Living the dream

Director Amole Gupte is content with the response that Hawaa Hawaai has garnered, but would be fully satisfied only if more families watch the film with their kids

Amole Gupte

Hawaa Hawaai has got an average response at the box-office but several people took to their social media platforms to praise the film. What do you have to say?

There are two kinds of cinemas – one which is the cinema of the hour that makes it big at film festivals. While the other needs to be approachable for everyone, both emotionally and visually. I have been practicing the latter because I wanted to reach out to more people as I want them to understand the issues that I deal with in my films. Now that the entire process is over and the film has been delivered to the screen, I am just feeling a sense of relief. I first need to recover from everything and sink in the feeling that the film is finally out there before I can react to the response or what is happening around me.

The performances in the film have been well appreciated. Have you heard any compliment from those who have seen the film that has stayed with you?

During the special screenings, many confessed that they were choked or couldn’t stop crying. For example, Genelia and Riteish Deshmukh had seen the film during the preview and after the screening, Genelia walked up to me and said, “I have cried bucket full of tears. What are you doing to me?” Riteish could relate to a lot of descriptions shown in the film since he is from Maharashtra and the protagonist, Arjun, comes from a village in the state. He pointed out a lot of delicately worked out details. If I can reach out to people and their emotions are moved while watching my film, what more can I ask for?

Looking back at the process of filming and now, after watching the film on screen, do you have any regrets?

Not at all. Hawaa Hawaai is a dream that I lived with for seven years and it requires a lot of patience to shoot a film only during holidays. I have always believed that every journey takes its own time and it was perfect to start shooting in the summer of 2013 since the age of all my actors was right. They were rehearsing for quite some time and were completely attached to their characters. So it couldn’t have got any better or worse.

What are your expectations from the film’s final box-office tally, since five other films have released on the same day?

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More than the box-office, my worry has always been that if there is content for families and the film is meant for children, the latter should be free. If they are in school or classes, it is not possible for them to go to the theatre. So, I always release my film during the summer holiday period because I know that there is no pressure on the children. If it so happens that five other films also feel the same, let every film prosper because only then will small films get made. Each film is made with passion and it’s never my intention to consider my film above others.

Now that you are busy playing the negative lead in Singham Returns will you be donning the director’s hat soon, ?

I have not really thought about it. There are several scripts that I have written, but there is nothing concrete anytime soon nor am I working on any new script. Currently, I am enjoying working on Singham Returns in front of the camera and yes, it’s great fun.

priya.adivarekar@expressindia.com

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