I had the pleasure of watching a beautiful, nostalgic, and thought-provoking Marathi film titled “Three Legged Horse” at Mumbai Film Festival 2022’s virtual edition. Filmmaker Noopur Bora—who wrote and directed the film—graciously agreed to speak with me about the hardships that he faced during filming, the real-life issues that inspired the same, and a lot more in this brief interview
Vidal Dcosta for The Movie Buff: Firstly, I’d like to know what or who inspired your filmmaking journey?
“Black Friday;” Komal and Archis.
While a road rage incident similar to one that occurred in Pune in 2012 features in the movie, were there other incidents in or around Maharashtra, or even personal experiences that you derived inspiration from?
The marksheet scams, the cab rape scene, and almost everything else in the film. The deaf and mute mother, flunking, binge drinking with friends, playing pool, cheating in exams, larger than life promises…are all close personal experiences.
What were any obstacles that you faced whilst filming “Three Legged Horse” and how were you able to overcome them?
Kunal Shukla, who plays Adnan, could not drive a car. And he told me about this a week before the shoot. The driver we hired as an emergency to teach him driving came back helpless and said Kunal is untrainable. Add to it the driver was a heart patient, and training Kunal wasn’t advisable for his health so he discontinued.
Avinash Londhe and Kunal Shukla in a scene from “Three Legged Horse.” (Image courtesy Mumbai Film Festival).
We also needed to cover all the white LED streetlights with yellow paper to make the streets look like the ones in 2003. We ran into problems with a local corporator because of that and the shoot was halted multiple times.
Ria’s first audition was way extra than what we wanted and we rejected her. We auditioned more than 70 girls after that, to no avail. Reluctantly we called Ria for another trial… And she nailed it in the first roll of camera.
And all other obstacles that come when the majority crew is a first timer, but thankfully, the producer, Mr. Desai was very, very co-operative.
The cast, particularly the lead trio, did a splendid job in lending authenticity to their characters. As a director, how do you ensure that you can extract the best performances from your cast?
We cannot ensure, but we can hope. Good actors usually give their best. Confidence breeds confidence.
Did the cast also have any creative output in terms of their characterisation during filming?
A scene from “Three Legged Horse.” (Image courtesy Mumbai Film Festival).
Everyone had a lot of questions, but the characters eventually did not deviate from the script.
Who are some of the filmmakers you look up to or who inspire your own work/style of filmmaking?
Fellow filmmakers Suhas Desale and Nachiket Samant are my closest friends and thus, my inspirations.
Lastly, could you share with our readers what other projects you might have in store or what more we can look forward to seeing from you?
I would like to know if they would be interested in a film titled something like “D!JAN.”
The Movie Buff would like to thank Noopur Bora for his time, and wish him continued success with “Three Legged Horse” in the festival circuit.
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