'Haiwaan': Why Priyadarshan didn't let Saif watch 'Oppam' before shoot
What's the story
Priyadarshan's upcoming film, Haiwaan, is an adaptation of his 2016 Malayalam movie Oppam. The movie stars Saif Ali Khan in the role originally played by Mohanlal in Oppam. To ensure that Khan brought his unique interpretation to the character without being influenced by Mohanlal's performance, Priyadarshan did not allow him to watch the original film. The Hindi film releases on September 11.
Director's insight
'When I work with Mohanlal...'
Priyadarshan told Variety India, "Saif has no idea what Mohanlal has done. I did not allow it."
He added that every actor brings their own body language, dialogue delivery, and movements to a role.
"When I work with Mohanlal, I tell him to move a certain way. I don't follow the same with Saif."
"His dialogue delivery, body language and hand and head gestures are completely different," Priyadarshan said.
Character preparation
Director conducted interviews with visually impaired men for research
In addition to Khan's performance, Priyadarshan also focused on accurately depicting Shyam's blindness in Haiwaan.
He conducted interviews with many visually impaired men to understand their experiences before writing the script.
"You can't create a world for him because he can't see anything. Out of his five senses, one sense isn't present, but the other four become stronger."
Filmmaking philosophy
Priyadarshan on other movie inspirations
When asked about his inspiration from other movies, Priyadarshan mentioned Al Pacino's portrayal of a visually impaired character in Scent of a Woman.
He said, "Filmmaking is make-believe. It is about making the audience believe what you are doing is right. You have to put in logic."
"Today, people have a lot of exposure to world cinema. So, they'll ask you thousands of questions."
"My responsibility is to answer these questions while making the film."