Maya Memsaabs knotty affair

After 25 years in the film industry,the urge to direct films seems to have caught up with actor-producer Deepa Sahi.

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After 25 years in the film industry,the urge to direct films seems to have caught up with actor-producer Deepa Sahi. The temptress of Maya Memsaab is ready with her first directorial project,Tere Mere Phere,a rom-com about a young couple settling into married life. Marriage is almost non-negotiable in India. From the moment we become teenagers,we are made to realise the necessity of marriage. It is as though ones entire life is meaningless and everything is in preparation for this big day, says Sahi. She is quick to place her directorial debut in perspective. It is not a life-altering move for me. It is something that happened because the situation presented itself, she says. The film is slated to release this summer.

In fact,Sahi explains,she has the recession to blame,as much as to thank,for this new-found role. In 2008,she was preparing to go on the floors with another film,Na Na Karte Pyaaar,starring Nana Patekar and Hema Malini,which would have been her directorial debut,but for the economic slowdown. Films were getting diluted around us and there was a glum mood in the industry. I did not want to succumb to this depression so I decided to take a sabbatical, says Sahi,who headed off to the Himalayas with her crew.

Along the way,she thought of Tere Mere Phere,about two young couples who are honeymooning in Himachal Pradesh. Their proximity creates rifts in the individual relationships. I did not want to focus on the serious side of marriages,since each marriage has pointless ego clashes. The message is not to take life too seriously, says Sahi,adding that her own marriage to film-maker

Ketan Mehta has been thankfully free of such cliches.

The film,which stars Vinay Pathak,Riya Sen and newcomers Jagrat Desai and Sasha Goradia,was scripted in 10 days and shooting took place in three months in Himachal Pradesh and Mumbai. Sahis husband Mehta has produced the project and singer Anup Jalota defined the parameters before shooting. The budget,she announces,was a controlled one and very shameful to mention.

Looking back at her career,Sahi says that she was thrust into acting after she enrolled at NSD. I did not think I was a good actor but everyone around me felt otherwise. Consequently,I was acting in plays regularly. Sometimes,however,I got to direct my own plays,with the likes of Sushma Seth acting and Barry John designing sets, says Sahi.

Now she is happy to be in the directors seat as she awaits the release of Tere Mere Phere . If I recover the cost of this film,I will start my next, she confides,The script is ready. It is an action-thriller based in Toronto.

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Maya Memsaabs knotty affair

After 25 years in the film industry,the urge to direct films seems to have caught up with actor-producer Deepa Sahi.

Maya Memsaabs knotty affair