Of sensibility sensitivity

 Somya Abrol

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"I was amazed that Do Dooni Chaar got picked for a discussion!" is how director-screenwriter Habib Faisal opens his interaction with Chandigarh media, expressing candidly that he'd rather talk about the literature fest first before 'getting personal'. 

Faisal's directorial debut, Do Dooni Chaar (2010), received critical acclaim and sent him spiraling towards what they now call 'sensible commercial cinema'—his second and third directorial ventures being Ishaqzaade and Daawat-E-Ishq, respectively. 

Talking about revisiting his work at the fest, Faisal says, "It's always interesting to look back; not that I had forgotten any part of it. When you're doing a film, the film becomes you, you become the film. Not unless I have a stroke of Alzheimer's, I won't forget."

Not ready to reveal the project that's currently underway—except the fact that he's in the 'writing' phase - Faisal says every film he does, makes him start from the scratch. "You can never learn from the previous films you've done. Your next film has new characters, different plot, different theme; you're a different person with each project you take on. You're tricked into thinking you've learnt and evolved, but the truth remains that you remain a novice at the beginning of each new film. The excitement of discovery starts afresh; so does the fear. Like for any other artist-a writer, a painter, a musician-that's the inevitable cycle of fear, anxiety and anticipation."

Drawing parallels between cinema and literature, Faisal says they're similar at a plane most people fail to see. "That's why I like fests like these; they recognise the literary quality of film writing. Fundamentally, the director of a film is its author-he builds characters, gets lost in their world, take cues from reality, and ultimately, they both have to entertain," says he.

Ask him if he'd like to cross over to the other side, like most authors have delved into scriptwriting, and he says, "I'd be interested in writing a novel because I want to write about things that I can't encapsulate in the two-hour time frame of a feature film; things that need a wider canvas." For now, Faisal is proud being a commercial director. "I love the process of making cinema and am proud of being a commercial entertainer. "

somya@tribunemail.com