'My wife thinks I only have time for work'

He may be related to the Bhatts but director Mohit Suri sure has come a long way. The director of hits like ‘Zeher’, ‘Kalyug’, ‘Aashiqui 2’ and more recently, ‘Ek Villain’ is back with his latest offing — Fox Star Studio’s ‘Hamari Adhuri Kahaani’. Starring Vidya Balan and Emraan Hashmi, the film is an intense love story and Mohit says it takes a long time to bring out a product like this. “It’s not a film made for commercial purpose. It was the result of different people with varied emotional frequency coming together. It was an organic process and took its time to get in place,” he says.

It was his uncle Mahesh Bhatt who narrated the story to him. “After the success of  ‘Aashiqui 2’, Bhatt ‘sahab’ narrated the story to me and I was amazed that a man like him, who has made as many as 70 films, could be so humble. 

It was similar to the kind of films he used to make and felt that I was a director with a similar vision,” he recalls.

 Actress Vidya Balan, impressed with ‘Aashiqui 2’, had told Mohit then itself that she would love to work with him. “I didn’t know that one day, I would actually get to work with her,” he adds.

Of course, the movie took time to make as the director helmed ‘Ek Villain’ in between. “‘Hamari Adhuri Kahaani’ was something I couldn’t jump at instantly. It’s a very intense love story. It is all about standing by a relationship and experiencing an enduring love that lasts a lifetime. The movie spans over the female protagonist’s entire life and proves that true love doesn’t have an end,” he explains.

What was the difference of working with established actors like Vidya and Emraan as opposed to the newcomers he always works with? “There was a huge difference. I don’t like doing workshops or readings in my office. So Vidya was kind enough to offer her house for these activities. And that process was amazing.

Here I was, working with actors who knew everything that they were doing. So all I had to do was just focus on my work,” he says.

Ask him if he is as romantic as the films he makes and he laughs, “My wife (actress Udita Goswami) would definitely beg to differ as she thinks I only have time for work. Yes, we did have our ups and downs but today, we are married and she is the mother of my child, Devi,” says the proud father.

In fact, his wife was expecting when he was working on this film.

“We were thinking of names and Udita suggested Devi for a girl and I thought it was old school. I am not a very religious person either,” he says. But during the shoot of the climax scene, he experienced a surreal power. “We were shooting during Durga Puja in Kolkata and Vidya was giving her monologue. When everyone clapped for her, I had tears in my eyes and felt a spiritual connect. I don’t know what it was but it was an emotional breakdown of sorts and I called my wife up instantly and said, ‘We should go ahead with the name Devi’,” he exclaims.

Mohit is also working on Dharma Productions’ remake of the French films ‘The Intouchables’. “But I just want to get out of ‘Hamari Adhuri Kahaani’ and go away for a while,” he says. Looking back at his journey, he is full of gratitude.

 “I was a Science student who just stumbled into the Vishlesh Films office for a summer job when I was 17. Today, I am 34 and have made ten films and assisted and produced many. So if you are a teenager and don’t know what you want to become, don’t worry, we were all there,” he quips.