It's a fun film about ‘bwoyz' coming from two women — Zoya Akhtar and co-writer Reema Kagti. “I've grown up with boys. Farhan (Akhtar) and me are just a year apart and have gone on many road trips together. Both Reema and me have good male friends and can understand men,” says Zoya Akhtar, taking in the adulation for her buddy flick.
Her debut film Luck by Chance (2009), receiving critical acclaim but didn't hit the bull's eye at the box office. She is keeping her fingers crossed to see if Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD) will be her calling card to BO success. Beyond the math, it's a film that's come from the heart. “We all live in a cage, going about our lives in the urban scenario. I wanted to shoot in wide frames. I've always wanted to do a road movie. Many introspective moments I've shown on screen have happened to me and Farhan,” she says. Her first choice was Mexico. “We wanted a climax of running with the bulls. I wanted a country that blended history, culture and sports. We zeroed in on Spain,” she says.
Zoya finds it “weird” that people accuse her of doing an ad film for Spain. “When people watch the film, they should come out with the feeling that they've travelled through Spain. It's a country where you drive long stretches and suddenly hit upon a stunning, white village. How can I not show Spain when the film is a road trip?” she argues.
Keep the tan
Cinematographer Carlos Catalan, whom she worked with in Luck By Chance , helped her lend a touch of realism. “I didn't want everything glossed over — both locales and characters. The boys got tanned during the trip and that is evident on screen.” For the only lip sync song, Senorita , she didn't want playback singers. “Hrithik, Abhay and Farhan were sportive to sing. We shot in Alajar, a small town in Andualucia. Apart from a few dancers, the rest of them were locals who took part in the shoot,” she reveals.
She woven in observations (Hrithik's character represents the urban mirage of earning till 40 and then retiring) from real life and wrote the screenplay in three months along with Reema. If ‘bagwathy', going ‘mantal' provided comic relief, and the tomatina festival, deep sea diving and sky diving added to the adventure, she also wanted the film to be soulful than just frothy. That's where Javed Akhtar's poetry helped. “Farhan and I write English poetry and we've been privy to dad's poetry as children. Most verses come as voiceovers, lending depth to Imran (Farhan)'s jovial facade, and blends with his character of a closet poet. The poetry lent voice to what the men felt, since men don't talk much or express their feelings. I wanted to capture that sense of silence and reflection,” she says.
Up next is a long vacation for Zoya. “I want to go back to Spain, show the film to my Spanish crew, and head out to the beaches of Menorca off Spain.”
A decade since ‘Dil Chahta Hai’
The release of ZNMD this year, which marks a decade since Dil Chahta Hai , is sheer coincidence, says Zoya. “I didn't have that thought in mind while writing a buddy flick. I don't mind people comparing the film with DCH . I worked as the first AD (assistant director) on DCH and love that movie. I have no problem,” she says.
