The liberation of corporeal self—A Fly on the Wall handles heavyweight material but as a poetic interpretation. The result is a moving chronicle of filmmaker Shonali Bose, who is asked to document the last final days of her friend Chika Kapadia, who had planned his exit from life.
Chika gave life to the documentary through his death when he told Shonali, a friend of two decades to document what he called his ‘going away party’, but also the moment when he took his last breath. Chika was in the final stage of a rare form of cancer with mere months to live when he decided to seek assisted suicide at Dignitas, the medical organisation in Switzerland aimed at people with terminal ailments or severe mental illnesses. The time that followed raised several difficult questions for Shonali first as a friend and then as a filmmaker when she joined hands with her long-time collaborator, Nilesh Maniyar. It was Nilesh who prompted Shonali to turn on the camera and talk about the emotional chaos inside, ‘What was I feeling and thinking while the clock ticked? To ask me to turn the camera towards myself when a friend is going through something like this?!’ she was hesitant but in hindsight, ‘Chika put us on the path of capturing something we are excited to share with the world.’
This year, A Fly on the Wall has screened at the Busan International Film Festival, MAMI, and DIFF. We spoke with the creators, Shonali and Nilesh, who have emerged successfully from what felt like the hardest challenge ever.
I would like to start by expressing my appreciation for creating this deeply personal film. I can only imagine how challenging it must be to cope with someone so close to you while they are passing away. Shonali, what was your initial reaction when he came to you with this request? And Nilesh, how did you feel about it?
Nilesh Maniyar: Obviously, you don’t say no to whatever you can do for a friend in such a moment. But a friend’s wish and a film are two separate things. I always try to work around the idea that it’s not a film if it doesn’t have the layers of experience that not only make you consider and contemplate the issue at hand but also compel you to find your reflection in the film. And that’s possible only if you invest in the characters, story, and world that make a film come together. But the thing this time around was one would have to construct this film not by ideating but by reacting. My advantage was I had known Chika and Shonali for almost a decade now. So instinctively, the experiment was to see it through the lens of friendship and capture Chika and Shonali’s journey, which felt like an idea that a film can be woven around.
Shonali Bose: Turning on a camera to keep his wish wasn’t the issue. But I wasn’t sure how one could make a film out of it, and we didn’t want to be dishonest to him. Nilesh and I jammed and decided that we would treat it as an intimate journey of a person’s countdown to death. What are they doing in the last few days of their life? On the eve of my departure, Nilesh got the idea to include my experience in the film, too. What was I feeling and thinking while the clock ticked? To ask me to turn the camera towards myself when a friend is going through something like this?! I was hesitant. But I agreed to keep a video diary. I had never done this before. So, of course, many challenges followed, but a film emerged. In hindsight, it feels like Chika put us on the path of capturing something we are excited to share with the world.
What message do you want the audience to take away from this film?
NM & SB: Chika had a clear intent that this film leads to a discussion on the right to die with dignity. In fiction narrative, our attempt is not to make a film with a message inserted in every other dialogue of the film. For us, cinema is an experience and should provoke you to think and feel in a certain way and let you discover a message. Initially, when Chika thought of a film, he thought of just interviews with Dignitas and his family members and the scenes of the last moments of his life. As we came on board, Nilesh and I landed on Chika’s intent via an intimate journey of two friends with death around the corner. The screenings in Busan and MAMI Film festivals have helped us reaffirm that the film lets one reconsider, rewrite, and rethink the notion of fear and trauma attached to the idea of dying. And to arrive at that, it needed a friend like Chika to be in his element.
Please take us through the creative process of shooting a film that could not get any second takes.
NM: It started with zero crew at the time of production. I could not get a visa in two days, and I knew it wouldn’t be easy to be working remotely on this. Honestly, I am glad it turned out this way. Watching it from afar gave me a perspective.
So, when Shonali was to depart for Zurich, it was like arming and sending her off to space! Resul (Pookutty) helped with the right lapel mikes, and Suparna (Singh) helped organise the best iPhone gear. A documentary filmmaker and professor in Zurich, Nitin Bathla – graciously agreed to come for a few days as a second camera, and that was certainly a huge relief and help. Of course, the scary part as a film crew on this one is there is almost no second take unless it’s a shot of crossing the street or something.
And knowing Shonali, the running joke was that I knew that she could press the stop button and assume it was recording! And delete some recordings trying to send it! So, when the first batch of rushes arrived, it felt like a triumph. This little laughter always helps go through making such films.
SB: I never wanted to be a fly on the wall in Chika’s final moments. Chika used that phrase when he was explaining how the final death scene would be. That he would be talking to his friends and brother (three people) and that I should just be still like a fly on the wall and quietly leave as soon as it was done. I protested that I was his friend, too, and I, too, wanted to emotionally engage with him. I felt angry with him when he said this, and he was about to die the next day. That felt so complicated. But when the moment arrived, I was my natural self with him, and he was my loving friend, and we had a lovely time in those last couple hours up to the death. I think he was really worried about the death being shot perfectly, and hence, he asked me to be a fly on the wall. I realised that later during the edit.
The documentary was filmed in various locations using no artificial light. How did you ensure it maintains the technical polish and intimate feel of a home video?
SB: I shot the first couple of days and shared it with Nilesh. Everything that could be wrong about framing in a shot was a delight for him. We then built further in that direc- tion – off-kilter frames, etc. While all my peers have scoffed at the iPhone as a medium, it was ringing in my ears, but for this one, it was a blessing. It enables intimate moments as the phone camera is unobtrusive, and people are also used to taking selfies. For the most part, since I was alone, I just shot from the seat of my pants, and I guess years old film school training when we also train as cinematographers kicked in.
Did it make it easier for you to find peace after documenting your friend in his last few days?
SB: If I was just going to be there as a friend to attend Chika’s death as I was initially asked – I would have been at peace. I have faced and accepted my son’s death, and Chika knew this and, hence, wanted me there by his side. My first remark to him after he broke the news was – ‘darling, the important question is what will you wear at the death and, more importantly, what will I wear!’ And he laughed out loud and hugged me and said that’s why I want you there because only you will be normal with me. However, the moment I was asked to be a filmmaker, the conflict began, and it ceased to be peaceful. And that is in the film.
Can you share a bit about your creative collabo- ration, its evolution over time, and what you have learned about each other along the way?
NM: Shonali’s journey as a filmmaker started way before mine. When we started exploring Margarita with a Straw, death and loss weren’t even on our minds. But once we find ourselves aligned on the intent of our stories, we find ways to reflect our life experiences into our work. The idea of bouncing those life experiences is very enriching because we come from very different worlds. One can have different means to achieve the same narrative, but the intent has to align. Honestly, I feel safe collaborating with her because I know I don’t have to look over my shoulder. What I haven’t learned from her, which I better learn now, is how fit she is. I take it for granted, but physical fitness is key to telling more stories. Especially when one wants to continue doing the work one believes in.
SB: Nilesh and I have worked together for more than 10 years now, starting with Margarita with a Straw, The Sky is Pink, Raatrani and A Fly on the Wall. His command of the craft of filmmaking is profound, and I learn from him every time. And he’s such a perfectionist, unlike me. I have learned to trust him blindly as time has passed. We have such an easy flow and language of cinema between us now that it’s a joy working together. What we seek in our collaboration is honest filmmaking that will provoke thought and emotion and stand up in world cinema. That is always the attempt in our partnership. To plumb deeper into ourselves and our characters; make them grey and complex, not spoon feed with the kind of narrative and storytelling; trust our audiences that they will get it. I look forward to many more collaborations as well as to the exciting solo films and series we each have lined up.
What’s next for both of you?
NM: There are other scripts of mine or ours, be it comedy, a series, or a romance drama film, etc., that couldn’t find the right home in our journey. So, sometimes, it bothers me when someone assumes what one is interested in or capable of. Now and then, I get calls to write films with disability. While I would love for all those films to happen, I try to further my journey with stories that change something in me, too. And that can be an action film also. Because when you work on something passionately, you come out 2-3 years older. So, it better be worth that. But it’s great to be form and budget-agnostic. It can be a film, series, or docu; it just has to be worth getting older with. I am looking forward to furthering my journey with the feature script I have.
SB: I have some films and a series in the pipeline, but I can’t tell you about any of them because of NDA clauses! It’s a tough time in the industry, and I am just grateful to have worked. And at a time like this, I found it liberating to make a film the way we pulled off A Fly on the Wall. I am drawn to and committed to films that range from hard-hitting and indie to mainstream and out-and-out comedies. I am glad that I have this range on my plate right now.
Words Hansika Lohani
Date 07.12.2024