It was in 2018 that Bejoy Nambiar had released the film, Dobaara. It was a special film, since that was the time when streaming platforms had not boomed like now, but Bejoy took the daring step of releasing the film directly on OTT. Starring Manav Kaul and Parvathy Omnakuttan, the film was liked by those who watched it, but needless to say, it was a niche group. It was just a week back that the film had its TV premiere, on Zindagi. In an exclusive conversation with News18 Showsha, Bejoy Nambiar recalled the fond memories associated with the film, and also revealed why Dobaara would always be special. He also revealed some funny anecdotes during the shoot of the film.
Talking about the film, Bejoy said, “Well, Dobaara is very special to me, it’s very close to me, very unlike the kind of stuff I usually do. So I’m just happy that it’s getting another opportunity and avenue to reach out to a slightly wider audience. It will be watched by more people and will be finding a new audience, so I’m excited about that.”
Bejoy Nambiar has beautifully explored and handled the psyche of a woman in Dobaara. Talking about how he was able to do it, he revealed, “One of the reasons I wanted to explore this was because I wanted to write a story from a woman’s perspective. This is the idea was sparked by someone I know; the idea came from someone very close to me in my family. So when they were talking about their experience and I heard that, I realized that there is an interesting story right there that I’d like to make. That sparked the idea.”
He added, “I really wanted to explore the story from a woman’s perspective. As a filmmaker, I guess you’re constantly dealing with, at least in my career, more and more male-driven characters and stories. So a story like this is something I really wanted to try my hand and see if I could do justice to it. In fact, it really was an experience that made me want to do more stories like that. In fact, I made a short film later, which I guess wouldn’t have happened had Dobaara not happened. Also, I have written a couple of scripts to try and tell stories from a woman’s perspective and that wouldn’t have happened had Dobaara not happened.”
During the conversation, Bejoy revealed that Dobaara was shot mostly in his apartment, as well as his parents’. He worked under budget constraint and focused on making the best out of it. He also recalled a funny incident where he had to run from the sets of the film because of Vidhu Vinod Chopra.
Bejoy recalls, “When I was shooting this, I was also in the middle of the sound work for Wazir. Vidhu Vinod Chopra (producer of Wazir) had no clue that I was doing this (shooting for Dobaara). I didn’t tell him about it. I usednto quietly plan the schedule and shoot it and by the end of the shoot, go back to the sound editor and sit with him. This one day, while shooting, suddenly I get a call that he (Vidhu Vinod Chopra) has come early to the song studio. So I had to kind of literally leave the shoot and run as he was calling non-stop. And I was not done for the day – there was still like two or three shots to be taken. Because we were in a hospital to shoot, we had already paid for the location. So I just instructed my actors and my associates to go over and they took the shots and while I ran back to the sound studio to make sure that I don’t get caught! That pressure of trying to finish the shoot, and at the same time rush back to the studio is something I remember so clearly.”
He also recalled another incident where Manav Kaul had to borrow a shirt from the sound person while the crew was shooting in Kerala’s Alleppy. Bejoy recalled that there was some costume issue, and as he was standing far away while Manav was filming at a bridge, without any walkie talkie or any means to communicate, he just borrowed a shirt from a sound guy. “And after we finished the shot, I saw the sound guy bare chested with the headphones on, asking ‘Can I get my shirt back?’ And we had to literally get a new shirt because this one was needed for continuity,” Bejoy laughed as he recalled.
He concluded, “I remember because it’s much more endearing and much more memorable when it’s a small limited crew. Everybody is pooling in, everybody’s jumping in to make it happen. So that’s what happened during the shoot of Dobaara. It’s a very special treat.”
