Homi Adajania makes web series debut with ‘Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo’
For all the havoc it wreaked and the lives it destroyed, the pandemic had a flip side: it took out a working director Homi Adajania, Familiarly fickle and reluctant, Homi is busier than ever. His last feature film, english mediumReleased in 2020. Since then, Homie has cobbled together two projects in quick succession. Mother-in-law, daughter-in-law and the flamingo —which has a lot to recommend itself, including a bald-headed Deepak Dobriyal aiming a gun at a female drug kingpin played by Dimple Kapadia —Releasing as an eight-part series on Disney+Hotstar Is happening will be followed by happy murderA film adaptation of the novel starring Sara Ali Khan and Anuja Chauhan is set to release in 2024.
“I decided that once I turn 50 and everyone else has retired, I will make films regularly,” Homi says with a grin. The director talks about his foray into streaming, his long-standing association with Dimple Kapadia and some unique ideas. Excerpts:
‘Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo’ is about a group of women running a drug cartel from the shores of northern India. How did the idea start?
I wrote the story in 2015. It is about the women of a household who are considered by men to lead a worldly life. They are running a cottage industry that is really a front for an insidious cocaine business. The matriarch, Savitri (Dimple Kapadia) has a grim background that inspires her to create an oasis for other marginalized women in her community.
Because the story was too complicated and long drawn out, I realized it couldn’t be made into a feature. Then, once the web space started, (producer) Dinesh Vijan wanted to put Maddock Films on the map with this project. Once the pandemic subsided, we got down to it.
What do you think about saas-bahu soap operas, which have dominated the imagination of the Indian middle class since the beginning of the 21st century?
I knew about (Ekta Kapoor produced) K-serials and their popularity. People will tell me they are about kitchen politics and generational rivalries. But I didn’t know about their content beforehand. I’m not someone who watches television; I rarely watch movies. My mother watches sports or nature documentaries on television. I grew up in a household where there was no gender discrimination. For me, gender inequality was an alarming thing when I became aware of it in my teens. Maybe that’s why my female characters are biologically very strong and empowered.
Drug shows are a rage internationally. Have you referred any of them to ‘Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo’?
I did not see breaking bad Or weeds, Often while filming, I’ll come up with an idea and one of my crew will shoot it down saying it’s been done before. I was looking narcos, I loved the series for its marriage of fiction and non-fiction. In fact, in my show, there’s a line where an investigator tells a local cop that a Pablo Escobar lives among them. And the other guy turns around and says, ‘We don’t know any Pablo Escobar, but there’s a guy who sells Pablo Choco-bars’. What a ridiculous line.
Homi Adajania shoots for ‘Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo’ in Rajasthan and Kutch
I found an old article in which you wrote about mushroom picking in Bhutan. Were they magic mushrooms?
No, they were absolutely kosher, edible mushrooms. It was a fun experience. They have a season in Bhutan when all wild mushrooms grow. I went to the foothills with a close friend of mine and his lovely family, whose trout farm I was staying at. An elderly security guard was walking ahead with us. Every five minutes he raised his arms and shouted loudly. I realized that he was doing this to pre-alert the wild bears in the area.
Dimple Kapadia as the formidable Mathrubhumi and kingpin Savitri
You do something exciting every time in Dimple Kapadia. She has been your oldest collaborator since ‘Being Cyrus’ (2005). What has been the basis of this relationship?
Dimple is the most beautiful genuine person I know. She does not carry any burden of her stardom. There is a lot of trust between us. We both have a similar way of looking at life and finding humor in the darkest of places. In finding fanny (2014), there is a scene where her son played by Ranveer Singh chokes Murthy on a cake and dies. When this happens, the dimple breaks a lot. She is having every emotion of a mother losing her child, even though it is a funny moment. That is what makes it realize the truth.
Read also: homi ka jahan dil hai
Have you traveled a lot after the pandemic?
I was recently at Siachen Base Camp in Ladakh. It was wonderful spending time with our soldiers. I was diving in the Andamans and Maldives for a while. My older son (Jareh) is now 14 and he is an advanced open-water diver. I’m definitely going to drag her on these trips. We are thinking of going to Africa and maybe Fiji to dive with the whales. I too have always wanted to visit Japan. I’ve covered most of the Far East but not Japan.
You ever wanted to make a period film with Saif Ali Khan. Tell us about that project?
long ago thugs of hindostan (2018) had come, I had a story To banish some ones dreams thoughts, etc., It was ‘Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll in 1857’. It was supposed to be a big budget production but with a contemporary sensibility. It was about people trawling the outskirts of the subcontinent in search of treasure. It was a crazy, crazy idea, completely out of place. At that time we were not completely ready for this and there were problems with the third act as well. We worked on this for a long time.
Were there other ideas like this?
several. If I die, you’re welcome to take them out of my closet. I have a film about Sanyasi of Bhawal case, which was the second biggest impostor case in the world, which came out in 1930s. I have another story of four people sitting in a huge fenced off estate. It’s the end of the world and you realize there’s only one person in the room. Other characters are the fruits of his imagination. The main character is the last inmate of the insane asylum who escaped after the nuclear war broke out.
What are you reading these days?
i’m reading again living with the himalayan masters, by Swami Ram. I have re-immersed myself in my yoga regime so that the book goes well with it. I usually keep 3-4 books open; One near the bed, one in the balcony, one in the office and one in the car. I was reading Murakami’s short stories on the shoot of (Haruki) Mother-in-law, daughter-in-law and the flamingo, I read a lot of Dostoevsky, Kundera, Camus. one of my all time favorite books in fiction zorba the greek by Nikos Kazantzakis. It is about a boy who goes on a journey and searches for the meaning of life.
Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo premieres on May 5 on Disney+Hotstar