Did you expect thatDum Laga Ke Haishawould turn out to be a sleeper hit?
This is like déjà vu. The same thing happened with Vicky Donor . We expected critical acclaim as the film was unusual, real and rooted. But the kind of response we are getting for Dum Laga Ke Haisha has surpassed expectations. It’s a happy surprise for us. The marketing team always believed in word-of-mouth publicity. So we didn’t promote the film much. Now, collections are growing with each passing week, so as a sleeper hit it’s doing fairly well.
WithBewakoofiyaanandHawaizaadaconsecutively failing at the box office, how have you kept yourself motivated?
I have seen a lot of rejections in the past. So, at some level, I am immune to success and failure. I don’t let success (of a film) go to my head, nor do I let failure affect me much. I think that has helped me stay sane.
Your debut becomes easier if you have filmi connections, but that applies to all businesses in India. The achievement of building everything from the ground up in films, however, beats everything else.
How did Aditya Chopra help as a mentor?
I am lucky to have an industry leader and visionary just a phone call away. I was a bit low after the release of Hawaizaada . Aditya Chopra boosted my morale by releasing the trailer of Dum Laga Ke Haisha just three days after Hawaizaada hit theatres. He told me that industry memory is fickle and that he believed Dum Laga Ke … could turn things around in my favour. And he was right! People now refer only to Dum Laga Ke … when they speak to me.
The entire team — director Sharat Katariya, producer Maneesh Sharma, heroine Bhumi — is non-filmi.
The highlight of the film is its well-etched characters. The set was like one happy family. Haridwar created such a special milieu. The best part of shooting there is that the town is stuck in time. So it gave us texture and mood to set the right tone. We spoke in ‘khari boli’, a Hindi dialect spoken in western UP. Everyone I was working with was a seasoned actor — Sanjay Mishra, Alka Amin, Seema Pahwa. So when you are in such company, you can either be nervous or you can just react. Acting is sometimes about reacting well. In this film, that’s what happened to Bhumi and me.
Tell us about your next film,Agra Ka Daabra. We also hear you’ve co-authored your first book.
Agra Ka Daabra is still in the scripting stage — Shoojit Sircar (producer), director Amit Roy and I are working on it. Currently, I am reading scripts and taking it easy. I am not in a rush to sign another film. As for the book, my wife helped out with writing Cracking the Code . It’s about my journey to Bollywood, and the changing trends in the industry.
