As a filmmaker, she has just three films to her credit. But Zoya Akhtar is the darling of her actors, someone each star seems to want to work with. That she is easy going & naturally charming probably helps; her ability to tell fascinating human stories helps too! Before the last leg of hectic promotions for the highly anticipated ‘Dil Dhadhakne Do (DDD) begins, we catch the filmmaker for a conversation on star-studded films & her passion for cinema.
With both Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara & DDD, you have directed typical multistarrers. But when your first film was being made, Luck by Chance, you struggled to get a star to agree to do it. What changed? Now so many stars want to work with you. Do you also think perhaps there were pre-conceived notions about your abilities as a filmmaker when you were working on your very first film?
I don’t think there were any pre-conceived notions; at least I don’t think so! I had been working on films for a long time. With ‘Luck by Chance’; it was the story that I was trying to tell. The leading man in the film is not a likeable guy. He is manipulative. And the story isn’t your typical mainstream, palatable story. Had I wanted to make an entertaining, palatable story in my first film, I could have made one relatively easily. I wanted to tell the story of ‘Luck by Chance’ because that’s the film I wanted to make. Besides that, my family or my being a first time filmmaker weren’t the reason for delay. Of course when you work with a first timer there is always an element of risk but that wouldn’t have been a factor.
And then things changed. The multiplexes came in, and since there were only 5 saleable stars that acted in just a limited number of films in a year, there was a need for more films; and to make these films saleable then there was a need for more stars. Gradually, these stars also wanted to see themselves in certain kinds of films- they want to try out different roles. At some level, I think, cinema changed.
Reema and you have given us some truly entertaining films as a writer- director team. Tell us about your process.
it’s actually great because Reema is also a filmmaker. The two of us are like well-oiled machinery. It’s quite unique as both of us also make films. Both of us have different strengths when it comes to writing. Reema is great at visualizing how a scene and the plot moves forward and what happens in it; and my strength is characterization and dialogue. We work in super tandem and compliment each other.
Before we begin to put down anything on paper, we start with a long conversation. We just keep talking and talking and talking till we come to a point where we get somewhere, and we find a story- we find a beginning, middle & an end.
Let me give you the example of ZNMD. Initially when we were discussing the film we thought of three boys on a road trip in Mexico. I first told Ritesh Sidhwani about it and he said “You just want to be with three boys in a car in Mexico!” (Laughs) We didn’t start writing then though. We thought of it as a small, Indie film. But then at some point, we thought ‘What IS the film? What happens to them? For me, I have done so many road trips and its always cathartic. Suddenly you just take that space and time; and if something is bothering you, when things are going by, they just get sorted out. Things surface & come up. When we figured the pact, and got the running of the bulls- then we start writing.
So first, we just put down the beginning, the middle & the end in just a few lines. Then Reema starts writing it and developing it and sends it to me and then I add or alter it. That’s how we work on each film.
Mainstream Hindi film usually shows the happy Punjabi family; but in your film, you have shown a dysfunctional Punjabi family. Have you drawn on your personal experience or from people that you know around you?
Frankly, I don’t know normal families. I find every family has it mutual issues, conflicts & dysfunctional ties. As for this being a Punjabi family, I have many Punjabi friends and I like the way they live. They are energetic, fun loving and often generous. They have a certain way of celebrating life.
And this film fitted in better in that world and space of a very rich Delhi based Punjabi family. After all, he (Anil Kapoor) is taking 25 people on a cruise to celebrate his marriage anniversary! So these are people that live like that. They also have their own hypocrisies & issues. It’s when you begin to compare yourself and others, you will actually notice that everyone has similar issues and everyone is as messed up. The hypocrisies & dysfunctional bits exist in most families.
When all four of you (Karan Johar, Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap & Dibakar Bannerjee) spoke about ‘Bombay Talkies’, I remember that both Dibakar & Anurag said that they share a relationship of mutual admiration and respect with you. This year, you’ve got DDD coming up and both of them had releases. Anurag especially faced a backlash; with ‘Bombay Velvet’. Why do you think the reaction was so negative? What went so wrong with the film?
See I have been busy with the edit of DDD so I haven’t watched ‘Bombay Velvet’. So I can’t comment on it.
But what I will say is that the kind of things that people said on the Internet about this film was downright nasty & mean. It is quite easy to use a fake name, sit at home & rip a film apart. These people- they aren’t really doing the work, they aren’t making a film. With the Internet, a lot of things that people say is rude, personal and weird.
I am not against film criticism. You need to understand also critics, anywhere in the world, are film students. They have studied cinema and after that some of them have taught cinema; they become professors, they become critics and some become filmmakers. They can read a movie, and they critique a film.
But you can’t come out of the movie theater and just say online, ‘It is the worst film in that I have ever watched!’ Who are you to say that? Its just nastiness. And it was personal. With Anurag, it was personal! When someone does that, I am not even getting into your opinion anymore. But to be so vindictive! Why?
Did you ever write the film keeping Kareena & Ranbir in mind?
No it’s not about agreeing. Every film has its journey and that’s how it is. Eventually the people that are meant to be with you are finally with you when the film is made (Pauses). I find it really funny. Right from my first film I have never been able to work with people that I’ve wanted to work with first (laughs). For me it’s the norm.
I really don’t think it makes any difference that I work with because I am very happy with the people that I work with. At the end of the day when you make your film, no one cares! Film is who is in it. I have 6 actors and I would rather talk about them.
Finally, in DDD you’ve worked with 6 stars. While each is very talented, it must be something balancing all 6 and also getting them to perform. How do you manage that?
See, above all else, when you look at the work that all 6 of these actors have done (Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shah, Farhan Akhtar, Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma), they have always acted. I will also include Rahul Bose here; these are actors first and movie stars after that.
When we are on set, you know, I brief them on what they have to do and then I just let their energies take over. Each one being a performer, when they are comfortable, they play off each other; in the process, they also drive each other.
A film is acted out, so for me, the acting part is very important. And I let them do what they do best.