Imtiaz Ali and Mohit Chauhan discuss the many layers around the films and music that are built around them. By Saimi Sattar
Highway.” “Board exams.” “Donald Trump.” “Basket ball.” Seemingly disparate words thrown by the large audience were strung together in an impromptu story by film director Imtiaz Ali in an open-air spin-a-yarn contest. Since story-telling was an essential part of the Kathakar — International Storytellers’ Festival at Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, the film maker, who has incidentally made a film Tamasha with one as the protagonist, also wove a tale with these words. And of his felicity with story-telling, he attributed it to his life of ordinariness which he dressed up from childhood with his imagined details to look and sound good. “I was average in sports. But at school I excused myself from games saying I played higher levels at the neighbourhood competitions and vice versa. You could say it all began from there. Also, I am always fascinated by the outsider’s perception of the insider.”
Imtiaz played raconteur to the hilt as he recalled stories from the time that the songs from his movie were being recorded at AR Rahman’s studio in Chennai. Prodded by festival director Prarthana Gahilote, he recounted incidents which gave an insight into the reclusive music director’s sense of humour. “Mohit had been recording Sadda Haq for 16 hours inside the recording room while the two of us sat outside. I asked Rahman sir if he wanted a coffee and when he agreed, I slipped in the suggestion that we should give one to Mohit too. He refused and said, ‘the pain of denial would show in his voice’, which in turn would reflect Janardhan/Jordan’s state of mind, without missing a beat,” recalled the director.
He also recounted incidents, where during a drive back post-dinner, the team was caught by the local police. “Since Rahman sahab was the only one who knew Tamil, he was talking to the cops but did not want to say that he was AR Rahman. However, finally one of the police personnel figured out who he was and let us go,” said Imtiaz.
Asked how different it was working with Rahman and Pritam, both of whom have done the music scores for him, the filmmaker said, “Pritam is a friend. We knew each other for a long time. But Rahman sir, he was someone we looked up to much before, since school. But one thing he made clear at our very first meeting that I was the director and at the helm of the project. So I would have to give the direction. Both of them are organic in the way they work. There is no script in the way they work. While recording Sadda Haq, we continuously worked on these two words and the innumerable ways to say it while the remaining song was still being written.”
With the discussion returning to Rockstar every few minutes, it was not surprising that singer Mohit Chauhan, who is co-curating the festival as well, belted out two of the numbers from the film, Kun Faya Kun and Tum Ho Sath Mere and the way the audience was transported by the voice that was soaked with the feel of the mountains was what memorable moments are made of.
But even as people professed love for the film, Imtiaz could not help pick holes in it. “There is a fidayeen squad in defence of Rockstar who would not like it if I say anything against the film,” he said with a laugh and added, “But I find there are many portions in the movie which are hollow.”
Despite the November chill gradually seeping in, the audience was unwavering and wanted to hear more. And he obliged. When Gahilote expressed her regret that she could not meet the original rockstar, Shammi Kapoor, while they were shooting the movie, Imtiaz had a story ready to qualify the description. “There is a scene in the movie where Shammiji sees the poster and realises that Ranbir is a big star now. When we shot this, he was nearing the end of his life. He was suffering from a debilitating condition, had lost two toes, undergone blood transfusion and was in a lot of pain which could be seen in his eyes during the shot. I approached him and told him as much and asked him, ‘kya karna hai?’ and he replied, ‘karna kya hai, let’s do it again.’ That’s the measure of a star,” said Imtiaz.
Going on to Jab We Met and his much-loved character Geet, the director recalled how the idea came about. “A friend of mine suggested a character of a man who wants to commit suicide. I came up with a counterpoint of a girl who talks endlessly and is on a train. And then I decided to put this man on the train and the girl saves him. While my friend moved on to more tragic stories, convinced that I would try and make any sad story happy, I made the movie.”
Many in the audience wanted to know why a sad character always embedded himself/herself in his films, be it Rockstar or Jab We Met or the more recent Laila Majnu. Imtiaz replied, “Don’t go looking for pain or unhappiness to be successful. Many people in real life have had really tough lives before they could be successful but others haven’t. So you do not have to go looking for a heartbreaker like Heer to be successful.” On the same note when someone asked why did Jordan, who was initially looking for success in music, put his career at stake on several occasions for his love? Imtiaz said something that most of us identify with: “We always want what we can’t have while we ignore what we have got.”
There were aspiring filmmakers in the audience who wanted to know more about filmmaking to which Imtiaz said, “You do not need to relocate to Mumbai to start making films. Start with short ones, make use of the social media and if you are good, you will be spotted.” Mohit too added, “When I made my first album, Dooba Dooba as part of Silk Route, I was very much in Delhi. You can do the same.” And like all good story-tellers, Imtiaz is cooptive and doesn’t consider technology a burden. “That’s story-telling in images. So do not abhor it but use it as your tool.”