The debutant director reveals how he came up with the storyline, his tryst with a professional executioner and much more.
A poster of Vihaan's directorial debut 'Hangman'. (Facebook)
Another youth from Secunderabad’s Padmarao Nagar is set to make his official debut in May as a director with the Telugu film Hangman.
He wanted to do something in cinema but lacked clarity on what to pursue. After academics, he worked in an animation company, did some ads, corporate films, etc.
“I tried getting into Sekhar Kammula’s Life Is Beautiful (2012) team. I attended the interviews but they wanted a female candidate. Even then, I was doing small stuff for them,” Vihaan recalled.
Over the years, when he was narrating small incidents to his friends, he realised that he has a different perspective. “I was perceiving something that others aren’t. Soon, I realised that I could uniquely present a film and tell more stories.”
‘Hangman’ director Vihaan. (Instagram)
The 80-minute story has Brahmaji playing the role of a hangman. Vihaan picked him after watching his remarkable performance in Sindhooram (Vermillion, 1997).
Hangman is touted to be intense, but is it preachy? “A bit yes. But just a few minutes towards the end,” the filmmaker said.
So, what is the movie all about? “Hangman is all about the executioner. I learnt that it’s a hereditary job. There is never an advertisement about the job posting.”
Vihaan also recollected a few memories he made while playing the vocabulary game “Hangman”.
“A wrong answer in the blank can kill the hangman. Only the right answer saves him. While playing the game, I came up with the idea of writing a fictional story where a father trains his son to be an executioner — just like how a carpenter trains his son in his craft.”
After finishing his script in July last year, Vihaan wanted to meet an executioner. So, he drove down to Meerut (Uttar Pradesh) with his cousin in November. After an entire day of searching, he met with Pawan Jallad, a professional executioner in his 60s.
A poster of Brahmaji’s ‘Hangman’. (Facebook)
In 1931, Pawan’s great-grandfather hanged Bhagat Singh. His dad hanged Indira Gandhi’s killer. Pawan hanged Nirbhaya’s killer.
“He explained how he hangs criminals. He also pulled out from a trunk the rope he uses for the process. I had chills in my spine,” the filmmaker quipped.
Pawan’s father would cut the rope, remove threads and make earrings using beads with tassels. “They sold like hotcakes because people believed that death wouldn’t befall if you sport them!”
Currently, around 400 people have been sentenced to death in India and they are waiting for their turn to get hanged. Waiting is stressful and more traumatic than death itself.
The hangman is paid ₹25,000 for the job and ₹5,000 as a stipend from the jail every month.
Some stories need to be heard. Some stories need to be told. This is one such story that tells what we need to hear.
The Art, The Skill & The Anatomy of Hanging.
Trailer launch soon. Meet you at The Gallows.
Written & Directed by: @vihaan_chlorofylmer pic.twitter.com/f7Im0lAUf1
— Brahmaji (@actorbrahmaji) April 4, 2021
Vihaan noted that hanging a person involves a lot of physics,
“The length of the rope, the weight of the person, and distance from the ground all matter. There is a book called Black Warrant where it is mentioned that hanging can go wrong if not pulled right.”
He further explained: “Once even before the hangman stepped in, the police pulled the lever and didn’t realise that the rope wasn’t knotted properly. The head of the person fell off of the body.”
The executioners tie the knot in such a way that it breaks the spinal cord.
“In the case of suicides by hanging, asphyxiation mostly kills the person. But in jails, the intent is to break the spine,” the director added.
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Recalling the Nirbhaya case, Vihaan said the gang rape-murder incident made him think as to how we can stop such heinous crimes from happening.
“I don’t believe that punishments will instil fear. When someone commits a crime, they only think about the act and not the punishment they might incur thereafter.”
A poster of ‘Hangman’. (Facebook)
Citing an example, the director pointed out that a student who cheats does know that he will be debarred but he does it. He has his justification and acts accordingly.
“Firstly, he thinks that he won’t get caught. Secondly, he would want to consider the consequences only if and when he gets caught. Eventually, he believes that cheating is not a crime,” Vihaan elucidated.
“Similarly, though hanging is a cruel way to kill people, the government believes that there won’t be any fear left among people if there’s no capital punishment. Hanging is like an act of social revenge,” he added.
Finally, is it a profession that a hangman is proud of?
“Imagine, his wife cooks biryani the day someone is killed. There will be remorse and guilt. But in reality, he is bringing the criminal to justice. Pawan’s son doesn’t want to be a hangman,” Vihaan signed off.
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