New Delhi, Aug 25: Dibakar Banerjee is known for his social satires but the director feels that upcoming political thriller “Shanghai”, an adaptation of Greek author Vassilis Vassilikos” famous novel “Z” in Indian context, is his most radical work so far.
Dibakar took on Delhi's land mafia in his first film “Khosla Ka Ghosla” and went on to direct “Oye Lucky Lucky Oye” (about a famous thief in Delhi) and “Love, Sex Aur Dhoka” (about voyeurism in society).
”I don't like to repeat myself because I want to keep learning but I have never done something like this. It is radical. It was a challenge to make the story fit in Indian context. It is a departure even for me,” Dibakar told PTI.
Written in 1967, “Z” is about the real-life assassination of Greek politician Grigoris Lambraskis in 1963. It has been translated in many languages and was also made into an award-winning film in 1969 by French filmmaker Costa-Gavras.
Dibakar got hooked to the story the moment he led his hands on the book, but buying the rights was not so easy.
”I found the book and told my producer Preeti that I wanted the rights for it. She searched and found the writer, who like most of the creative people is sort of reclusive.
They, however, clicked during a meeting. He asked to see my photo and fortunately for us, he liked what he saw.
”He said, “I like this guy. I like his glasses”. He also read about my last film and agreed to give us the rights. In fact, he was amused that a story which first originated in Greek from a real incident would cross half the planet and find relevance in India,” says Dibakar narrating the incident. PTI
