Renowned for directing Gandhi, My Father and plays such as Saalgirah, Tumhari Amrita, Salesman Ramlal and Gandhi Viruddh Gandhi , Feroz Abbas Khan, is now donning a new role — that of directing a 52-episode trans-media (comprising television, radio, Internet and mobile phones) serial Mai Kuch Bhi Kar Sakthi Hoon (MKBKSH). To be telecast on Doordarshan from March 8, the International Women’s Day, the serial aims to enhance knowledge and change perception and attitudes on social determinants of health to eventually contribute in improving demand, access and quality of reproductive health in India. The neglect of gender issues, like preventing early marriages, early and repeated pregnancies, under-nutrition of girls, domestic violence and sensitisation of boys, too, will be dealt with.
The wide reach and influence of television and the stated objectives of MKBKSH tempted Feroz, also a playwright and screenwriter, to move to the small screen. “I have moved to a bigger idea as I believe that TV should be used for entertaining and social engagement – as that was the very purpose of spreading the network,” says the director. The challenge was to engage “the captive audience of television and portray the truth while telling a good story, which is akin to moving in uncharted territory expecting surprises but also growth of self,” he adds.
The bi-weekly episodes of 30-minutes each to be telecast on Saturday and Sunday at 7 p.m. narrate the journey of a middle-class girl, who becomes a doctor, from a fictional small town to Mumbai. She returns to the town later and is compelled to stay back because of certain events.
Praising Doordarshan for telecasting the serial, Feroz hopes that private channels take a cue from the national channel that has taken up social and national issues through landmark programmes such as Hum Log , Buniyaad , Malgudi Days , Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi , Tamas , Bharat Ek Khoj . Explaining the long hiatus after directing the film Gandhi, My Father in 2007, Feroz reveals that his second film Dekh Tamasha Dekh , a political satire, is slated to be released in April. Though the ground work had been done much earlier, the recession in the market led to the delay. “Though I received several directorial offers, I did not accept since the subjects did not provoke and compel me to say something pertinent,” he remarks. His critically acclaimed first film won the Special Jury Award and Best Screenplay at the National Film Award and also the Best Supporting Actor Award for Darshan Zariwala. In the international circuit, the film won the Best Screenplay Award at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards and was nominated for Grand Prix at Tokyo Film Festival.
Despite his immersion in TV, Feroz does not intend to ignore his first love — theatre. He says he has a “very interesting and original play” to which he will dedicate himself once the shooting of the TV episodes is completed. The play is scheduled to be performed by mid-2014.
Tumhari Amrita , which has been running for over 21 years, demonstrates the strength of the relationship between the director and its actors Farooq Shaikh and Shabana Azmi. Asked when Tumhari Amrita will be staged again, Feroz says that is the farthest from his mind as “Farooq Shaikh’s loss is still very raw and it was very difficult to fathom his demise…Memories of the actor keep coming back and I still recall vividly our last show in front of Taj Mahal.”
