Manish Mundra on directorial debut Siya: The idea is to shake the audience

We all are guided by some principles Being socially relevant drives Manish Mundra to make films which other filmmakers may pass up in favour of commercial viability This is the core of his production house Drishyam which has produced such critical and awardwinning films as Rajat Kapoorrsquos Ankhon Dekhi Neeraj Ghaywanrsquos Masaan Amit V Masurkarrsquos Newton and Nagesh Kukunoorrsquos Dhanak among othersldquoOur philosophy is to offer soulful stories that are Indian and realistic in nature and feature characters who are around usrdquo Mudra told midday over a phone call ahead of the premiere of his latest offering Siya The film marks his directorial debutStarring newcomer Pooja Pandey and the versatile Vineet Kumar Singh the viewer follows 17yearold Sita Singh Pandey into the countryrsquos hinterlands as it tells the story of her brutal abduction and rape Then ensues a fight for justice in a flawed justice system reigned over by menAlso Read Siya Movie Review See yaThe idea says Mundra came from reallife crimes ldquoIn one such incident there was a huge hue and cry for a couple of days before everyone moved on to the next news But my heart and mind stayed with that survivorrdquo says Mundra ldquoI was stuck to her journey in awe of her choosing to fight while knowing that the road to justice is tough and that she and her family might pay a heavy price for itrdquoMundra made a study of several such cases that ended in death ldquoWe saw a patternmdasha powerful bahubali is either the perpetrator or supporter and tries everything in his power to silence the survivor But she still wants to fight for justice he harms herrdquo he addsMundra enlisted a script writer but wasnrsquot content with the first draft ldquoI didnrsquot want to glorify the martyr but present the story of their fight for justice So I decided to write it myselfrdquo he saysPooja Pandey plays the titular character The film tells the grim tale of a minorrsquos fight for justice after being rapedThe film cowritten with Haider Rizvi and Samah has been applauded by most critics but for one who called it a film ldquowithout hoperdquo ldquoHow many girls actually get justicerdquo is Mundrarsquos response ldquoIt takes years and years to get any form of justice This is one of the reasons most cases go unreported We might think Mumbai is safe but the latest data shows that it reported the second highest number of rape cases in India right after Delhi The idea was to shake the audience by showing them how difficult the world is for someone who wants to fight for justice The idea was to leave them disturbed and I think I have managed to achieve thatrdquoThe film will be pitted against Brahmastra which released a week ago Why didnrsquot he take the OTT route welltrodden by similar films ldquoWe make films for theatrerdquo he says ldquoEven during the pandemic we released Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi in theatres before it went onlinerdquoAlso Read Makers of Masaan and Newton bring yet another human story SiyaMundra lives his personal life without rosetinted glasses too He was struck by cinema very early in life but knew a strong font of money is needed to be and stay in business He is CEO and managing director of a petrochemical firm in Africa which is his primary source of income He routes this into his production companyldquoI have a career that looks after me and allows me to make films that others would find challengingrdquo he says ldquobut they all have been received well critically and I am hopeful they will find space among the masses as well I will continue to make these films as long as I am empowered and there will come a time when they will be commercially viable as they are in many parts of the world Meanwhile if films like Siya touch the lives of even a handful of people we will consider it a just rewardrdquo