Delhi boy Shanker Raman’s “Gurgaon” turned out to be the toast of the just concluded Film Bazaar.

It was a story waiting to be told. From a sleepy village to a concrete jungle, the rise of Gurgaon reflects the socio-economic change that the country has gone through in the last two decades. Shining for some; shady for others, Gurgaon is in many ways a metaphor for modern India. Now noted cinematographer Shanker Raman is making his directorial debut with a film that captures “the sense of entitlement” that the city epitomises. The film has won the DI Prasad Award for the Best Work in Progress Project (Fiction) at the 9 Film Bazaar in Goa. “Gurgaon is a symbol for a place that is not working or not working as well as it should,” says Raman, who grew up in the Masjid Moth area of South Delhi. “I have seen Gurgaon grow. I was interested in developing a story about real estate, patriarchy, about people living by their own rules and how it impacts other people’s lives.” A physics graduate from St. Stephen’s, Raman clarifies that he is looking at the society as an outsider but is in no way judgmental about the characters. “I knew if I were to tell the stories of these people, I have to first shed my sense of entitlement. I have deep respect for all my characters.”
Mounted in the form of a noir thriller, it is about a farmer who is told that his luck will change if he adopts a girl. “Till then he used to think that only boys bring luck. He adopts a girl and he goes on to become a real estate baron. He could not see whether his rise is because of the girl or the murders and the extortions that he committed. For him she is his lucky charm and runs the business in her name but in the process his son begins to feel jilted.” Raman wanted to flip the narrative to see how it works. “How the son tackles the situation is what Gurgaon is for me. You start to question moral behaviour, the foundation of our society. If the foundation is weak, the building is going to crack. And family is no different. I wanted to create a visceral experience for the viewer. Why we behave the way we do.”
Raman, who was recognised when he shot Frozen and Harud, has given the charge of cinematography to Vivek Shah, his senior at FTII. “It is in a noir space but it doesn’t betray realism. The reality will land on the viewer as part of an experience. It is not a niche commercial venture. It is hugely accessible. It is not as much plot driven as it is character driven and the experience it entails,” says Raman, looking for the widest release possible.
Television star Ragini Khanna plays the girl who goes on to become an architect. She wants to invest in conservation projects when her father is keen on constructing buildings. “It creates a conflict but the bigger conflict is the one that her presence creates between father and son.” Ragini has a smiley image but Raman promises that people will see a new Ragini in the film. “She was eager to experiment.” Akshay Oberoi plays the brother and Pankaj Tripathy chips in as the overbearing father. Before rushing for an editing session with the mentors, Raman says the approach to filmmaking has totally changed in the last few years. He cites the example of Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Masaan, Titli and Killa. “More than the story, the focus is now on storytelling and the best part is the audience is responding.”