When Namrata Rao gets busy at the chopping block, everything else becomes secondary. The film editor, who is currently wrapping up Fan, tells Sharabsti Mallik that Shah Rukh Khan has always given her space and creative freedom
Making a film involves a very strenuous, if not an intricate, process. Scripts need to be written, actors decided, budget discussed upon, locales hunted out and gruelling shoot schedules worked upon. Now thanks to the Internet and social media, we get regular updates on what a film crew is up to. And then in no time, the promotions start and before you know it, the movie has hit the theatres.
Amidst all the humdrum, we sometimes forget the most important part of the entire filming process, the one factor that can potentially make or break a movie the editor. A director calls the final shots, yes. But an editor calls the final cut.
Considering the seriousness of their profession, editors execute their job under a lot of pressure. But not Namrata Rao. A few years into the profession and she has not only worked on few of the best movies helmed in the last decade but also bagged a National Award for one. Currently, she is busy making the final edits in Fan. “We are in the last leg of editing. It hits the screens on April 15, so we are wrapping up,” said Rao in between last-minute reviews.
She does not carry the air of being one of the most sought after editors today, having worked with some of the big names in the industry. She is grounded and that adds to her girlish charm. Rao is a self-confessed fan of Shah Rukh Khan and Fan is her second movie with the star (Jab Tak Hai Jaan being the first).
“I have said this before but he is an amazing person to work with. When he is on the sets, he is there. Everything else becomes immaterial. And he really gives you space to do your work and listens to everything patiently,” Rao said.
When asked about the experience of working with her favourite actor, she summed it up in one word, “Great.” But she added, “It is not just about working with him because I have done that before. The amazing thing in the movie is that he is completely different. He is in the skin of a character he has never portrayed before. To that add all the VFX and the visual effects — all these have made the movie more special.”
There were reports that the star had apparently asked her to edit the movie rather tightly because she did not cut off any scene from Jab Tak Hai Jaan. But Rao cleared the speculation. “He has not even come to the edit room once,” she laughed. “He did not even see the final cut,” she continued, “It is my second movie with him and I can honestly say that he has never gotten involved in the editing process. The best part is that he never interferes with anybody’s work and goes with the director’s vision.” Rao did, however, add that since Fan is a thriller, she is keeping the editing tight.
With only a few days left for Shah Rukh’s first release of the year, the expectations are quite high. But Rao does not let the pressure affect her. “There is no one way to deal with the pressure and I have learnt that in these few years. I am feeling everything one moment at a time. Honestly, when you are editing a film, you focus so much on telling the story that everything else becomes secondary. The thought that you have to tell the story in a way that everybody gets it is always at the back of your head. You just have to hope that you have done your best and that everyone likes it,” she said.
It has been eight years since Rao has stepped into Bollywood. “It’s been that long!” was her reaction when we asked her about her initial days in the industry and how she charted her path to where she is now. “It has been quite simple. I have always picked up one film at a time and I feel lucky to have worked with great directors more than once. I have learnt so much along the way. It’s not easy to always land good films with the best directors,” she said, not forgetting to mention her relationship with Yash Raj. “I have been working with them for quite some time now and I value their faith in me,” she summed up.