In a recent interview, director Chaitanya Tamhane told mid-day that stars and filmmakers should make one film for the kitchen and one for the soul. Filmmaker Kabir Khan has been living that motto from the start of his career. In his filmography, there are blockbusters like Ek Tha Tiger (2012) and Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015), as well as hard-hitting offerings like Kabul Express (2006) and New York (2009). “I’ve never been in the race of being commercially viable. Despite that, I’ve had some big commercial successes. That’s important because it keeps you relevant and allows you to do anything you want. For me, success is [being able to] select what I want to do. So far, I’ve been able to pick up films that have struck a chord with me,” says the director.
A still from the short film, Setara. Pic/Instagram
His search for such stories led him to My Melbourne. The anthology, which sees four directors—Imtiaz Ali, Rima Das, Onir and Khan—unite to tell short stories, is releasing in India on March 14. Khan’s short Setara tells the true story of a 15-year-old Afghan girl rebuilding her life in Melbourne after fleeing the Taliban, and finding a sense of belonging through cricket. A chance encounter brought this subject to the director. “My film 83 [2021] was getting an award at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2022. At one of the receptions, I saw four-five girls in hijabs coming to see Kapil [Dev] sir. They were members of the Afghan women’s cricket team, who had to run away from Afghanistan. That immediately struck a chord with me because I’ve always felt for Afghanistan, and I love underdog stories.”
As we talk about Afghanistan, we recollect Meryl Streep’s statement about cats having more freedom than women in Kabul. Having studied the country since his days as a documentary filmmaker, Khan rues the current situation. He laments, “What girls like Setara are going through today is worse as they had 20 years of relative peace [between 2001 and 2021]. A generation of girls was born after the Taliban [regime collapsed] in 2001, and just when they were ready to spread their wings, things went back to square one. What’s sad is that we’re slowly forgetting it because there are more important things coming on the news like Gaza and Ukraine. Nobody is talking about Afghanistan today. So, at least, these films keep provoking a conversation. I’m so happy to see Setara, who is full of enthusiasm for the future. You can rise above the trauma you went through, and the film talks about that.”
