The filmmaker alleged that many scenes from the film were edited/deleted by the producer due to which it lacked “continuity”.
Published Jun 23, 2023 | 11:51 AM ⚊ Updated Aug 10, 2023 | 1:40 PM
'Flush' director Ayesha Sulthana. (Supplied)
Aisha Sulthana’s debut movie Flush was released on 16 June, without any fanfare. There weren’t many footfalls in theatres; shows were even cancelled in several centres as nobody knew about its release.
The director herself was not in the scene when the film’s release date was announced; she was in Delhi.
In an exclusive interview with South First, Aisha Sulthana — the first woman director from Lakshadweep — reveals how her debut movie, which is based on her homeland, was “mistreated” by the producer.
Aisha Sulthana debuts with ‘Flush’. (Supplied)
Aisha Sulthana alleged that many dialogues and scenes were edited and deleted from Flush by producer Beena Kasim. As a result, the runtime of 93 minutes has “continuity issues”.
“In a scene, a set of youngsters plan to stage a protest against the issues in the health sector. In the next scene, they stage a protest in front of a closed government office against the Lagoon Villa project, which is a totally different issue. The film lacked continuity as it was trimmed down by the producer,” she pointed out.
Aisha Sulthana also stated that Beena Kasim deleted one of Pranav’s (the lead character) dialogue which justifies the film’s title.
“The dialogue denotes that even the authorities can’t take care of their own flush (in their toilets) and hence are showing the same attitude towards the islanders on various issues.”
According to her, Flush had a runtime of about two hours. But she doesn’t have the original copy of the movie now as she lost all the data during a raid conducted after being charged with sedition.
Aisha Sulthana’s film criticises the Lakshadweep administration. (Supplied)
The filmmaker revealed that the primary producer of Flush was Anand Payyanur.
“When the movie was announced, Anand Ettan (brother) was in Dubai and could not travel due to Covid-19 restrictions. But he paid money for script writing and to obtain necessary permits for the shooting on the island,” she remarked.
Aisha further added: “Our stay was arranged at Beena Kasim’s resort. She offered us free accommodation and food till the completion of the shoot. However, she insisted that we let her associate with the film as a line producer. Anand Ettan agreed to this.”
“However, when the shooting began, Beena and her team wanted to own this project saying that it would be a complete Lakshadweep movie if the producer also hails from the island. Anand Ettan and I liked the idea and that’s how Beena Kasim came on board,” she recalled.
As regards the budget of Flush, the director replied, “The producer claims to have spent ₹1.5 crore on the project, but it’s highly impossible since the makeup artist and art director, too, did pivotal roles to limit the budget.”
The filmmaker said she opted for newcomers, especially locals, since it was a movie about Lakshadweep and also because she wanted to reduce the cost.
Aisha Sulthana has worked with director Lal Jose before. (Supplied)
Aisha Sulthana also revealed the issues faced by her crew during the shooting of Flush.
“When we were in quarantine (in the resort), Beena Kasim’s husband (Lakshadweep BJP’s general secretary Muhammad Kasim) turned up at the resort one day and warned us to wrap up the shoot in five days. This led to a verbal fight between us two,” she recollected.
She pointed out that he had issues with some of the posters used during the shoot that criticised the Union government.
Aisha Sulthana alleged that she was kept in the dark about the announcement made regarding the release of Flush.
On 10 June, in the absence of the director, the producer announced that the film would be released on 16 June.
“I learnt about the release date only after our PRO alerted me. The producer knew that I was out of the station. We could not even promote the film and hence, there is hardly any audience in the theatres now. It seems Beena Kasim did not want people to watch Flush due to its content,” Aisha Sulthana alleged.
Ayesha Sulthana (Aisha Lakshadweep/ Facebook)
Aisha Sulthana noted that many people were eagerly waiting to watch Flush as it’s the first film from Lakshadweep.
Her first movie was supposed to be a commercial project. According to the filmmaker, when she was searching for locations for her flick, the Lagoon Villa project was announced. Hence, she stopped working on it and instead, came up with Flush.
“We won’t allow the Lagoon Villa project to happen in Lakshadweep,” she declared.
She said the people of Lakshadweep will instantly connect with the issues in the healthcare system.
Aisha Sulthana wanted to highlight the Tuna business too, but couldn’t do it. She got permission only to shoot on one island since Covid cases were reported in the other four islands.
“I had to change certain aspects in the script. For me, a major part of the movie was lost as I couldn’t shoot in the other four islands, though I initially obtained the shooting permit for all five islands,” she signed off.
