'I remember AK came on set one day; one of his films had released the previous day and was not doing well. He was very attached to that film.'
'I felt he was low and that affected me.'
Director Sudha Kongara is emphatic about her new film Sarfira being different from the Tamil original, Soorarai Pottru, starring Suriya.
"Everything is different," she insists to Subhash K Jha.
"Since the milieu and actors have changed, you saw a different film. I hope the audience will see Captain Gopinath's and his wife's lives through the eyes of Akshay Kumar and Radhikka Madan.
"Their interpretation is fresh even for me after having lived with this film for years now! AK and Radhikka have hit the ball out of the park."
Sudha says she is not perturbed by the comparisons between Sarfira and Soorarai Pottru.
"The core is so universal, so pan-world that it doesn't have to be changed at all or rather, shouldn't be changed. But for relatability to the different audiences, the situating of the story is completely different.
"I wanted it as real and as close to the characters' roots as possible. However difficult it was, we shot in live locations, in the deep interiors of Maharashtra and the Deccan plateau. I think that's the strength of this film. The casting of even the smallest characters and junior artistes had to be authentic," she says.
The experience of working in the two languages was different for the director.
"I worked with a brilliant first AD (assistant director) called Abhishek Kapoor. I was relaxed on my sets for the first time in my entire career. I have never had that down South.
"Also, we more jugaad down south to make things happen. It's more streamlined and planned here.
"It helped that Akshay Kumar and I are freshest and jumping off walls as early as 4 am! We both want to shoot early, so the working style was in perfect sync.
"I shoot in a certain way and that becomes difficult if call times are not followed. So this was bliss. My actor and I would do readings at 4 am. My writer would want to kill us both," she says.
Sudha admits she is concerned by Akshay's recent flop track record.
"Of course, it bothers me at one level," she says. "I remember AK came on set one day; one of his films had released the previous day and was not doing well. He was very attached to that film.
"I felt he was low and that affected me. I am very sensitive to my actors' moods. I kept asking him if he was okay. Then he shot his best scene in the film! The Udipi hotel scene. He was terrific! That's how it is with professionals. The standard of their work never falls.
"Friday to Friday, destinies change at the box office but not the talent of stars. He is brilliant and there is powerful content. So there's not even a bit of worry for me. The box office standing of a star never bothers me. I work with blinkers. As long as they are giving me their best, I'm fine."
What made her want to make a film on entrepreneur G R Gopinath's experiences, who was the founder of Air Deccan, India's first low cost carrier?
"His never-say-die attitude. His maverick attitude. The brave visionary that he is. The fact that he was such a disruptor," Sudha answers.
"I love disruptors. Their grit and purpose and travails in getting to their goals move me like nothing else in this world. To change the face of a country's aviation. That too, he was a school teacher's son from the rural areas of India. The world sees such people as crazy and perhaps foolish when they are on their journey but when they achieve it, it is magic.
"I find it easier to tell real stories. I love real human emotions. Even though I may fictionalise and dramatise these stories, the core fascinates and guides me."
"He had told me, 'Sudha, tell the youth of India that when an ordinary person from an ordinary background can start an airline, then anyone can do anything if they dream enough and the dream becomes them and they become their dream.' This is my takeaway from him," she says.
