Why did you feel that Avtar Kaul’s story needed to become a book rather than remain a family memory?
The journey toward this book was remarkably organic. I never consciously decided that one day I would write a book about Avtar Kaul. In fact, this process began less as a literary project and more as a lifelong effort to understand someone whose absence had shaped my family history.
I was only 10 years old when Avtaar passed away. That news came the same day 27 down The news of his death also came after winning the National Award. Even as a child, the collision of those two events left a deep impression on me. For some time, his name and his film kept appearing in newspapers, magazines and conversations. However, gradually, both faded from public memory. Even within the family, memories diminished as people tried to move on from the loss.
My own curiosity never ended. Over the years, I collected photographs, articles, reviews, documents and memorabilia related to him. What began as a personal collection gradually became an attempt to reconstruct a life. I realized that many aspects of Avatar’s journey remained unknown not only to me but also to his family members. Different phases of his life unfold in different places – his childhood in Srinagar, his life in Delhi, his time in America and finally his life in Bombay as a filmmaker. No one person had the complete picture.
The deeper I researched, the more I realized how difficult it would be to piece together their story. It took years of negotiations, archival work and visits to institutions like the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, NFDC, Photo Division, RNI and Publications Division. Gradually, I collected rare photographs, National Award records, Film Finance Corporation documents and testimonials from people who knew him.
A turning point came around the fiftieth anniversary of both 27 down And the demise of Avatar. This milestone made me realize that if their story is not told now, it may never be told. My family encouraged me to share what I had collected, whether it was in the form of a documentary or a book. The journalists, scholars and researchers I met during this process reinforced that belief.
The research ultimately resulted in a special screening 27 down To celebrate both anniversaries at IFFI Goa in 2024. Around the same time, the publications department encouraged me to submit a book proposal. By then, I was convinced that a book was the most permanent way to preserve his legacy. Human memory is fragile, but books can keep a life and its work alive for generations. In many ways, writing this book became a personal quest and a small act of payment toward an artist whose contributions deserve to be remembered.
What is left incomplete in Avtar Kaul’s story? How did it shape your writing?
The idea of ​​incompleteness is at the core of both Avtar Kaul’s life and this book.
Writing about someone from your own family is already difficult. Reconstructing that life through fragments of memory and archival material makes it even more challenging. During the research process, I constantly encountered shortcomings, impasses, and unanswered questions. Those absences themselves became part of the narrative.
When I look at Avatar’s life, a pattern emerges. Many of its defined chapters remained incomplete. His education, career, films, family life and ultimately his life all have a sense of incompleteness.
He left his safe environment at an early age to achieve independence. Despite being academically talented, financial constraints limited his opportunities. Throughout his life he struggled with uncertainty, temporary work, and economic hardship. Later, he had the prospect of a comfortable life in America, but decided to return and pursue film production. Again and again, he gave up safety in favor of punishment.
What impressed me most was that he consistently chose the difficult path. He was not someone who lived on safe shores. He preferred risk, experimentation and the pursuit of dreams, even when the outcome was uncertain. That quality defines both his life and his work.
His death at age 35 made the incompleteness impossible to ignore. They never saw its full effect 27 down. He never got the recognition that a long career could have provided. As an artist, most of his abilities remained unrealized.
That constant feeling of incompleteness affected my approach to the book. Rather than offer a definitive account, I wanted to acknowledge that no biography can fully portray a life. In the case of Avatar, the challenge was even greater as new information continued to emerge during my research. Even today I feel that I have worked only superficially.
To me, his story is an incomplete story – not just because his life ended prematurely, but because our understanding of him is constantly evolving. Some chapters have been recovered, some are still being uncovered, and others may remain hidden forever.
Were there any discoveries that fundamentally changed your understanding of embodiment as a person?
For almost two decades I have been piecing together the life of Avtar Kaul. Every conversation, photograph, article or memory reveals something new about them.
Before I knew him as a filmmaker, I knew him as my uncle. I knew he cared deeply for his family, loved his kids, and dealt with difficult situations before moving on. 27 down. Still, I always had questions in my mind. Why did he leave Kashmir? Why did he leave his government job and go to America to study film? Why did he later leave security for cinema in Bombay? What inspired him?
As I searched for answers, a clear picture began to emerge. I realized that the avatar had an unusual combination of independence, courage and self-respect. Difficulties did not just happen to him; He repeatedly chose paths that invited uncertainty.
As a young man, he left the comfort of his maternal home in Srinagar to pursue a life in Delhi. When disagreements arose at home, he chose independence over compliance. Later, despite having opportunities for stability abroad, he pursued his dream of filmmaking.
Gradually it became clear that he was not someone who avoided difficulties. He fought it head on. He believed that development went beyond security.
Even the accounts surrounding his death reflect that aspect of his personality. Faced with danger, he chose to take action rather than protect himself. The family memories gathered during my research reinforce the image of a man who valued conviction and self-reliance above comfort.
One of the most inspiring aspects of the project is that I’m still discovering new pieces of their story. After the book was published, fresh memories came forward from relatives, which added new dimensions to my understanding of him. In this sense, the process of knowing the incarnation continues.
However, the irony runs much deeper. The same fearlessness that enabled him to fulfill his dreams also exposed him to risks throughout his life. The qualities that helped define his artistic identity were in some ways inseparable from the circumstances that led to his premature death.
to what extent 27 down An artistic reflection of the Avatar’s own life?
I don’t believe in him 27 down It is a direct autobiography. However, it undoubtedly contains echoes of the Avatar’s experiences, concerns, and emotional landscape.
His decision to adapt Ramesh Bakshi’s relatively obscure novel, eighteen sun plantsReflects feelings that were deeply personal to him. The themes of alienation, aspiration, empowerment and identity clearly resonated with his own experiences.
The film’s characters – the authoritarian father, the overbearing mother, Sanjay’s artistic yearnings, and Shalini’s role as a source of hope – have emotional parallels with the situations faced by Avatar. Still, it would be misleading to consider them direct representations of real people.
What’s particularly interesting is what he decided to exclude. Avatar’s own life contained episodes of hardship, conflict, and emotional turmoil that could have been easily transformed into dramatic cinema. Instead, he deliberately avoided melodrama.
tone of 27 down Remains restrained, introspective and humane. Instead of turning personal suffering into spectacle, he transformed the experience into something more universal. The film talks not just about one individual but about the broader social and emotional realities experienced by many people in modern urban life.
Additionally, there is evidence that Avtaar hoped to one day make a film directly inspired by his life. According to MK Raina, he had also discussed an autobiographical project in which Raina would play his character. However, like many of his ambitions, that film remained unfulfilled.
Why was it important to foreground the role of Anne Kaul?
For me, understanding Avatar also means understanding Anne. She was not just his wife; She was an essential part of his life and journey.
Throughout my research, I hoped to meet him. I wanted to hear his memories, understand his contribution 27 downAnd reconnected with a family member I barely knew as a child. Unfortunately, by the time I reached that stage of my research, the opportunity had passed. That loss became another example of the incompleteness present in this entire story.
Yet everyone I spoke to remembered Anne with remarkable warmth. Her kindness, intelligence and generosity left a lasting impression on all who knew her. In many ways, she emerges from the memories of others as one of the central figures in the Avatar’s life.
Anne was a trained clinical psychologist who could easily have had a successful freelance career. Instead, they decided to support Avatar’s ambitions and take part in his dream of making films. His contribution was not merely emotional. Together, they invested their savings in making it 27 down And devoted himself completely to this project.
The tragedy is that after the death of the Avatar she lost almost everything at once – her husband, her financial security, and the future they had imagined together. Yet their sacrifice and partnership are largely absent from traditional accounts of the film.
I felt it was important to restore his presence in the story because 27 down There could be no existence without it. She was not a peripheral figure, but a collaborator in the broadest sense – someone who helped sustain both the filmmaker and the dream.
Why has Avtar Kaul remained relatively unknown despite praise? 27 down?
The relative obscurity of Avtar Kaul is one of the most unfortunate stories of Indian cinema.
27 down Won major honors and earned national and international recognition. Yet despite its achievements, the film never entered the wider public consciousness the way many lesser works have.
The most obvious reason is his untimely death. As quickly as his career began, it ended. Had he lived to make more films, his name would surely have held a much more prominent place in discussions of Indian cinema.
But the issue extends beyond one person. This raises big questions about how cultural memory works. Do we patronize artists because of the quality of their work, or because they remain visible long enough to build careers, institutions, and public profiles around them?
For nearly 50 years, there have been few major commemorations, retrospectives, lectures or public discussions dedicated to his legacy. After they were gone, the structures needed to preserve public memory were largely absent.
Also, the responsibility does not lie solely with the institutions. Preserving cultural memory is a collective task involving scholars, filmmakers, critics, teachers, and audiences. When an artist disappears from public discussion, we lose more than a person; We lose part of our cultural history.
Avtar Kaul represents one of those rare talents whose contributions far exceed the length of his career. Remembering him is not just a tribute to a forgotten filmmaker. It is about ensuring that Indian cinema makes room for artists whose work matters, even if time has not allowed them a long life.
Arun AK is an independent journalist. Twitter: @arunusual
