‘I am a learner for life’: Renowned director Milan Luthria, who has helmed Sultan Of Delhi, believes the entertainment scene is fast changing and to make relevant films as well as shows is a huge feat
Mona
Whenever famed director Milan Luthria is asked why, he counters with a why not…why Vidya Balan, he was asked; why not, he questioned back…same goes for Emraan Hashmi, new star cast to collaborating with Nana Patekar!
“Why not opens a lot of doors,” says Luthria, who is breaking another territory with debuting with a web series Sultan Of Delhi, streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. The series that streams from today is an action thriller. Luthria calls it a ‘cinema for your living room’. In the glut of action thrillers, Luthria maintains that his is not a heavy hard-hitting thriller, but a light flamboyant outing. “A multi-starrer, Sultan Of Delhi offers a hefty dose of music, action, drama, comedy and is served on a large canvas. It comes with fair smattering of humour, camaraderie, romance, ambition, greed and deceit – a mixture of a lot of this and that is just like my films are.”
He insists it’s not heavy viewing, “What’s making Sultan Of Delhi stand out is that it’s a light watch. Having been through three years of tough challenges that’s what viewers are looking at.”
Turning a lyricist
The show also added another dimension to Luthria’s work. He turned a lyricist with song Saaqiya. “During a sitting with music directors Sangeet and Siddharth Haldipur, I strung together some words and slept on them. With some encouragement from friends, I was able to piece together the entire song.” For this, Luthria credits renowned lyricists that he has worked with over the years — Anand Bakshi, Sameer, Nusrat Badar, Rajat, Vishal, Irshad Kamil and Kumar. “I may have picked up something from them to try this,” he laughs. People have liked his writing and urge him to write more, he maintains, “I will continue to write and try my best, but I am still quite scared.”
While his long innings has some memorable outings — Kachche Dhaage, Taxi No. 9211, Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai, The Dirty Picture and Once Upon a Time in Mumbai Dobaara, he admits the Vidya Balan-starrer was probably the most challenging and gratifying. “When I started working on The Dirty Picture, I was abused and trolled, they even called me a porn filmmaker! But when the film won National Film Award (Balan won the Award for Best Actress), the gratification was at another level.”
For one, Luthria isn’t the one to pay any heed to naysayers. “They told me not to do The Dirty Picture, as Heroine with Kareena was also being made. They also asked me to change the title, but we stuck to it. People even advised not to make a gangster film, I went ahead with Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai! I believed in myself and carried on my work, which eventually paid off.”
Learning curve
Close to 25 years in the industry, Luthria remains the same person. “I haven’t changed one bit. That I have made such and such films or worked with big stars never got into my head. I am a learner for life and continue to work on myself with each new project.”
To stay relevant through all these years is what he considers his biggest strength. “Entertainment scene is fast changing and to make relevant films and shows is a huge feat.” Through his momentous journey, Milan Luthria counts Ekta Kapoor, Vidya Balan, Mahesh Bhatt, Sanjay Dutt and Ajay Devgn as his biggest strengths. “At home, my wife Liane and my daughter Inaara are my biggest critics as well as support. They have always stood by me through thick and thin.”
Love for horses
Luthria’s other passions include his love for horses. He is part of various clubs, he has two riding horses and his daughter competes in horse-riding competitions. “This keep me sane, honestly,” he admits. About the genre of his next, he answers, “It is entertainment, entertainment and entertainment.”
