In Navdeep Singh’s debut film Manorama Six Feet Under, crime coalesces into grime to create a kind of brackish brittle but sturdy concoction that Quentin Tarantino would approve of and Alfred Hitchcock would find hard to recognise. The characters are familiar smalltown people, not as continually menacing as they were in Vishal Bharadwaj’s brutal and merciless Omkara, but funnier and more lethargic, prone to being more callous and blatantly foolish than they ever were under the previous noire creators.
In an exclusive conversation with Zoom, director Navdeep Singh talks about the film marking 17 years of its release.
Seven years since your small but impactful film?
It’s a miracle that Manorama still has relevance after all these years. It was a tiny film that nobody really watched in theatres but somehow got a new lease of life in digital.
Why do you think it has endured as a cult film?
It was a passion project for a lot of the people involved; the crew and the actors and I think that passion reflects on the screen.
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What made it special for you?
On my own part, I think it had a freshness because I still hadn’t learned the rules of what can and can’t be done.
Was it earlier to be made with another actor?
An earlier incarnation with Irrfan Khan as the lead never took off. Thanks to Abhay Deol, it finally happened. The producers wanted to do something with him and it happened quite quickly once he came on board.
If you had to change anything in Manorama Six Feet Under what would it be?
I haven’t seen it in a while but maybe, pace up the edit a bit, just a little bit.
Your NH 10 was a minor sensation. What are you working on now?
I have a few things on the anvil at various stages of development. Nothing close to shooting yet.