Vinod Rawat talks Pushtaini: Inspiration, Rajkummar Rao cameo and crafting hopeful endings

Actor-director Vinod Rawat takes a look back at his remarkable film, Pushtaini. From familial escapades in Uttarakhand's hills to unexpected deer cameos, Rawat delves into the intricacies of his feature debut, which in this scribe's opinion is quite brilliant. With Rajkummar Rao joining the cast for the sheer joy of it and a commitment to keeping it real (but positive), Rawat spills the beans on the secret of his storytelling.

Q. Can you share a particular moment or incident that inspired the creation of the movie "Pushtaini"?

A. Life unfolds in various moments, and such an inspiration gradually took root within me. Whenever I visited my village, I observed the way people adorned their houses. In Uttarakhand, a fruit known as Dadim which resembles pomegranate, is available in abundance and is used for decorating courtyards, creating a picturesque greenery. However, over two decades, I witnessed the gradual decay of scenic beauty in the state. The thought of how migration to the mountains has caused the deterioration of homes lingered in my mind. My father himself moved from Uttarakhand to Delhi, where I was born. Our ancestral home fell into disrepair, but I have since rebuilt it and cherish visiting the house. Similarly, I moved from Delhi to Mumbai with the aspiration of earning recognition and prosperity. During workshops, I noticed people leaving their homes, prompting me to contemplate organising sessions with new participants. 

These reflections converged, and helped me explore the theme of how houses crumble due to migration from hills. Simultaneously, I delved into the evolving understanding between fathers and sons. I believe that between the ages of nineteen to twenty-four, every young man perceives his father as a formidable adversary. I too experienced this, and many others have shared similar sentiments with me. These diverse thoughts intertwined to shape the narrative of Pushtaini.

Q. There are non-professional actors in this film. Your family members are there too. So there must have been both challenges and benefits of making films with them. Tell us about it.

A. I have been training actors and doing acting workshops in the industry since 2009-10. So handling actors is my strength. I have handled many non-actors as well. I know what needs to be extracted from whom at which level. Not much was needed to work on the characterisation in the film as the actors were my relatives who have been a witness to the situation themselves.

It was my aunt who used to say 'I cannot act right now', and was more concerned about feeding her cattles like goats and cows. She had to make sure that her cattles were not in the sun when it was harsh and that they were fed timely. My aunt was also of the opinion that she did not know Hindi well due to which acting for her in the film would be difficult. However, I organised workshops and finally convinced her to shoot for the film. On occasions, I also played the emotional card and said "Aunty, I have invested a lot of money in this, I will be ruined", after which they used to agree to work.

Q. In your film, you have not demonised the father. You have shown that he remains silent only for the welfare of his son. What was the thought process behind that?

A. Let's consider the second option. Suppose he would have killed the person who raped his son. What would have happened then? What would all the people of his family done after this? They would have had to beg or would have been subjected to rape. Their helplessness will be taken advantage of. In my opinion, fathers of middle -class families are the biggest heroes of the society. There is no greater hero in the world than them.

Q. You have shown a happy ending for Bhupi and Dimple [protagonists] in your film. Was your initial thought also that you had to keep the ending of the film promising?

A. Leave aside films, I only want positivity in life too. Even if I get to make a hundred films, each of my films will have a hopeful ending. I think we live in a beautiful world. We should make it even more beautiful.

Every coin has two sides. Nothing is achieved by negativity, I believe. Even if I have to make a biopic, I will end it happily. If someone forces me to make a biopic with a depressing, sad ending, I will not make it. Through films, I would not like to give the message that life is full of disappointments. I had made a film called MAD. You will find the same in that also. I feel that mother-son, father-son, brother-sister, husband-wife, all these relationships are beautiful and I want to be hopeful in all these. This is my belief system.

Q. Can you tell us about any incident in which you faced a big challenge while making Pushtaini and how did you handle that challenge?

A.Let me tell you an interesting incident that was quite magical. You must have seen that deer scene. We have not used any VFX in it as we did not have money. When we went for recce, we were told that sometimes deers come to the place. So we were thinking that Bhupi will look this way and there will be a deer there. But we also felt that no deer was going to come as per our wish. So we were shooting one day when suddenly one of my assistants said in a low voice, "Deer…deer has come." And indeed the deer had come. We started panicking that we should shoot quickly. But it did not run away and kept standing as we changed the lenses of the camera. As if he is saying that you can shoot comfortably, I am here only for you. Our scene was shot. Many such incidents have happened to me in the mountains. I feel that I have not made this film. There is some spiritual influence. We came from Mumbai during Covid. If anything had happened to even one person, my film would have stopped. The energies of the mountain itself accomplished this. Such miraculous incidents kept happening every second day.

Q. Rajkummar Rao has also worked in your film without taking any money. So how did that happen?

A. I must have earned some good karma. Rajkumar Rao and I both used to do theatre together in Delhi. I also came to Mumbai because of him. He also supported me a lot here. Even today we both are very close friends. When I gave him the narration, he said "I will do this one". This is only a blessing from God. Rajkummar has an aura of his own. It is a very beautiful thing for him to be a part of my film.

Q. Sexual abuse, especially child sexual abuse, is a very sensitive topic. You have handled this very well. What was your approach regarding this?

A. I lived in a lower middle-class colony of Kidwai Nagar in Delhi. There were many such cases. Which we did not even understand at that time. We used to hear things. When we grew up we thought, "Oh! This used to happen?" At that time, we used to see how the family suppressed the matter. Those with whom it happened did not want to speak. They felt that their son or daughter's life will be ruined. So all these incidents were in my mind. Now when it comes to approach, I don't want to make a 'guilty film'. I take these topics and talk about them. But in today's time, if you keep harping on this all the time then nothing good will happen. I also show the life around it. I want to make it simple but effective. 

Suppose you finish the entire box of rasgullas or eat just one, the effect of both will be different. This is my approach regarding these subjects. And in future too, I will present these topics in a simple manner so that its core message can be understood. I think this approach works.