Basic Instinct

Strangely,it was not the father who inspired Guha’s first film,but her 12-year-old daughter. “My daughter would come back from school and tell me about her gang of friends,the problems they faced and the things that bothered them,” says Guha,who admits that when she was growing up,her friendships were fostered at home. “Siblings and family were the best friends we could manage. I had always been a loner and turned to my sister and mother when I needed to talk. So this whole phenomenon of friendship fascinated me,” says Guha,who has been creative director of television serials like Uttaran on Colors and Tumhari Disha and Rakhi on Zee.

The film has rank newcomers in the lead roles,something that almost drove Guha to shelve the project for lack of financiers,until Sunil Doshi,who had produced the quirky Bheja Fry,came to her rescue. “I was contemplating rewriting the whole thing with a conventional hero-heroine angle because people weren’t willing to put their money on it. When Sunil said he wanted no stars in the cast and was willing to work with newcomers,I just didn’t know how to react,” she says.

While she waits to see how the film fares at the box office,Guha has started work on her next script. But she is also cautious about her future in the industry. “I probably should have done this two decades back,but then I had no inclination in joining the industry. Working with television finally gave me the confidence to make a movie. I’ll see how this film does before deciding what to do next,” she says earnestly.