Old is Bold

They make their way to a corner table and settle down for lunch. Srivastava asks for white wine to celebrate their film’s completion. “It was a stray thought that triggered the making of Turning 30!!! I was returning from South Mumbai when the idea of a girl turning 30 and all the crisis she might go through,hit me. I was working as an executive producer on Khoya Khoya Chand then,” says the debutante director,who also turned 30 soon after she completed the film. She narrated the story to filmmaker Prakash Jha with whom she has been working since 2003. “He took long to read the script. Eventually,when he did,he decided to produce it,” narrates Srivastava happily. “It is impossible to make an off-beat film without the backing of a good producer,” she adds.

Ask Srivastava if the story is derived from her personal experiences,and she quietly blushes. Panag,at this moment interrupts,“I think it is fully autobiographical.” Srivastava simply rubbishes it and says,“It is drawn from the experiences of my friends and me.” As the wine arrives at the table,toasts are raised and the food is ordered — 12-inch thin crust pizza,some pasta and gnocchi.

While waiting for the food to arrive,Srivastava recounts how she got Panag on board. “I wanted someone who looked the part. At that time,one of my friends gave me a DVD of Manorama Six Feet Under and I knew Gul was apt for the role,” she says. Panag instantly reacts,“Give your friend a huge hug. I was sold to the script in the first five pages.” Biting into her pizza,Panag adds,“I don’t want to do a boy-meets-girl story and run around trees in chiffon saris. I want to do characters that would represent life at some level.” Purab Kohli,who plays the male protagonist,however,took some convincing. “It is a woman-oriented subject and I wanted an actor who would feel secure to play second fiddle. Purab,after much thought,obliged,” says the director.

The camaraderie between Srivastava and Panag is palpable in the way they complete each other’s sentences or even take a dig at one another “That’s because we have a lot in common. Even my best friend is married to her best friend,” smiles Panag. But they really hit it off when they started working together. And since the unit was very young,they partied every sixth day of their shoot (of the 40-day shooting schedule) at Hawaiian Shack. “We spent so much time together that we have become good friends. We are even neighbours now,” says Panag,as she digs into some pasta along with Srivastava.

Srivastava is a foodie,and she insists on ending her meal with a chocolate dessert. We agree to share.

Panag,who is currently busy with her film’s promotions,is also waiting for the release of Fatso,which has been on hold for a while.

“I am not in a hurry to sign more films because when I do that a flop like Hello Darling happens,” she laughs. Srivastava already has a second script in mind. “But I will only do women-oriented films. That’s my forte. I cannot be a Farah Khan,” she says.