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Journalism of Courage
Buddies and colleagues Sanjay Suri and Onir chat about their long association and their latest joint venture
As he packs his bags to fly to Amsterdam for a special screening of My Brother8230;Nikhil, director Onir gets nostalgic about his directorial debut. The film was a landmark in the careers of both its writer-director and its male protagonist. For Onir, the film, with its bold yet sensitive exploration of a family dealing with homosexuality and AIDS, was a dream debut. As for Sanjay Suri, who played the protagonist, it was an announcement that he had arrived on the scene of actors who mattered.
Despite the genre change, Sorry Bhai8217;s focus remains Onir8217;s prerogative 8212; relationships and the people who have the power to make or break them. The film follows the lives of the Mathur family. Younger brother Siddharth Sharman Joshi flies to Mauritius with his parents Shabana Azmi and Boman Irani to attend his brother, Harsh8217;s Sanjay Suri wedding. There, he meets his sibling8217;s fianceacute;e, Aaliyah Chitrangadha Singh and the two fall in love. The rest of the movie deals with how the family copes with this awkward situation. Onir says, 8220;This new movie is a romantic comedy, set in Mauritius. I wanted to try my hand at something different and this was a fun idea to work around.8221;
Onir and Suri go back a long way and the camaraderie is evident. 8220;I met Onir on the sets of Kalpana Lajmi8217;s Daman; he was editing the film. As the friendship thickened, we decided to make films together and then came My Brother8230; Nikhil,8221; says Suri. Onir is a little more expansive as he explains that Suri was the one who encouraged him to follow his dream of writing and making films. He says, 8220;Our association has grown since and we ended up co-producing My Brother8230; Nikhil.8221; Now, Suri is also co-producing Sorry Bhai.
Without much of a break, the director will begin his next project, Kill Chhabra, in January. 8220;I play a different role this time. The film will be directed by the writer of Sorry Bhai, Ashwini Malick.8221; But even before we can shoot the next, obvious, question, he assures us, 8220;Don8217;t worry, Sanjay and I will continue work on it together 8212; he8217;s the producer, while I8217;m the creative director.8221;
