The Romantics director Smriti Mundhra on what made the ‘recluse’ Aditya Chopra give an interview, Shah Rukh Khan’s image after Pathaan

Excerpts from the interview:

How long was the original raw footage for the documentary as you’ve interviewed over 35 people for it, and what were the challenges of turning it into a four-part series?

It was over hundred hours of interview, maybe hundred and twenty-five hours of interview time plus all of the films and behind the scenes. All of it had to be compressed in four one-hour episodes, so that was definitely the biggest challenge.

Which was the longest interview of them all?

I don’t remember, maybe Shah Rukh Khan. While interviewing him, it was clear through his body language and the way that he spoke about Yash Chopra, that they were very close. And close, not in the sense that they had worked together for many years, but they had truly bonded in the most profound way that people can do.

And which was the most memorable?

There is not just one, but the one that will stay with me forever was interviewing Rishi Kapoor. (It was) his final interview, a month before he passed. (It was) very special, it was the great interview I had done in my career. At the time we didn’t know we’ll lose him so shortly after that, so in hindsight it feels even more meaningful.

Since you’ve majorly worked in the West and have had a keen interest in Hindi films, what is the perception of people for Bollywood romances and how does the diaspora react to these films?

The diaspora has definitely grown up with these films and loves these films. In a way we have a different connection as for so many years, before technology and air travel was easier, that was our main connection back to the motherland, so to speak. In terms of the wider, global community, for the non Indians, there is a lot of fascination with Hindi films and ideas of romance and the style of film and music. So, there was a lot of fascination but not too much understanding, so this series is a good entry point for the people who have been fascinated and are interested in Hindi cinema but never knew where to start.

Which is your favourite Yash Raj film and are you also a romantic?

Definitely a romantic. I think my favourite film from the Yash Chopra era would be Chandani and then Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was my most watched film. I felt it was made for me as opposed to watching something that my parents were watching.

Yash Raj films didn’t only seed an idea of aspirational love, it also showed its heroes and heroines in a certain way. How did the actors see this aspect of YRF films.

Yash Chopra had set the tone of all Yash Raj films. He had this love and passion for cinema and the craft of filmmaking and he imbued that in all of his films and it was infectious. All of the actors and artistes who worked with him knew that you do this because you love it and want to connect with the audience. You want people to have an emotional journey with every film that you watch. That love and passion is contagious and that shows in all of his actors.

With the heroines he managed to find that perfect balance of a sort of aspirational beauty and real complexity in terms of the roles they played. Their characters weren’t just in support of the man’s story or the hero’s story. They were complex and nuanced film characters in their own right. All of the actresses who worked with him and subsequently in all of Yash Raj films, this is the one thing that I sensed, that they appreciate that very much.

What was the one thing you told Aditya Chopra that he agreed to do the interview? He is otherwise totally media recluse, but in the series he really comes across as an eloquent and candid speaker.

I don’t know what exactly convinced him ultimately. But, when we talked about making something that was a definitive tribute and a reflection of his father’s legacy and that would be incomplete without his perspective, I think that maybe that’s was resonated because (for) Adi Chopra, there is no one he admires or believes in more than his father. He was present there to give a fitting tribute to Yash Chopra.

Yash Chopra addressed taboo social subjects in his romances. How did that change the way people watched Hindi movies?

Yash Chopra was so ahead of his time with the way he portrayed human relationships, especially women. I don’t know if anyone has been able to match the way he did that. I think, actually, Pam Chopra had a lot of influence on that as well. Part of the gift in his genius is that he saw perspectives outside of himself. That’s why he was able to create such compelling female characters and also as he was getting older, the films that he was making were younger and still so effective. I think it’s because he was really curious and he would listen to the people around him, that’s definitely a big part of it.

We’ve seen Shah Rukh Khan as the king of romance and Yash Raj Films actually made him that, and with his last film for YRF he has transitioned into an action hero. Did you expect the idea of Raj change in this way?

It’s a testament to his range as an actor. He is as charming and magnetic as Raj in DDLJ as he is in Pathaan. Like, when he is flying a helicopter or whatever he is doing in Pathaan, it’s like no matter what, he can have a bloody nose or whatever, he is still Shah Rukh Khan. That magnetism shines through whatever role he does. Those actors are one in a generation and he is that actor.