Milind Shinde, Ishan Shukla on their Star Wars Visions season 2 episode The Bandits of Golak and how it refers to Sholay

Star Wars: Visions is an animated anthology series featuring celebratory expressions of Star Wars storytelling. Seven Japanese anime studios brought their unique talents and perspective to Volume 1. Launching on 4th May 2023, Volume 2 will feature stories from creative teams from Chile, France, Japan, India, Ireland, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, the UK and the US to showcase the incredible animation happening across each country and culture, through the mythos of Star Wars. Also read: Ramesh Sippy says Sholay was one of the first pan-India films

The Indian short in the anthology- the first Indian entry in the Star Wars franchise- titled The Bandits of Golak, revolves around a boy named Charuk and his force-sensitive younger sister Rani, both of whom are fleeing from their village by train while being pursued by ferocious Imperial forces. They subsequently seek refuge in a vibrant and dangerous dhaba. Producer Milind Shinde and director Ishan Shukla were with us to talk about the short, and how it carries forwards the influences ranging from Indian mythology to Sholay.

Star Wars is a cultural phenomenon, that has transcended borders. How has the journey been for both of you, setting up with this incredible collaboration?

Milind: I think it has been absolutely fulfilling, satisfying and enriching journey. Not mainly for the film- I think film is a work of passion that somebody saw and gave us the opportunity. I think when we speak with people like you and when we are realizing this, we carry a huge pressure and honour of representing our country, and the filmmakers from here to this global platform. It was not easy when we pitched it. Somebody believed in us; I think Lucas Films’ leadership, Josh, James, Jacky kept helping us through each of the steps. It kept growing and getting better at the story and visuals from there. It was a long, very fulfilling journey and I hope the audience is going to like it.

Ishan: It was a memorable journey. Something you don’t really get to do in a single lifetime working on a Star Wars short film, as you can imagine. So, initially it was a very nervous time when we were trying to come up with that pitch, because it was very ambitious, because we wanted to put everything in it. Once we were greenlit, it was all about can we do just as we planned, and from that point forward, it was trying to come up with the best thing possible. Trying not to do any compromises, be it in terms of design, be it in music even, and just keep going from there. So, it was also a bit tiring in the middle when some things weren’t working, but then ultimately when finally the action sequences started coming in, we thought, ‘Okay, this style and look works,’ and then it became more rewarding. Finally during the stage when we were editing it together and trying to cut some shorts which were not working, the whole process was absolutely fun. Because we knew we had something great in our hands. It was all about how to make it more crisp. So yeah, it was a pleasure.

Tell us a little about the Indian short The Bandits of Golak. In the press conference, Milind described it as a mix between Indiana Jones and Sholay. That sounds so interesting.

Milind: When we were trying to do the film, one is that of course you have to be part of the Star Wars world but at the same time we had an opportunity to showcase some of the pillars that are part of our culture. We have films, food, festivals, and different colours. Film was one of the main inspirations. But there were other considerations as well, if you just look at some of the colours of the film that we have used. The clothing that has been used, to the food, to the Dhaba which is a very local setting that we have, different music. So yes, film was one of the references that we had in mind, that what is that we could showcase… some of the Bollywood work, and try to make it more alive.

Ishan: When we speak about Sholay or Indiana Jones, what we are really saying is that yes, lot of inspiration in Westerns. There is not a better Indian western than Sholay, and it doesn’t mean that you have that mix of horses and desert in it. It is also about that mood and that vibe of the story which continues unto that Dhaba scene, when the villain enters. There is a silence that is used to be quite famous in the Westerns in the 60s, which was always there as an inspiration. So let’s take inspiration from a very Indian western, and from there we could amp up the stakes. Ultimately, we took inspiration from Sholay, Indiana Jones, there was a bit of Clint Eastwood’s westerns like Unforgiven, and from the villains from Inglorious Bastards etc.

Can you tell us a little about the research of Indian mythology that went into the short. You also talked about the integral presence of the Asura in Indian mythology and how that has influenced the characters in the short.

Ishan: So, when we started talking about the bad guy, definitely it was an Indian inquisitor. So yes, he is looking and speaking like an Indian. So how far back do we go in terms of inspiration. Initial designs were around bad guys from Bollywood movies. That’s how it began, and then we though Star Wars is all about the absolutes, the red and the blue, the good and the evil, so how far back can we go as Indians because our mythologies go back thousands of years. That is when we thought of delving into Amar Chitrakatha tales, let’s go back to the mythologies. There was this specific Asura, called Vritra, who was having a big battle with Indra, the Lord of the Devas in Indian mythology, and Vritra became our main inspiration for inquisitor. His design was just amazing: he had this steel colour, he had this really big moustache, and he had this really red, sparkly eyes. That was a big inspiration. From there, we went ahead with the character to build it more.

How was the collaboration with the voice-over acting that was done by Neeraj Kabi? Could you talk a bit about that process as well?

Ishan: We talked about the character of the villain first and then Neeraj had a pretty good idea of Star Wars. So that was really easy, when your guy knows the films. We said you can do whatever you want, and that turned him on. Neeraj is very theatrical and given his background in voice-acting, he started to improvise and we encouraged him to do that. There were things that we never imagined of in the script and storyboarding stage, which he provided. The final version is a mix of a few takes that he did but ultimately what really happened was Neeraj started having fun with the character. He started putting in lines, laughing in different ways. He would then stop at the middle and again speak that line. We never said cut. Every time it would be a new take, and that’s how it all came about with Neeraj.

Milind: I should add that when we decided to go with him, we didn’t really give him a background, or a script. We wanted him to feel free with the character. He didn’t have props but he was using his wire like he was using a weapon, and he was just playing with it. In fact, when we got that performance, we decided to change the animation based on his work.

There’s also another thing that I should talk about is our main character Charuk, that is played by Sooraj. That was also very interesting because of the texture of voice quality that he brought to the recording. As we went ahead, he realized that the story is about these siblings, where he is the elder one, and he got certain things there which was so interesting. There was a running train sequence which he performed in the studio with so much energy. He took the character to a completely different level.

Ishan: The vulnerability that Sooraj had brought to the character, his apprehension, anxiousness and the choking feeling when she is leaving… The ending works because of Sooraj’s voice performance. I think that the whole story hinges on his performance and how he delivered those lines.