Once in a while, the Indian media carry stories of rich Indians abusing domestic staff. A teenage girl beaten up for playfully trying on her employer's lipstick; a maid left for a week with no food and locked in the flat by a doctor couple who have gone off to Bangkok; a young employee punished for oversalting his employer's food by having a hot spatula pressed against his face. But the daily indignities of domestic staff are known only to the victims and it is these experiences that the filmmaker Prashant Nair, 35, portrays in his newly released film Delhi in a Day. A satire on Delhi's nouveau riche, the film lampoons their excessively showy lifestyles as well as mistreatment of their domestic staff. Starring Victor Banerjee, Lillete Dubey, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Anjali Patil and the Welsh actor Lee Williams, the film will be released in India on Thursday and is likely to have a limited theatrical release in the UAE a few weeks later.
Is this an Indian version of the Hollywood movie The Help, which portrayed the contempt of rich, white Mississippi women towards their black maids?
There are similarities, but they are very different in terms of style, tone and treatment. One key difference is that Delhi in a Day is set in the present and deals very directly with an issue that is prevalent in today's society.
What made you choose this topic?
I've always found the disparity in these upper and upper middle-class households as well as the lack of regulation disturbing. Often, it borders on abusive. I don't think it's a question of the rich being good or bad but it's just that no one really stops to question their own behaviour because this treatment of "servants" is so ingrained in society.
How do you want viewers to react?
I'm hoping this film will generate some debate and encourage people to give a little thought to how they all treat their staff, even as they enjoy a few laughs while watching it. My characters do charity work and engage in philanthropic activities but, the moment they get home, they can't treat the staff with civility or dignity. While choosing a location in Delhi, I looked at some 30 to 40 farmhouses and in all of them, the servants' quarters were pathetic. They won't spend even the slightest amount of money on refurbishing them.
Tell us about the film's plot.
It's about a nouveau-riche, flashy Delhi family. There is a rich, loudmouth socialite (Dubey) who lives with her wealthy businessman husband and children in a palatial mansion in south Delhi. A semi-alcoholic cook, a butler, two drivers and a maid minister to their needs. The socialite routinely calls them "idiots" and waves them away dismissively in front of guests. Then a British house guest arrives, ironically, to backpack and explore Indian spirituality, only to find himself immersed in this household and all its materialism. His money is stolen. That is a catalyst. The family assumes automatically that one of the servants is the thief. They are given 24 hours to either replace it or face the consequences.
Why did you need a foreigner in the cast?
I wanted a foreign perspective on what is perhaps taken for granted in India. He comes naively to India looking for spirituality and lands instead in this very materialistic, over-the-top south Delhi environment. The contrast provides for humorous moments. He does have a voyage but it's just not the one he imagined.
Won't you be criticised for being an outsider?
While it's true that I've lived and travelled all over the world with my diplomat parents, I was born in India and every summer during my childhood we used to come to Delhi, so I have seen the sort of cruelty my film portrays. I saw young adults kicking elderly staff. I saw a servant being slapped in front of 80 to 90 people for forgetting something. But yes, I think being a partial outsider helps to bring a different perspective.
Have you toned down the reality?
Yes, I wanted to use humour and portraying very ugly or brutal kinds of behaviour would have worked against that. I wanted a light tone to the film. Humour can have more impact than shock value. Although it has some dark moments, most of the film is humorous.
You are a trained engineer and entrepreneur. What made you switch to making movies?
It's always been a passion and, once my company Avedya matured into a functioning company with a talented management team, it was possible to step away and finally focus on filmmaking. I studied filmmaking at New York University and had a few editing classes, but I really learnt by making a short film and then this feature film.
Are you more hopeful that the younger generation will turn out to be kinder?
Among the people I am describing in my film - unfortunately, not really. In some ways they are even more selfish and inconsiderate.
