‘By stepping out of the box,I hope I belong’

It also helped that the filmmaker,who heads the successful Dharma Productions banner,wasn’t producing the film. “I have never before directed a film for someone else and it was a huge relief to not have the sword of ‘box-office performance’ hanging over my head,” says Johar,who claims that this freedom has beautifully translated into what he will present on celluloid.

While the film is a first in many ways for Johar,he chose to remain in familiar territory as far as the subject is concerned. The story explores the emotional dynamics between three characters,two of whom comprise a married couple whereas the third is the cause of the turmoil in their relationship.

Johar didn’t write the script for Bombay Talkies,but when producer Ashi Dua approached him to be one of the four directors on the movie — the others being Zoya Akhtar,Anurag Kashyap and Dibakar Banerjee — he dug out one of the old stories he had penned many years ago. “I had written a film with three tracks,called Small,Medium and Large,many years ago. I chose the story for the track called Medium for the movie Bombay Talkies,” says Johar.

How it ties in with cinema — the theme common to the four short films that comprise Bombay Talkies — is with its music. “Old Hindi film classics are the soul of my film; the songs form the story’s narrative,” he says. For the task,he has chosen Ajeeb dastan hai yeh from the film Dil Apna aur Preet Parai and Lag jaa gale from Woh Kaun Thi — two songs that he remembers his mother listening to on loop while he was growing up. Known until now for working closely with actors from his own clique in the lead,Johar directed rank newcomers in his last,Student of the Year. With this short,too,he has cast in the lead Randeep Hooda and Saqib Saleem (he hasn’t worked with them before) along with his old friend Rani Mukerji.

The attempt to step out of his comfort zone isn’t limited to casting alone. He has been working with new directors and producers of sensibilities other than his own,such as Kabir Khan,Rensil D’Silva and Ekta Kapoor. Increasingly,the subjects Johar explores also seem to have evolved. Candyfloss love stories as in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai gave way to graver subjects like racial discrimination in My Name is Khan. Johar confesses that partly it is because the ideas and thoughts of filmmakers he has been working with have rubbed off on him. But he also calls it his “organic evolution as a human being”. “I am growing old,” he says,adding,“As a result,my subjects are becoming more mature.”

With Bombay Talkies,however,he hopes he will be able to demonstrate to both critics and his audience that much like his colleagues on the film,he too,has the ability to address gritty subjects without glossing over them. “When I came on board,I was the odd-one-out among talented directors such as Anurag and Dibakar. I hope by stepping out of the box,I have made myself belong,” says Johar.

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