Sense & Sensibility

His seriousness reflects when he begins to speak about the changes that have seeped into the style of telling stories on the big screen. “I feel that film making now has become more than just a lucrative business. Creativity is finally getting its due as both audiences and filmmakers are shedding the age old garbs under which they have been smothered and are now accepting newer themes and stories. It was a bit different back when I was making Sarfarosh,but now filmmakers in general are becoming better and more progressive.”

He feels that the main spur was the fact that intelligent audiences these days demanded a fare that was not the usual run-off-the-mill stuff that was a norm sometime back. Speaking more about Sarfarosh he says,“The film had everything,Aamir Khan,because I felt that he would lend the role respectability,and bring in an element of reality,and also the usual song and dance sequences that incidentally were required from the economical point of view of making the film. The reason that it did so well was because people were ready to accept a honest,no nonsense story,that dealt with the issue of terrorism without actually beating around the bush,” he says.

Matthan feels that the entire concept of having exotic locations in a film bring about a sense of visual excitement for the people. He says,“It is the same reason as to why a director has to incorporate song and dance sequences in a serious film too,because the music makes up for close to one tenth of the revenues that it generates. And if he chooses to make a film without these elements then he runs the risk of running a loss,or even investing his own money in it.”

All is not a lost cause though,as he says that corporate houses that are now ready to finance small budget films are ensuring that the multiplex audiences are slowly getting exposed to a new wave of cinema that is different. “It is here in instances like these that they not only require bound scripts but a ready guide of what to expect from it. And that is when probably the creativity of the directors and script writers is slowly being unveiled,” he adds.

As far as his own projects are concerned Matthan will be releasing A New Love Iisshstory,that features Himesh Reshammiya in the lead role. “The film is a romantic comedy but deals with the serious issue of having both parents to ensure the good upbringing of the child. Outside that I am also working on a sequel to Sarfarosh but that is still in its nascent stages,” he says on a concluding note.