Going for a different take

EXPERIMENTAL CINEMA

Sudhir Mishra is a name associated with serious films.

With movies like Main Zinda Hoon, Dharavi, Chameli, Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, he has been pushing the envelope for a number of years.

And with his new movie, Yeh Saali Zindagi, he has tried the genre of romance with a twist.

The film-maker talks to Metrolife about his latest movie, his love for films and the changing scene in Bollywood.

Ask him how the idea behind the movie came and he replies without mincing words.
 “I wanted to do a romantic movie but I can’t do it straight on,” he says. “I had a vision of Irrfan running and finding Chitrangada, the woman he loves with another man. And that if he loves her, he needs to save the life of the other guy,” he adds.

 “It is a movie about a different kind of love where two love stories collide and
 the reason for the thrill is the romance. Love and a bullet are same in their effect,” he says.

Sudhir says that he wrote the movie with the main cast in his mind. “As I wrote the film, Irrfan, Chitrangada and Arunoday Singh were the first people who came to my mind. And all of them have been wonderful in the movie,” he says.

He also informs that the movie is very much about Delhi where it has been shot.

“It is the land of corruption and politics. You will find the street slang that is spoken in Delhi in the movie,” he says.

He explains that the way he has shot the songs are completely new.

 “You will find areas like Greater Noida, Noida and Gurgaon which are a part of the new city,” he says. While drama has been Sudhir’s forte, he says that he is not bound by a certain genre.

“It depends on the story. I am just a medium of telling stories,” he says.

And what kind of movie does he watch? “I watch all sorts of movies. Especially films of Guru Dutt and Vijay Anand. I also like Godfather. Actually Yeh... is a tribute to the kind of movies that Vijay Anand made,” he says.

“In any movie, there is a promise that is made in the beginning and if that is kept then I like it. I think different movies are for the different parts of the mind,” he adds.

Sudhir also talks about how Hindi films are changing. “Anurag Kashyap  used to be my assistant and now he inspires me. I like the works of Imitiaz Ali and Dibakar Banerjee. All these boys are changing Bollywood,” he says.

About his future projects, he says, “I am doing Dhruv with Farhan Akhtar and Inkaar with Arjun Rampal and Chitrangada Singh,” he adds.