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A hero in hell

Rajitha

Cheddi Jagan. Click for bigger pic!

Voluble when it comes to talking about his debut film, Rohit Jagessar is reticence personified the minute you attempt to get him to talk about himself.

"Others should talk about me," is the stock response. A picture? "No, no thanks, I'll stay out of the camera's field..."

In Bombay for pre-production work on his upcoming film Cheddi Jagan, Rohit unwinds. And talks. Over time, and in between fielding phone calls, holding meetings, and all the myriad other things a producer-director has to do in the build-up to his first film.

"My grandparents," he recalls, when I ask him how come a US-based Indian conceived of such an off-the-beaten-track theme, "were originally from UP, in fact, they were among the slave labourers that the British shipped to the Indies, to places like Trinidad, Surinam, Barbados, Mauritius, Jamaica and suchlike.

"When the British first shipped the Indian labourers out of here, it was on false pretences. They were promised wages, payable every fortnight, in addition to food, housing, you name it -- what the British were doing was selling dreams, an El Dorado that lured people into a nightmare worse than anything you could imagine."

I sit back and listen, as Rohit narrates the iniquitous tale of long ago. And realise that he does so with a verve, a passion that can only come when your roots have gone down deep into the era you are re-living, the story you are recounting...

"Their travails began from day one," affirms the director-to-be. "They were told the voyage would take a week. In actual fact, it took over 70 days. That, to people unused to the sea, was hell. At that point, reaching their destination must have seemed to them like an end to the nightmare -- but in fact, it was merely exchanging one form of hell for another.

"The conditions in which they were expected to work were inhuman. Diseases were rampant, food scarce, weary work-filled days being succeeded by nights of exhausted oblivion.

"Then there was another potential trouble spot: women. In that particular 'consignment' of slaves, there were 300 men, but only 50 women -- so rapes were common, of another's daughter, maybe his wife. And this in turn led to fights, killings.

"Every conceivable trick in the book was used to ensure that the slaves stayed bonded. For instance, a youngster would be charged with some crime, and slammed in prison. As long as he stayed there, his father, mother, relatives, would remain rooted to the farm, working, hoping...

"I would estimate that this atrocity went on for, oh, I would say about 80 years..."

For Rohit, the story is more precious than a hand-me-down heirloom. And the empathy shows, in the way he narrates it, his hands conjuring up visions to match his words.

As the community grew, narrates Rohit, racial tension developed - and the British, true to their policy of divide and rule, assiduously fanned these flames. The first flashpoint came on June 16, 1948, when massed protests resulted in police action, and the deaths of many of the protestors.

"The son of a potato farmer rose out of the bloodshed that day... Inspired by Gandhi, made of the same fibre as Martin Luther, Cheddi Jagan stepped into that cauldron, to lead a fight not just for himself and his people, but for all those oppressed by the British."

One of the weapons used during the early Guyanese riots. Click for bigger pic!

Were there, I interrupt at this juncture, non-Indians as well, in the slave camps? "Sure," says Rohit. "Africans, Portuguese, some Chinese..."

Cheddi Jagan got actively involved in politics, in uniting the oppressed into a composite whole that could fight back against the oppressors.

"And then, in 1961, the famous Cuban Missile Crisis happened, if you remember. To the intelligence services of an America made paranoid by the Russians, Jagan was an enemy, a threat, another Communist to be got rid of.

"Kennedy was worried that Cheddi, being a Marxist who had at one point even visited Russia, would convert Guyana into a Russian satellite state.

"At this point, the CIA was actively attempting his life, the British were further fanning the riots that broke out, inciting racial tension between the coloured natives and the Indians. Cheddi, by sheer dint of the force of his personality, survived and, more remarkably, triumphed in the ensuing elections.

"Not that it made any difference, Cheddi was pushed into political exile, where he remained for about 28 years.

"It was during his exile that he met, and married, Janet. And through his time in the wilderness, he kept up the resistance, built and strengthened his support base, and ultimately, returned to active politics -- and, again, won elections, to become the first Indian President of Guyana.

"This," says Rohit, the faraway look in his eyes fading as he returns to the present, "is essentially the story of Cheddi Jagan, the story that I want to capture on celluloid. I want to dramatise this story, I want people to see it, feel it."

Why?

"Well, basically, it is a story that needs to be told. Today's generation needs to know what their forefathers have endured. Today, youngsters do drugs, they "search for their roots", they "try to find where they came from" -- well, this is the answer, one of the answers they need to hear, to understand.

"My son is 10 years old, and as he grows I want him to know, to understand.... As I myself learnt, and understood, when I first heard these stories from my grandmother..."

So your target audience will be today's youngsters? I ask.

The tomb of Cheddi Jagan. Click for bigger pic!

"Everyone, everywhere, actually," is the response. "I am making it in English, I might opt for a Hindi version as well, for the Indian audience. We might also dub it in Dutch, for people in Surinam. My idea is that the story should reach as wide an audience as possible, that the story should inspire as many people as possible..."

It is, I point out, a big, convoluted tale to tell. Further, Indian audiences tend to shy away from films that do not contain the mandatory songs and dances...

"Yes, well," smiles Rohit, "in actual fact, Cheddi met Janet in a ballroom, they fell in love, they got married. There is also another rebel, Lachchman, and his girl, Urmila. There is romance in plenty within the context of the larger story. I mean, these are human beings we are talking about, they did meet, love, marry, beget children... But it is all real, true to life, not the escapist version of popular cinema."

Telling the story must have involved a lot of research, I hazard. And am immediately contradicted.

"Not all that much. In fact, very little. I know the history," he says, "so at this point, I don't want to confuse things with a lot of delving. My aim is to take the basic story, to let imagination and history go hand in hand. For instance, I don't need to do a whole lot of digging in a bid to find out how Lachchman and Urmila reacted when they first met. History tells me they met, and fell in love with each other -- imagination will supplement the tale, at this point. In fact," he says, "I am doing the film without a conventional script. I think I can pull it off, though my team is a shade nervous..."

A big task to try and pull off, that too on debut. Any hint of nerves, of crises of confidence?

"Well, about what I can do and what I cannot, I am in the process of finding that out. The story is good, so that is a plus right there, I find I am enjoying the work thus far, and I decided I would take one step at a time. I never planned to be a director, and it's not like I want to try my hand at making any film. This one, though, I want to make, and I want to make it on my terms.

"Maybe it comes from faith in what you are doing," muses the wannabe director, "but somehow, on this one, things seem to have a habit of falling in place. We were wondering who to cast as Janet, and a woman, an actress, walked into our office on a chance. Loretto Calabro her name is, an Italian actress. If you are looking for credits, well, she's been in a Michael Jackson music video, also done some plays, and a few feature films. And she looks a dead ringer for Janet Jagan. So for me, that was it.

"I mean, she is not a big name, but I think this film will make her one. That's the challenge, taking unknown names, telling an unfamiliar tale, and making it all happen."

One thing he is not short on, you realise, is confidence. And as you spend time observing him at work, you realise that somehow, amidst all the chaos, there is an underlying method.

"Things happen," he says. "The trick is to be wide awake to what is happening. Like, for instance, we were scouting for locations, and wandered into a village with lots of old houses, we found a mansion, an old one, and chance inquiries revealed that the houses belonged to people who actually lived there during the period our film is set in. So there, readymade, is a good part of your set, including, as we found out, a graveyard that is integral to our story. And the people who live there are part of the story we are setting out to tell - I tell you, I could just turn on the camera out there, and have my tale told for me, they don't even have to act!"

Loretto Calabro who plays Janet Jagan (right) at an audition. Click for bigger pic!

He has, he says, no hard and fast schedule -- the basic idea being to keep moving forward, one step at a time, till he gets where he is going. "It's a big film, hopefully we will start sometime in late August and filming could go on till Christmas, maybe a short break, then back on location till we have it all wrapped up. The only date I have in mind is March 1999 - March 6 is Cheddi's death anniversary, though I am not looking at it as a hard and fast deadline."

One thing Rohit has thought through, though, is how he would like his film seen. "Hopefully, a worldwide, simultaneous, release. My dream, though, is to exhibit it in stadia -- gigantic screens, maybe even a live background score, with scores of people all watching together... it's a dream, a big one, let's see..."

The trouble with political subjects though, I point out, is that you never know who will object, and why. Is that a problem he has anticipated, I wonder? And what of the ubiquitous censors, with their ideas of what can be shown?

"We'll go through whatever the legal processes are, as occasion arises. I mean, they can't nuke our movie, that's for sure. Besides, though my ideas are still at germinating stage at this point, I thought of different versions. Maybe, for the American audiences, the Cold War focus will be heightened since it will strike a receptive chord. For the Indian audiences, the Indian angle will be highlighted... why, there could even be songs, dances, in the Indian version. After all, don't forget that the slaves, my subjects, did amuse themselves as best they could..."

In a bid to get a line on his cinematic influences, I ask him what films he normally loves to watch. More particularly, has he seen any Hindi films to get an idea of audience tastes here?

"Well, no. Though if people do like Hindi films, then I guess they ought to be good. I like, watch, American films, comedy, light subjects, even romance. I like quiet films, not the intense, noisy, stuff with blasted cars and crashing buildings. Sounds strange, I guess, considering that my subject is intense, panoramic, like the riot scenes I will have to incorporate..."

When he talks panorama, simple word association suggests money -- and the question of where it is coming from...

"Well, not from India, obviously," he says. "I mean, I don't see people here financing this kind of film, I am not even looking for finance here. This is our films, we will find our own money and I'll make it on my terms, sell it and exhibit it my way."

There is a very take-it-for-granted air about him when he talks money -- the kind of attitude you expect from, say, a successful entrepreneur. Which, as it turns out, Rohit is.

The plaque at the tomb. Click for bigger pic!

"I have this radio station, it was started in 1989, and it plays Hindi music 24 hours," he smiles. "From four to eight is new songs, then from 8 to 9 it is hits of the eighties, then there are some talk shows, then back to songs. We do the programming we like, the listener has the choice of taking what we give, or changing channels. But it is quite popular, the Aap Ki Farmaish on weekends being a big draw. It's quite a challenge, that program, you have, like, ten seconds between the time the listener names his request, to find the song and play it."

You manage to find it, in that time?

"Sure I do," he says, with the kind of smugness that comes of confidence. "We have a pretty comprehensive collection, I stock up on the new songs. We even do interviews with stars... You know what, even Cheddi has once visited my studio..."

Rohit doesn't know the late President personally, but his father, he recalls, was very close to Cheddi Jagan. "I have tapes of interviews with him, about 20 hours worth on tape."

Getting back to the subject of music, Rohit tells me that his station's top ten program -- based on requests and dealer info - recently had the tracks of Duplicate heading the playlist. "That was when I left," he says. "But it was the Dil To Pagal Hai songs that stayed on top for weeks. Jeans," he adds, "was DOA -- got into the charts at seven or eight and out it went, after a few days."

Hindi pop, he says, finds few takers. "Those songs have a very brief shelf life, even a Daler Mehndi doesn't stay in the charts for long though we do play the latest. Our forte is old songs, I have the kind of collection where, I bet, we even have songs that EMI has forgotten about!"

Since his business is Hindi music, curiosity leads me to ask him what his own personal favourites are. "Well, the soft songs are the ones I like, the old ones. Madan Mohan, composers like that. New stuff? Well, there is that soft song from Criminal, remember, Tu Mile Dil Khile... I would think my all time favourite is S D Burman, another composer I like is Naushad, in fact, we are trying to get him to do the music for the film...."

I wonder how he kept himself fluent in Hindi, and he hands me a surprise.

"But I don't know Hindi," he says, seriously. "Come to think of it, you don't have to know the language to understand today's lyrics. I get one song translated, and I know pretty much every song... they are all the same," he says, and I can't tell if he is joking, or serious.

As we wind to a close, I cut back to the subject of the film, more specifically the audition that has brought him to Bombay. "One thing I noticed," he says, "whether in Bombay, or New York, the guys who come for auditions are something else, they grasp the scene I am explaining in a minute, they emote on cue, with no preparation... quite fantastic, really."

What kind of director does he see himself as? The easygoing kind? Demanding? A perfectionist, or easily satisfied?

"I think I'll be pretty cool, really. Like I said, it's a journey, I have the nucleus of a team, a crew, we are going about things one step at a time. I don't think I'll be tough, though - I mean, I won't be a plantation owner of a director, with my stars for slaves..." The thought ends on a typical Rohit Jagessar laugh.

But for a debutant director, the challenge is going to be to get his stars to sustain their performance over the length of the film. Does he think he can do it?

"Well, I am obviously hoping to, in fact, I am banking on it," he says, adding on a smile. "I better be able to, or else we will have a disaster on our hands, won't we?"

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