Abhishek Bhatnagar is known for Waster (2022), A Passenger in Love and Fat Boy (2018). In this interview, he speaks about the memories and romances that happen during travel.
Most Indians have fond memories of railway travel, both long-distance and local. What made you choose this setting?
I was brought up in Delhi-NCR, and we were lucky to get the metro train when I was a teenager. As a kid, I was always fascinated by the question of where all these trains finally go. Later, during my college days, I met my childhood love in the metro, which, in a way, gave me a second chance to restart and relive my incomplete first love story. I tried my hand at it, though I failed again.
I chose this setting because, as I grew up, I saw the metro network grow into a vast system covering five cities. It is like an entire civilisation to me, and so I thought of writing a film with niche details about how everyday passengers seek love during a simple, everyday metro journey.
How does Passenger in Love define your style of filmmaking – small casts, simple, endearing stories and settings with which many can identify?
I think it’s not my style; it’s just the mumblecore genre of filmmaking, which has been in practice for ages. You can take Dogma 95 or the French New Wave, or talk about Indian Parallel Cinema. In every generation, there are some filmmaking souls around the world who want to tell their stories without any pressure, and I think their passion helps them find a way. I am more of a storyteller, and I enjoy being naïve rather than being a real director with professional style and skills.
What was the biggest challenge for you while shooting this film?
I am a very quiet person, but for this film, I had to accommodate the whole crew from Mumbai in my house in Delhi because I couldn’t afford a hotel for them. Aah, I am kidding! That was the only fun part. I think money was the biggest challenge. We survived without money for a month while making the film. I made this film on the Red Bull budget of a low-budget Bollywood film, if you can imagine.
Are you a romantic at heart? Often, our creative work is a product of all that we value in life and what we cull from our personal reading, experiences, relationships and dreams. How much of this film is reflective of your own tastes?
Of course, I am! I am also planning to write two more parts of Passengers later, in my 40s and 50s, when I will have a bit more experience with romance than I do now. I will shoot those parts with the same cast. I have already signed the actors for them. It’s going to be like the Before Trilogy.
What do your other films have in common with Passenger in Love?
Air hostess.
One can study the setting, the dialogues and the costume, but how does one get educated in portraying human emotions?
I think that’s a gift a few of us have. I am lucky to have it, and that is why I feel it is my duty to make art.
How was it collaborating with your actors? What were the fun and enjoyable parts?
It was a beautiful experience collaborating with them. At first, I was not sure they would be able to learn all those lines by heart. I remember giving them the script and sharing their phone numbers. I strictly advised them to read the script only over audio calls and never, ever meet until we started the film. They were so sweet; they met directly on the set as strangers, and we shot the film.
