Talaash director Reema Kagti in conversation with Mirror
It's been six years since your last Honeymoon Travels....
I had stopped counting. But you certainly haven't (smiles). It was a forced sabbatical. I was working on a couple of other scripts apart from Talaash and things weren't working out. I was getting really frustrated.
So who or what was the claming influence?
Zoya and Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Siddhwani from Excel Entertainment. They told me,'Aisa hota hai. Hang in there' (pauses).
Go on...
We took the script to Aamir Khan. And I didn't think it would happen so soon (smiles). I was participating in a poker tournament in Goa. One day, I woke up at nearly 4pm having played the previous day till late. That's when I saw umpteen missed calls from Ritesh and Zoya. I was delighted.
Expectedly, you lost the next game?
I crashed out of the tournament in no time. I was so happy I wasn't able to focus. Ritesh had even fixed a meeting between Aamir and me but I couln't reach in time. However, Aamir was gracious enough to send me a text saying, 'All the best for your tournamnet'.
And then?
I approached Rani Mukerji. She is very exacting but finally, she was convinced. Kareena too took her time before giving her nod.
We hear Aamir pulled a lot of strings?
I've known Aamir since the time I was an Assistant Director on Dil Chahta Hai and Lagaan. I would be working with a tyrant. Yes, he had inputs. But as a lead actor and producer, doesn't he have the right to contribute? Even Farhan had his share of contributions. That's how films are made. No filmmaker can ever say he has pulled off any of his works singularly. And Aamir's inputs were honing the film; they weren't something I couldn't deal with.
But the film got delayed quite a bit...
I couldn't just edit the film myself and release it. I had to show it to several people at several stages. That's how it works. And Talaash was a difficult film to edit. It made me sit long on the edit table.
You made all your lead actors go under water?
Aamir jumped into the lake right away but Rani developed cold feet. We had to make her use devices that would keep her afloat and not let her sink below the waist. Later though, she got it right. As for Kareena, she is a better swimmer than Rani and even Aamir.
We hear Shah Rukh Khan was supposed to do Talaash...
i don't want to discuss something that didn't work out. Some things work out, some don't (shrugs). Lets talk about real issues pertaining to Talaash.
Issues like?
They want me to insert tickers in smoking scenes. Heroine was allowed as it had up to 40minutes of smoking and so much cannot be cut. Tabacco and cigarettes are sold at every nook and corner. I myself am a smoker. The only way I will stop smoking is if you ban the activity in the country. Why can't they understand such a simple thing? Believe it or not, I called up the censor Board to ask for the guidelines before I shot the smoking scenes and at that time, there was no 'ticker' rule. Anyway, it doesn't make sense...You can show rape but objections are raised over scenes depicting consensual sex. God...
Finally, the inevitable question. Did you get Aamir on board easily just because you are Kiran Rao's friend?
Yes, Kiran and I are very good friends. But I think it is known how Aamir works. He doesn't work the way you are hinting. I have answered your question.
It's been six years since your last Honeymoon Travels....
I had stopped counting. But you certainly haven't (smiles). It was a forced sabbatical. I was working on a couple of other scripts apart from Talaash and things weren't working out. I was getting really frustrated.
So who or what was the claming influence?
Zoya and Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Siddhwani from Excel Entertainment. They told me,'Aisa hota hai. Hang in there' (pauses).
Go on...
We took the script to Aamir Khan. And I didn't think it would happen so soon (smiles). I was participating in a poker tournament in Goa. One day, I woke up at nearly 4pm having played the previous day till late. That's when I saw umpteen missed calls from Ritesh and Zoya. I was delighted.
Expectedly, you lost the next game?
I crashed out of the tournament in no time. I was so happy I wasn't able to focus. Ritesh had even fixed a meeting between Aamir and me but I couln't reach in time. However, Aamir was gracious enough to send me a text saying, 'All the best for your tournamnet'.
And then?
I approached Rani Mukerji. She is very exacting but finally, she was convinced. Kareena too took her time before giving her nod.
We hear Aamir pulled a lot of strings?
I've known Aamir since the time I was an Assistant Director on Dil Chahta Hai and Lagaan. I would be working with a tyrant. Yes, he had inputs. But as a lead actor and producer, doesn't he have the right to contribute? Even Farhan had his share of contributions. That's how films are made. No filmmaker can ever say he has pulled off any of his works singularly. And Aamir's inputs were honing the film; they weren't something I couldn't deal with.
But the film got delayed quite a bit...
I couldn't just edit the film myself and release it. I had to show it to several people at several stages. That's how it works. And Talaash was a difficult film to edit. It made me sit long on the edit table.
You made all your lead actors go under water?
Aamir jumped into the lake right away but Rani developed cold feet. We had to make her use devices that would keep her afloat and not let her sink below the waist. Later though, she got it right. As for Kareena, she is a better swimmer than Rani and even Aamir.
We hear Shah Rukh Khan was supposed to do Talaash...
i don't want to discuss something that didn't work out. Some things work out, some don't (shrugs). Lets talk about real issues pertaining to Talaash.
Issues like?
They want me to insert tickers in smoking scenes. Heroine was allowed as it had up to 40minutes of smoking and so much cannot be cut. Tabacco and cigarettes are sold at every nook and corner. I myself am a smoker. The only way I will stop smoking is if you ban the activity in the country. Why can't they understand such a simple thing? Believe it or not, I called up the censor Board to ask for the guidelines before I shot the smoking scenes and at that time, there was no 'ticker' rule. Anyway, it doesn't make sense...You can show rape but objections are raised over scenes depicting consensual sex. God...
Finally, the inevitable question. Did you get Aamir on board easily just because you are Kiran Rao's friend?
Yes, Kiran and I are very good friends. But I think it is known how Aamir works. He doesn't work the way you are hinting. I have answered your question.
No comments:
Post a Comment