Blood Ties

Do you also enjoy watching horror movies?
I don’t like horror films at all. I must have seen maybe one or two films. I get scared very easily. I just wanted to make a story with Indian ghosts,albeit quite comical.

Why did you decide to try your hand at this genre?
I have made three movies after Bend It Like Beckham,but people still remember me for Bend it. These days my twins hardly leave me with any free time and I wanted to wrap up the film in seven weeks. I know my audience connects with the comedy in my films. But no one likes repetition. So I wanted to offer my audience something new. The film is a supernatural comedy set in Southall,London.

What is the film about?
The film is about a mother who is trying to get her obese daughter married. People in the community are talking about it all thetime and the mother finally decides to kill anybody who speaks ill of her daughter. The film symbolises the strong mother-daughter relationship.

How did you convince Shabana Azmi to play the serial killer?
It didn’t take too much time. I have known Javed Akhtar and Zoya for a long time. When I thought of the role,I had Shabana in mind. I asked her if she would like to be a part of my film. She just asked me if I would be directing it. The moment I nodded,she was game.

She also had to put on a lot of weight for her role of a Punjabi mother.
Yes,she had to put on 25 pounds for the role. She had done quite a bit of homework and changed the way she talks and walks and totally looked her part. When we were shooting in London,people hardly recognised her. One day,a woman recognised her. Shabana was really happy but the next moment the woman said,“What happened to you? You were so beautiful,why do you look fat and frumpy?”

How did Sendhil Ramamurthy come into the picture?
I wanted a very handsome guy who hadn’t stayed in west London for quite some time. I had seen Sendhil in Heroes and I thought he was outstanding. When I approached him,he was really happy to be a part of the project and played a cop’s role really well.

Will we ever see you do a full-fledged,commercial Bollywood film?
That may happen,but my films will always have the Gurinder Chadha touch. I can’t do a conventional film. I don’t have that kind of sensibility. Karan Johar and Farah Khan are very good at it. I come from a different background and will never be able to make films like them.

Which Bollywood actors would you like to work with?
The Hindi film industry is full of amazingly talented people. I would love to work with so many of them. I think Hrithik Roshan has immense potential and I am looking forward to watching Kites. Shahid Kapoor was phenomenal in Jab We Met and he has come of age now. Rani Mukerji is a fantastic actress and so are Preity Zinta and Kareena Kapoor.