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The Diplomat director Shivam Nair shot to fame with the television serial Sea Hawks in the late 1990s. Like many directors who came from the small screen, including his close friends Neeraj Pandey, Sriram Raghavan, Imtiaz Ali, and Anurag Kashyap, Shivam took a while to make it to the big screen but has since made a distinct name for himself.
Ahista Ahista (2006) was his debut film, followed by the brilliant Maharathi (2008), produced by Paresh Rawal and based on a Gujarati play. The film did not perform well, primarily because it was released in the 26/11 week, and it took Shivam seven years to make his next, Bhaag Johnny, his first for T-Series.
Shivam Nair’s old friend, Neeraj, then called him to direct his spin on Baby, the 2017 Naam Shabana, after which they co-directed Special Ops, among the finest espionage dramas on the web. Shivam then directed Mukhbir, another espionage drama. These two series were his first encounters with real-life stories and characters, the former being a mix of real stories and fiction and the latter based on a novel written by a retired intelligence officer. Now hooked on real-life stories, Shivam opened up about his latest endeavor, The Diplomat, and his upcoming projects in an exclusive interview.
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Are you satisfied with the response to The Diplomat?
I am happy that people are liking the film. It is a good feeling that it is doing steady business. When I first heard the true story, I thought that it had to be told. The producers first introduced me to Uzma Ahmed when she landed in India in 2017 and she told me her complete story. I then asked her who was the diplomat who had done so much for her by rescuing her and so met J.P. Singh and heard his side of the story. What was fascinating for me was that no one had ever made a film on a diplomat here.
Wasn’t it risky to cast an action hero like John Abraham in such a role?
John loves such geo-political stories. We all knew that this film will not be a ‘massy’ product, so it won’t work at that level, but will appeal to the audience that loved his Parmanu or Madras Café. And now, I find that a lot of female fans of his are liking this different John!
Also John is being praised for his controlled acting. He is playing an intelligent man with a sharp brain and though we all know him as a star, for the first time, expectations have shot up from him as an actor. Look, he will always do his Garam Masala and Satyameva Jayate, but he will also get to do such characters.
Can you explain this strange dichotomy that our audiences keep criticizing Hindi cinema for palming off the same kind of stories and latching on to a trend and yet not support such different movies at the similar larger level?
I think that bindaas hoke give them variety. We all have different stories to tell and the audience is there. And I need an audience! Especially in a true story, the characters are very important, the humor all-important and if the audiences sense a dry story from the trailer, they feel that the true story is not entertaining. If it is entertaining was well, they will certainly come in. I, too, am learning this. Characters have to be a shade witty, some humour must be there, and so must songs in a way that they do not damage the story but support the marketing. Whatever I have learnt from The Diplomat I will add to my next film!
A film I loved among yours was Naam Shabana. But while that did well, your masterpiece Maharathi was a casualty. How bad did you feel at its failure?
Bahut bura lagta hai when you make a good film, and it does not do well! Actually, Paresh-ji had come to me with the story and said that the four main characters would be played by Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Boman Irani and him. I thought that I had to do it!
And then came the lull.
Yes! And Neeraj bailed me out with Naam Shabana and then Special Ops. In Special Ops, it was decided that the portions abroad would be directed by him while the Mumbai ones, including those of Kay Kay Menon, would be mine.
How do you cast for your films?
I think the right casting defines your work and which way it goes. In The Diplomat, it was entirely my call and I went by gut-feel and instinct. In Special Ops it was Neeraj and I, and in Maharathi the cast was already in place. The Diplomat was especially very interesting. It was the first film in which I had complete creative freedom despite multiple producers. Ritesh Shah and I worked on the script, all the technical crew was mine, and I enjoyed making my first film sans any interference. They all trusted me, I am lucky.
Was it easy to become a director? How did it all start?
I wanted to be an actor since my school days, but then I realized that I could not be one, so I decided on being a director. You come here for glamour, but you have to learn the craft and it takes time to understand everything.
What next?
I am developing two true stories. One is about Rukhsana Kaiser, a simple girl from Kashmir. She was a civilian who killed three terrorists, and now she is a cop. These three people wanted to create a tunnel to her home at the border for a recce, and something happened, and she killed them. Vinod Bhanushali is the producer.
The other story is developed by Ritesh on two Indians who rescued 600 Indian medical students stranded in Ukraine during the current war. It is a road journey. I have John Abraham and Vijay Sethupati in mind. Fortune Films, which co-produced The Diplomat, is making it.
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