Coming to Khoya Khoya Chand, we very rarely make a period film -- at least one that's not a historical. Why do you think that is? Is that genre a lot harder?
You know, I have a take on period: we live in the past simultaneously with our present. But every film is made now and wherever I put my characters, I am not governed by either the sensibility or the morality or the technique of the period. So when I'm not governed by that, then essentially I'm telling a story about people.
And here I am essentially telling a very interesting story about people who are in the medium of cinema. The idea of work is not merely a livelihood, but a passion. When two passions collide -- cinema and your personal -- then it's very compelling.
It's about two people: a young girl called Nikhat, whose mother peddles her to the studios of Bombay, and her involvement with a big star of that time who finds her and makes her a star. And then suddenly into her life comes this cocky, arrogant young writer from Lucknow, Zafar, played by Shiney Ahuja, who tells her 'Why do you have to be so grateful to anybody? You are who you are.' And this is the story of their mad journey, and basically the journey of young people in the wild world of films.
Why the 1950s, in particular? Is it just because you see that as an era of great filmmaking?
What interests me about the 1950s or the 1960s is the passion of it. These were guys who lived for cinema. Every time the producers and directors of that time made a film, they put their lives on the line. They had not much advertising, or shows. They didn't have another life; this is all they had. So the commitment to the work was amazing.
And you can play with all that time, the lovely music of the time, the language was so nuanced and subtle. The story becomes much more interesting when you can create another world that these characters inhabit. And I'm not trying to create a sleaze show, I'm not trying to exploit anybody, to reveal any director's personal life.
At that time when there were poets like Sahir Ludhianvi, Majrooh Sultanpuri and Shailendra, and there were directors like Kamal Amrohi, Guru Dutt, Raj Kapoor and BR Chopra... at that time also existed some of my characters. When there was a Madhubala, a Meena Kumari and a Waheeda Rehman, there were also my characters.
And I wanted to make a movie about the essence of that time.
Also Read: On the sets of Khoya Khoya Chand
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