Subhash Ghai crosses over to streaming platforms with ‘36 Farmhouse’

“I am not a man who lives in the past. I like to remain in today and prepare for the future,” says Subhash Ghai. At 76, with the Hindi film 36 Farmhouse, the director is “consciously trying to break his image of a filmmaker who creates only larger than life images”. Directed by Ram Ramesh Sharma, the film (currently streaming on Zee 5) marks Ghai’s OTT debut. “I want to grapple with the issues and conflicts of today. The days of baap ka badla [avenging one’s father] are over,” says the filmmaker, who delivered a series of blockbusters in the 1980s and 1990s when revenge was a common theme.

Inspired by the movement of migrants during the pandemic, Ghai has not only written and produced the comedy but also composed the music. “I have a background in theatre. I spent my university days acting and directing plays before I got admission to the Film and Television Institute of India [FTII, Pune] where I came across art and world cinema,” he says, adding that if he has made blockbusters such as Karma and Saudagar, he has also written small-budget films like Joggers’ Park and Black & White.

The grammar of storytelling

As someone who survived the video parlour wave of the 1980s, Ghai believes that if filmmakers make visually and aurally compelling content, they will find an audience. “I am a storyteller and the grammar of writing is the same, whether it is poetry or OTT. You just have to make little changes to suit the medium. Like, how the concept of interval in theatres forced us to write a peak point just after the intermission.”

The focus, in the OTT format, is on pace and characterisation. What he’d like to change though, is the overkill of sex and violence in the garb of a thriller — he wants OTT to become an avenue for family entertainment.

In 36 Farmhouse, Sanjay Mishra and Vijay Raaz play the protagonists — actors who would have played supporting parts or ‘character’ roles in Ghai’s universe of the 1980s. “Even stars ask for scripts these days because in today’s time the hero is a character,” he shares, underlining that he refrained from the star culture back in his heyday and preferred to create new ‘stars’ (such as Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor, and Madhuri Dixit).

He calls the film a creative outcome of “work from home”. With an ensemble cast led by Mishra, it is the tale of a migrant worker who seeks shelter in a farmhouse. “During lockdown, I often wondered why so many people are being compelled to leave the city of dreams [Mumbai]. The story is dotted with two kinds of characters: those who steal for need and those who steal for greed.”

Policing content

Off screen, what does he think about the government’s recent intervention — to merge existing bodies such as the National Film Archives of India, Children Film Society of India, and Directorate of Film Festival with the National Film Development Corporation? Or the directive to censor content on OTT platforms? Ghai, who has been the voice of the film fraternity in the past, is diplomatic. “Whenever there is a flood of new technology, the government tries to streamline it. All governments try to look after the morality of people when it feels freedom is being misused. It is not about a particular party, it is about the role of government in our lives.” Some of the film bodies, he adds, have indeed “lost their relevance” and it should not be turned into “an ego issue”.

Meanwhile, the director is actively considering turning his musical blockbusters Karz and Taal into Broadway plays. “There was a proposal from the RPG group but the pandemic has stalled our endeavours. We will soon make an announcement,” he concludes.

36 Farmhouse is currently streaming on Zee 5.