic portrayal of the heart of India
Writer Amitosh Nagpal speaks about his ‘desi’ inspirations ahead of his latest release, Aadhaar. The actor-lyricist-writer has been a part of projects such as Gulaab Gang, Hindi Medium, Panchlait. Aadhaar, co-written with director Suman Gosh, presents a light-hearted tale of Pharsua, a resident of the village of Jamua and the chaos in his life after his aadhaar (resident identification) card ID is issued by the Indian government.
Amitosh Nagpal started writing because he wanted to pen films where he could act and lyrics to sing songs that made him happy, even if he wasn’t trained as a singer. Driven by the desire to bring alive stories and play characters rooted in the Indian soil, Amitosh arrived in Mumbai with a bag filled with ideas and dreams. He made brief appearances as an actor in films such as Dabangg, Besharam, Aarakshan. However, it his work as a writer in films such as Gulaab Gang and Hindi Medium that helped him make his mark, given his realistic portrayal of the heart of India, a motif that will be witnessed in his upcoming release, Aadhaar.
“The stories from the small towns and villages are deeply layered; they have a lot of colour and shades. Therefore, it is always challenging to explore them. Theatre has contributed a lot to my understanding of these ground-level realities as I have spent time with people from different walks of life from different cities. People from these parts have many interesting experiences stories to share, which inspires me a lot,” he says.
Amitosh’s affinity for stories of the soil is such that he has even penned a song titled ‘Mati’ for the film, which has been composed by Shantanu Moitra and performed my Sukhwinder Singh. “Whether it is the common man or superman, we all belong to the soil. The oppressor and the oppressed both become part of the soil when they meet their end. Soil is used as a symbol throughout the film; in fact, even the protagonist of the film is a potter. There’s a deep symbolism attached to his wheel: just as there are new things constantly being designed on the wheel, the wheel of time is always spinning and shaping our destiny,” he explains.
Revealing about the experience of working on this film with Suman Ghosh, he reveals that even without hearing the complete story, he felt a connection with Ghosh. “Cinema is collaborative art and if you find people you can work with, the ride becomes easy. Suman and I wrote the script one scene at a time, until we were happy with the final draft. I was also keen to work with Manish Mundra because I really liked the kind of films that Drishyam was making. Vineet Kumar Singh and Prithvi Hatte, the lead actors also brainstormed with us. This film is a true fruit of passion,” he explains.
From a young age, Amitosh was exposed to influenced of Indian literature and varied languages. His maternal grandfather, who was from Lahore, used to write in Arabic, Urdu and Persian. This stirred in him the interest to learn different languages. With his mother directing school plays, he has been performing on stage from the age of 4, moving to study at the National School of Drama.
“I feel that as artists we have lost touch with our own literature and if we somehow are able to bridge that gap again, we will again have an abundance of stories. The constant cry for lack of “good writers and good stories” will be met in no time. Unfortunately, the seekers of good narratives aren’t aware of these amazing Indian writers who live on their own soil. I write really whacky stories and characters that make producers wonder if they are for real. And I tell them, “I have a similar character in my family. So, reality is a perspective and art does imitate life,” he laughs.
‘Piya Behrupiya’ an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, a play which he wrote in 4 days, and also acted in, was commissioned by The Globe, as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. It is still running strong, winning hearts all around the globe even after 8 years and remains one of his favourite works till date. Amitosh holds the vision to write stories and characters which would feature him. And while he has been able to strike that balance in theatre, he hopes to achieve the same on-screen too.
Meanwhile, he’s prepping for his forthcoming releases as writer which includes Sardar & Grandson directed by Kaashvie Nair, Amol Gupte’s directorial ‘Saina’, based on the journey of Saina Nehwal, among others. He’s also excited about a few projects with popular banners and studios such as an untitled film produced by T-series, Madhumitha Sundararaman’s next film produced by Emmay Entertainment, Shree Singh’s film produced by Nadiadwala films, Maqbool Khan’s next film, a film for Netflix produced by Manomay pictures, a film Blackie and a web series ‘Toy Story’ for Viacom Motion Pictures as well as a web-series for Amazon Prime produced by Ellipsis Entertainment.