'The Forest' is about the predator in us: Director

New Delhi: Indian independent cinema is on all-time high. A lot of Indian indie filmmakers are receiving accolades all over the world, but filmmaker Ashvin Kumar is among those people who had brought the initial acceptance for the independent cinema in India. His films 'Little Terrorist' and 'Inshallah, football' were acclaimed throughout the world. The storyteller has again come up with a feature film 'The Forest' starring Javed Jaffrey, Nandana Sen and Ankur Vikal in the lead roles.

He talks about the idea the idea behind 'The Forest'," I had just finished 'Little Terrorist' and was thinking of writing a genre thriller film which doesn't rely on stars. Then this idea came to my mind what happens if you are married to somebody who hasn't resolved issues with ex-lover, and what if you meet that person at a lonely place."

Ashvin discloses why he chose to set the film in a forest," I have grown up going to the jungle with my family, also very dismayed at the way our wild life is decimated, so I thought of combining this in the way Jim Corbett has done in his books with a message in the end. I wanted to tell the story about the animal in us. An animal that is hunting for his own survival."

Any particular reason behind casting Javed Jaffrey," My cast is the result of the creative process. I don't want to create clean ensemble cast where everybody is comfortable with each other. I just do the opposite. You will see a different side of Javed Jaffrey in my film."

But films with such concepts are not very regular in India," I think India was always ready for such films; it's just that we are getting a chance to reach to the distributors now. Films with strong concepts and better directors are working more than just masala films."

'The Forest' has a completely new theme," That's the idea behind making it. The audience and the distributors always want new themes, something that works monetarily."

The makers have taken care of the wider audiences," I also have a Hindi dubbed version. It's a creature feature with all the 'masala'. it doesn't have songs but it has thrill elements. If you'll look at ‘Anaconda and all, there dubbed versions have also done well."

Ashvin has already started working on his next project," I am writing another film which is set in Delhi and is about a young woman."

'The Forest' is hitting the screens on May 11.