In the first 10 seconds of the trailer of The Silence, a song in Raghuveer Yadav's raspy voice captivates your attention, and nothing else. It is a song on buddhi ke baal (candyfloss) sung by a character that must have passed you by multiple times on the streets. Riding a cycle with a bunch of pink-coloured cotton candy tied in light plastic bags swaying in the wind, he is as striking as he is invisible. And a combination of such invisible characters, in everyday situations with extraordinary circumstances, is what makes the movie, The Silence.
Marathi cinema is not new to movies on social issues, but one of the first things that Gajjendra Ahirey, the director, dismisses at the trailer launch is exactly that and reiterates it over the phone. “The movie is the brainchild of Ashwini Sidhwani (producer of the film) who gave us the concept, and the team approached it as any movie. We never took it upon ourselves to make a socially relevant movie to usher a change in the society,” is his straight-up response. For Ahirey, this movie is all about impact―how an incident of sexual abuse hounds people involved in the story physically, mentally and psychologically. But the film is also about much more. Domestic violence makes a crucial appearance in the narrative as well. So is the feeling of helplessness. But the common thread that runs throughout the movie is the undeniable vacuum of silence.
“I actually wanted to title it as chup,' quips Ahirey, as he talks about the suppression that each character faces, an extension of which he shares, is their individual tales of exploitation. National Award-winning actress Anjali Patil, who plays a victim of domestic violence in the movie, talks about the issue as matter-of-factly, “I grew up watching domestic violence and there have been quite close encounters with child abuse. There was a time I was not comfortable talking about it. We are taught to be ashamed and scared about it so well, that we are selfish and we don’t speak about it to anyone else.”
The movie, however, does not care to judge on any of the issues. Nagraj Manjule, the director of the mega-hit Sairat, who plays the uncle of the child and the rapist, feels that his character is like anyone else. “It wasn’t a difficult role, he wasn’t a typical villain like the ones you see in mainstream movies. He is a simple man with some wrong choices. It isn’t white or black.” And according to Ahirey, the movie too refuses to take sides, and sticks to the issue at hand.
Releasing on October 6, The Silence has already made a successful round of festivals around the globe. Apart from overwhelming support for the movie, Anjali, Vedashree Mahajan (the child actor in the movie) and Ahirey have been generously awarded and felicitated at domestic and international award shows and festivals. Interestingly, Vedashree wasn’t the first choice for the role of Chinni, the minor rape victim, in the movie. Ahirey shares, “My assistant called the wrong girl than the one I had selected. Both turned up at the venue. My assistant was going to ask Vedashree to leave when I noticed her expressive eyes. That is why I decided to cast her.”
But the characters are as interesting as they are been made to look simple. Anjali lets it out that she has had to age a bit in the movie. But the reasons behind it could become spoilers. “Aging was not a problem. I am an artist. But the most challenging scene was perhaps when Chinni and I were alone in a room and I come to know that she has been assaulted. That was a pretty tough scene to enact,” she says quite casually. But her acting prowess is no secret. An artist in and out, she has more than the National Award in her kitty―Newton, Mere Pyaare Prime Minister (Rakesh Om Prakash Mehra film), Nimmo (Anand L. Rai production) and Kaala (starring Rajinikanth) are going to launch her as the next big thing in Indian cinema. No wonder, the fact that she was going to be in the movie along with Raghuveer Yadav, was the main reason for Nagraj Manjule to join the team. “I knew that with such a strong team, the movie will turn out well. I didn’t want to a sign a movie just because it has a social message running through them. We are filmmakers, and our point is to make good movies,” he says.
Nagraj, who shot for this movie before Sairat fame (in a matter of six days), too had some challenging scenes in that period. “Although as an actor, I was far more relaxed on set. I did not have any responsibility of the movie on my shoulders for a change,” he jokes. But it wasn’t so hunky dory. “There was a scene where I am sitting at a police station defending myself against the rape accusation. I had to appear confident, but at the same time, have to show the guilt on my face. That was difficult,” he adds. Ahirey, however, was all praises for Raghuveer, the actor who for the last 20 years has been an indispensable part of the industry. There is a shot where Raghuveer, who plays the father of the child, is shown utter helpless once he pursues justice in spite of crippling poverty. “He had to take out his frustration somewhere. We were next to a river and I asked Raghuveer to pick up a stone and hit the water with it. The way he enacted the entire scene was inspiring.”
But these are just anecdotes from a movie that created ripples wherever it went. “I witnessed a girl running out of a screening crying profusely. It must have hit a nerve,” shares Ahirey talking about the audience response. He does not know whether mainstream theatre goers will resonate in the same way. But one thing is for sure. There will be a reaction, and hopefully, most of them will not be silent.
