'Peepli Live' will change nothing: Anusha Rizvi

If the issue is universal, why did she shoot the film in Madhya Pradesh?

'It could be anywhere in India. We had to shoot it somewhere and wherever we would have shot it, it would have looked like that. But if you see the film, it says it is Mukhya Pradesh. That means it's a completely fictitious state and Peepli is a fictitious village in it. Even for the police uniform, we have not used it from any state of India,' said Anusha.

She maintains that around 900 people from across the country were auditioned to select each character.

'The audition was done in a very detailed manner. It was very, very important for the film. It took us a long time and actually the casting department did most of the work. They auditioned 900 people to choose the characters,' said Anusha.

Asked if the association with Aamir helped in the film having a wider reach, she said: 'Of course, Aamir is the brand ambassador of the film if you want to call it that way. He already has a big fan following, he has friends and he could take the film to those people with less effort than any one else could have.'

She clarifies that before making the film, she was involved with documentaries and it was not a direct transition from journalism to filmmaking.

'It was not like leaving journalism to come into filmmaking. I left journalism in 2002 as I had done enough of it. I was doing documentary and looking out for funding when I got the idea for this film. So it was not a direct transition from journalism to filmmaking.'
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'Peepli Live' was well received in the international film circuit too like the Sundance Film Festival, where it was the first Indian film to be selected for the competition section and the Berlin Film Festival.

The director is overwhelmed after receiving the Best First Feature Film award at the 31st Durban International Film Festival.

'I was completely numb. I think my reactions have all gone haywire. It was so difficult to react to something like that. It was very overwhelming because apart from Aamir and me, there were 150 people who worked day in-day out in on the film. For all of us, it's a great achievement,' said Anusha.