I feel responsible to show family values in my films and shows, says Sooraj Barjatya: ‘I want to revive what we have seen growing old’

What inspired you to make your mark on OTT ?

We were waiting to debut on OTT for a long time. However, we were always told that OTT space is not ready for family content. It belongs to thriller, action, urban, so we were wondering how to break in, because we did a lot of television shows, we do a lot of movies. The credit goes to SonyLIV. When they called us and told us that they want a Rajshri show, I thought it was for Sony TV. But they said, ‘We need it for our OTT platform. We want a family show. We want Hum Saath Saath Hai and Vivah audience to come here. We want a show that people can watch with everybody in the living room and not be confined to their rooms.’ It was wonderful. We spoke about it in 2020 and we developed the show during the pandemic. It was a very exhilarating experience and I am looking forward to get into a new market.

How did you get the idea of a new-age love story with an old school touch?

This story was narrated to us in 2013 by our writer, Manasvi. Often, we like an idea, but fail to shape it into a structured form. But, I did like the idea of a boy and a girl coming from a small town. The boy is ambitious about his family business. They don’t fit in the big city and feel guilty for the smallest of things like having missed an Ekadashi vrat. We wanted to strike a balance between India and Bharat. This story was there, but there was no structure. In 2020, we were able to crack a structure. Then we invited Gullak director Palash Vaswani and Palash brought his own sensibility to the story. He knows how Rajshri works and since he is also from a small town, Raipur, he created the boy, the girl and other characters. I am glad the show has gotten a wider vision.

Is there any reason you have cast newcomers as your main leads?

When we sat down to cast, everything was open to us because we wanted to make a big show. But we realised the main characters of our show are very innocent. There are so many things in the show they say to each other that shows how they feel guilty for saying even a white lie to their parents. Keeping these in mind, we wanted to bring new faces to keep that innocence. Lately, there has been no innocent romantic show running anywhere. So after having new faces, we cast an ensemble. We picked those who were ready to give us 60 days at a stretch and will help us do better. We have all these veteran actors, who helped us with their experience. Anurag Sakhya did a great job with music.

How confident are you that this show will resonate with today’s generation in an era of situationship, and what not?

I will take you 20 years back. When I made Vivah, I had a journalist asking me, ‘Live-in ke time pe kaun yeh dekhega?’ I asked her, ‘Ma’am, how many people are aware of the term live-in?’ She said, ‘I don’t know. I was asked to ask you, so I did.’ Even at that time, these questions were being raised, but the box office proved them all wrong. People still watch Vivah on television. I feel in Bharat, there are people of different kinds with different mindsets and we should not forget that, essentially, we are all the same. But the important part is we should not try to impress. If you go to watch a movie, you don’t have to think that you are like this, you might feel that ‘I am not this, but I know someone who is like this.’ We don’t try to mix everything because people can see through. Rishab and Surbhi from Bada Naam Karega are characters who belong to that set of children, who know to have fun but also know their limits in terms of family values. I am not at all worried, because whoever has to like it, will like it. In today’s world you can’t impress everybody. Some might like it and other might not. If the show is nice, people will watch it anyway.

Do you think the definition of family and love has changed? Will the tinder generation connect with your kind of cinema?

Family dynamics has definitely changed over the years. If today I will say a family stays together, that won’t be right, because they are not doing it. Now, people have to move out to make a living, to work, no matter how much ever you want to be with your parents. I also understand that at my time, I couldn’t tell my father a lot of things. But today, my son tells me clearly what he is up to. I also understand that today, you have to listen to youngsters. We never dared to question our family’s decision for us. Today’s generation always asks, ‘Why?’ The generation is changing and to that extent, I am adapting. But, I believe at the end of the day, family unit remains. And even if it is not, I want to show how it should be. Even we are unable to stay together, but we need to be together on occasions like Diwali, Holi, and birthdays. Otherwise, how will we sustain the connection?

I feel very responsible to show these family things. It might fail at the box office, but someone will be able to see the good part of it. For me, the biggest happiness about my movies is that I find that youngsters come less, but they often accompany their parents and grandparents. They bring them to theatres to watch these films. Its such a joy to see these people hold their dadi and nani’s hands and walk into the theatre. I am determined to create this world. Especially with growing age, I want to revive what we have seen growing old. Otherwise, what will fill this vacuum? I know my films are being watched on television. If the ratings wouldn’t be good, they wouldn’t play it. So there does exist an audience for these kind of content. I am trying various ways to bring new directors so that we can retain this.

We heard you are doing a film with Ayushmann Khurrana as your new-age Prem, can we know more about it?

I cannot speak about it right now. But, next month we are coming up with a big announcement. Things will be clearer then.

Uunchai was very different from the kind of films you have made in the past. Are you satisfied with its outcome?

During the pandemic, there was fear everywhere. Nothing was working. Cinemas were closed. I thought when everything is so dull, let me make something new. This subject was with me for years, and I don’t know what drove me to bring all senior actors for the film at a challenging time. When Bachchan sir came on board, there was a push and joy to make this film. And I got an audience that I had never got from my other films like Vivah. My films never fared well in cities like Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, South Bombay, Malad, but for Uunchai, I got these audience. My other films fared well in traditional areas, where Uunchai didn’t. As a director I am very satisfied as I got to break through. As a creative person, you crave appreciation from people, and I received it from a whole new audience. I am very happy. It also brought me my first National Award. It showed me that it is okay to experiment even at my age and trust your instincts. Don’t let the business side disturb the creativity. You can easily fall prey in today’s world where marketing is everything.

Ek Vivah Aisa Bhi has been your only failure. How do you deal with setbacks and trolls?

Like any other person, I sit back, feel a little low and analyse. I am not on social media, but at my age, you have seen enough of the world. At a stage where I am, I know some things will work and some things won’t. I don’t bother about trolls. The mistake always happens in the basics, It is never about the look, face or other fancy things. We did look into Ek Vivah Aisa Bhi and we realised the original Tapasya had much more depth than we had it in our film. We learnt for the future. Life keeps teaching us. If I had gotten scared of it, I would have never been able to make Uunchai, Hum Apke Hau Koun. Vivah toh kabhi banti hi nahi. Anyone who has not failed has never tried. I don’t take much stress.

Do you too think Bollywood is failing due to lack of unity in the industry?

This is a passing phase. We need to keep the creativity in front rather than marketing. All of us are thinking that what sells should be made, but instead we should be thinking what is new, what is fresh. Secondly, we now need to make subjects that a common man understands. Because sitting in big AC rooms, we don’t understand that people now want to see Bharat ki Kahaniya. That’s the clear shift we have seen pre and post pandemic. We are still united, but we need to focus on telling the story rather than look and marketing. I think that is where the secret lies. I think we are moving towards it.