‘Kaun Kitne Paani Mein is a satire’

The subject of his film Kaun Kitne Paani Mein might be on water scarcity but director Nila Madhab Panda says rather than making a preachy drama, he has tackled the issue in a satirical manner.

Starring Radhika Apte, Kunal Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla and Gulshan Grover in lead roles, the story follows the change in <g data-gr-id="31">financial</g> equation between two villages, when they are hit by a drought.

“This story is of the place I belong to. I grew up in a <g data-gr-id="32">drought prone</g> area. You can easily make an arthouse film, very dark, <g data-gr-id="33">deeprooted</g>...But I decided to make it in a different way.“What we noticed was how these people were surviving. They are surviving by having interesting talks, jokes... Based on this I thought to make a satire. This is a genre, which I really like. We don’t have many satires in Bollywood,” said Nila during his visit here.

The director, who made his debut with critically acclaimed I Am Kalam, said he does not like being slotted into the “social filmmaker” category.

“I am often told ‘You are a social filmmaker.’ That’s the last thing I would want to hear. I tell stories that I have lived so somehow my films become serious. And when I look around, I feel ‘Why doesn’t anyone call Singham a social film? It also had a message,” he said.“I get this feeling that people think it is a very preachy film or it is raising awareness about water scarcity. But I see it as a very entertaining film, with amazing acting, great story, good <g data-gr-id="40">humour</g> and an unusual music.” The film releases this Friday.