4 min readDec 13, 2013 02:06 AM IST
Divya Bhushan Kumar on directing her debut film ‘Yaariyan’.
I was 18 when I told a friend that one day I’d direct a film. And here I am finally,busy with the post-production of my first film,’Yaariyan’. It’s a youth-oriented film and this is my tribute to a person’s best phase in life — college.
I was 20 when I came to Bombay. I got into modelling and acted in a Hindi movie. I learnt editing and cinematography then. I began directing music videos and worked with musicians such as Pankaj Udhas,Adnan Sami,Sukhbir and even Jermaine Jackson (Michael Jackson’s brother). I also directed advertisements and that’s how I learnt about direction and production.
I wanted to use my knowledge in a film and that’s how Yaariyan came about. Since childhood,I’ve been very creative and was always a keen writer. So five years ago,I began working on a script. Many ideas came to mind but I finally decided on the story of five friends in college.
It took me a long time to write the script,since I didn’t want my first film to go haywire. I wrote it with the help of Sanjeev Dutta,who has worked on movies such as ‘Barfi!,Page 3’ and ‘Life in a Metro’.
Once the scripting was done,I began casting,which took me almost a year-and-a-half. If you have two central characters in a film,it’s easy. In ‘Yaariyan’,there are five friends,so it was tough. I held auditions everywhere — acting schools,modelling agencies and dance academies — and finally found my five actors. I wanted to do full justice to the script and that’s why I went for younger,fresher faces. Since none of them are trained actors,I held workshops with them for six months and taught them to imbibe their characters. It was only once I was sure that they were ready that I began filming. Gulshan Grover and Deepti Naval are also a part of the film.
The film is about these friends who discover love,chase their dreams and ambitions,lose innocence and all the joys and sorrows they encounter as they come of age. According to me,no matter how successful you get in life,college is that one time,which fills you with nostalgia,and Yaariyan is my tribute to that phase of life. We shot this movie in Sikkim,Kerala,Cape Town,Darjeeling and on the sets in Mumbai.
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I was very clear that I have to make this film with my efforts and so I decided not to piggyback on Bhushan’s (my husband) shoulders. Yaariyan was like a mountain that I had to conquer on my own.
Through the process,Bhushan,of course,helped me and gave his inputs. After Aashiqui 2,this is T-Series next and the music had to be equally good. So Bhushan helped there and we got four music directors on board. This album had to be entertaining and we’ve tried our best with the music. As a producer,Bhushan is very critical and judgemental and will never promote a movie till he believes in it.
Yaariyan is not just a candyfloss films. It’s very realistic. I hope the film encourages more people to work with this genre. It will,in turn,also churn out new talent.
