Breaking Free

The light-hearted film deals with the apprehensions of a Mumbai-woman,Naina,who is grappling with heartbreak along with the despair of turning 30. Her crisis is ‘compounded’ by problems at her workplace,that causes her anxiety and ultimately forces her to draw up a to-do list in order to blossom into a woman of a substance. The story has been conceived and written by Srivasatava,31,who worked on it for three years before shooting the film last year.

A protégé of Jha,Srivastava has been assisting the former on film projects right from the Gangajal days,including some of his lesser-known projects for TV. So it comes as no surprise when Jha saw the script,he agreed to produce it. “There are many young scriptwriters who seek advice from me on their content. I occasionally mentor them. But Alankrita’s story had a contemporary touch to it,” defends Jha,admitting that it’s a subject he would not have approached as a director otherwise.

The Rs 3.5 crore project was made with minimum creative input from Jha’s side,who was busy preparing for the shoot of his next film,Aarakshan,which begins in earnest from January. “People will realize that the director’s own style and visual identity reflect in the film and it does not have a Prakash Jha label. I have not tutored her in this project,” he says,adding that he always left Srivastava to her own devices,visiting the set only once and that too “for just five minutes. “I think I got a much better deal than I expected. I feel the film is like an independent work without the creative intrusions of a producer. Such freedom is rarely extended to a debutant filmmaker,” chirps Srivastava.

Up next for Jha is Sudhir Mishra’s next venture,Yeh Saali Zindagi,for which he will be dealing with the post-production work. Besides,he is set to produce another small budget venture,Bike Meri Life,directed by one of his assistants,Anshuman K Singh. “My production house has the capacity to produce a few small budget films a year. I have been doing that for some time now and hope to continue with that,” he adds.