<p class="title">Director Saad Khan is a known name in the world of theatre and movies. And why not? He knew that he wanted to get into filmmaking and had a clear idea about how to go about it.</p>.<p class="title">As his film 'Humble Politiciann Nograj' is all set to release in January, Saad is all excited. In a candid chat with Tini Sara Anien, he talks about the film and more.</p>.<p class="Question">How did your interest in direction come about?</p>.<p class="bodytext">I belong to the age when video cassettes were popular. I used to watch at least two movies every weekend. This is when the passion for films came in. At school, I was already into theatre. I remember doing a professional play and being yelled at by my director because I was mouthing everyone's lines. The director told me that acting is not what I should be doing and that I should probably assist him. My passion grew. I did a summer workshop with Bangalore Little Theatre and finally directed my own play.</p>.<p class="Question">What kept your interest alive?</p>.<p class="bodytext">My first play 'Idle Hand' was a big moment for me as a director. I didn't know about the method acting or anything then. The play was about a lazy man and how one particular night, when he sleeps, his hands take over his body. I was associated with many plays after that. I always wanted to be a filmmaker. I knew that I had to make a transition and at that time I felt theatre was the right way ahead. </p>.<p class="Question">Is theatre a stepping stone to filmmaking?</p>.<p class="bodytext">From what I have observed in the recent past, there is no particular design for artistes. I've heard so many filmmakers and actors' stories that I know that there is no set formula for it. Eventually, I realised that I didn't want to stick to any genre. I brought the Hollywood movie 'Scream' on stage. I've also done musicals.</p>.<p class="Question">What was the turning point in your career?</p>.<p class="bodytext">It was when my short film 'Another Kind of Black' went to the Cannes Film Festival. I felt I was too cool but I soon realised I was just lucky as the concept was pretty good. That was the moment when I knew that this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to sell stories.</p>.<p class="Question"><br />How is your chemistry with actor Danish Sait who plays the 'Humble Politiciann Nograj'?</p>.<p class="bodytext">Danish used to do prank calls on air as Nograj. Slowly he and I made YouTube videos with 'Nograj'. Once we did a live video of it from Times Square. After this, I said 'I think we are now ready to make a film on Nograj'. We already had the title of the film since we always referred to the character as a humble politician. Danish, Maaz (Khan) and I met and wrote the story. I took a bit more time to do the screenplay. We were lucky to get Pushkar Films, Lost and Found Films and Paramvah Studios as producers.</p>.<p class="Question">What's next?</p>.<p class="bodytext">We are just focussing on the movie release at the moment. There are speculations about a sequel. </p>
<p class="title">Director Saad Khan is a known name in the world of theatre and movies. And why not? He knew that he wanted to get into filmmaking and had a clear idea about how to go about it.</p>.<p class="title">As his film 'Humble Politiciann Nograj' is all set to release in January, Saad is all excited. In a candid chat with Tini Sara Anien, he talks about the film and more.</p>.<p class="Question">How did your interest in direction come about?</p>.<p class="bodytext">I belong to the age when video cassettes were popular. I used to watch at least two movies every weekend. This is when the passion for films came in. At school, I was already into theatre. I remember doing a professional play and being yelled at by my director because I was mouthing everyone's lines. The director told me that acting is not what I should be doing and that I should probably assist him. My passion grew. I did a summer workshop with Bangalore Little Theatre and finally directed my own play.</p>.<p class="Question">What kept your interest alive?</p>.<p class="bodytext">My first play 'Idle Hand' was a big moment for me as a director. I didn't know about the method acting or anything then. The play was about a lazy man and how one particular night, when he sleeps, his hands take over his body. I was associated with many plays after that. I always wanted to be a filmmaker. I knew that I had to make a transition and at that time I felt theatre was the right way ahead. </p>.<p class="Question">Is theatre a stepping stone to filmmaking?</p>.<p class="bodytext">From what I have observed in the recent past, there is no particular design for artistes. I've heard so many filmmakers and actors' stories that I know that there is no set formula for it. Eventually, I realised that I didn't want to stick to any genre. I brought the Hollywood movie 'Scream' on stage. I've also done musicals.</p>.<p class="Question">What was the turning point in your career?</p>.<p class="bodytext">It was when my short film 'Another Kind of Black' went to the Cannes Film Festival. I felt I was too cool but I soon realised I was just lucky as the concept was pretty good. That was the moment when I knew that this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to sell stories.</p>.<p class="Question"><br />How is your chemistry with actor Danish Sait who plays the 'Humble Politiciann Nograj'?</p>.<p class="bodytext">Danish used to do prank calls on air as Nograj. Slowly he and I made YouTube videos with 'Nograj'. Once we did a live video of it from Times Square. After this, I said 'I think we are now ready to make a film on Nograj'. We already had the title of the film since we always referred to the character as a humble politician. Danish, Maaz (Khan) and I met and wrote the story. I took a bit more time to do the screenplay. We were lucky to get Pushkar Films, Lost and Found Films and Paramvah Studios as producers.</p>.<p class="Question">What's next?</p>.<p class="bodytext">We are just focussing on the movie release at the moment. There are speculations about a sequel. </p>
