Each film is a different ball game

It’s in the genes: Besides directing movies, Meghna has been dabbling in writing and doing music videos

So what if her first directorial venture Filhaal didn’t hit the jackpot? Raakhee and Gulzar’s daughter, Meghna Gulzar is fighting back with her second movie Just Married, starring Fardeen Khan and Esha Deol. Excerpts from an interview with Vickey Lalwani

I wasn’t sitting idle. I hate twiddling my thumbs. I wrote a lot of scripts, did some music videos and also a biography on my dad. But yes, I didn’t direct a film and it was not out of choice. I couldn’t get a like-minded producer easily because I wanted to do something different and not the run-of-the mill cinema.

How did Just Married Happen?

I had two scripts — one was a dark film. Pritish Nandy Communications (PNC) liked both. We were putting both of them together, but this one happened faster.

What is Just Married about?

Abhay (Fardeen) and Ritika (Esha) have never held hands, never walked together in the rain, never romanced each other and yet, as per ritual, they have to spend five days together in one room, with one bed, as husband and wife in a situation where they are expected to love each other and become lovers. Just Married is a movie that starts where most others end. It is a film set amidst middle-class Indians where romance and love start at the ultimate commitment — marriage. Will Abhay and Ritika find friendship and become lovers? Will they survive their new found relationship as husband and wife?

Will the pairing work his time:Just Married will be Fardeen Khan and Esha Deol’s fourth film together

Will that dark film happen with PNC in future?

Not sure. I have outgrown that film a bit. Hence, it’s gone into the cold storage. In terms of writing, my mind is thinking in another direction now.

How did Esha and Fardeen get cast in Just Married?

I had Esha in mind from the word go. Even before I penned the film, I had Esha in mind. Pritish Nandy’s daughter Rangita quite liked Esha’s choice. PNC had a prior working relationship with Fardeen. When they suggested his name, I immediately felt that he fitted the character of the 21st century male which I had conceived for the male lead.

Esha has a very Indian face and a sexy body. She can carry off both the roles — Indian and western — with equal ease and `E9lan.

Just Married is Fardeen and Esha’s fourth film together. None of the earlier three has worked at the box office. Does that worry you?

(Laughs) Not at all. Each film treats the characters differently. Every film is a
different ball game.

How much did your dad and mum contribute to the writing of Just Married?

I did show them the first draft, but so far there have been no difference of opinion. My mom hasn’t even seen a still photograph of the film yet.

Just Married was earlier titled ‘Baat Pakki’?

Just Married suits better. It is catchier, bolder and funnier.

You rejected a poem by your dad that was being used in this film?

Two creative people are bound to differ with each other. There was one song where we had different ideas. He brought in a few changes and I was happy. He is a man who is always open to suggestions and resistance.

Do you think Just Married will reach out to a larger audience than Filhaal did?

Every filmmaker aims for commercial success and wants to better his previous work. I think I have answered your question.

How come you are doing a film with Sanjay Gupta? You and he seem to be poles apart.

That’s the beauty of it, sometimes. In life, you ought to do things which you never expected will ever happen.

What is that film about? How did it happen?

Gupta called me up and I am quite kicked about the project he offered me. It is a film titled Bread, Butter and Cash, which will be my next full-fledged assignment; the casting is yet to be done though. Also, I am directing one story from the 10 stories in his forthcoming Dus Kahaniyan. — TWF