‘Everything Cannot Just Be Box Office’

‘Failure
teaches
you
far
more
than
your
successes
do
you.’
‘Like
they
say,
success
has
many
fathers
and
failure
is
a
bastard.’

From
buddy
drama
(Rock
On!!,
Kai
Po
Che)
to
musical
romance
(Fitoor,
Kedarnath)
and
social
dramedy
(Chandigarh
Kare
Aashiqui),

Abhishek
Kapoor
may
have
a
mixed
bag
of
hits
and
misses
with
his
directorials
but
his
signature
voice
as
storyteller
is
undeniable
in
all
his
outings.

He
enters
into
a
different
realm
with
his
latest
offering

Azaad,
which
has
the
look
and
feel
of
a
beautiful
storybook.
Led
by
Ajay
Devgn,
the
period
action
drama
also
stars
two
newbies,
Rasha
Thadani
and
Aaman
Devgan.

“Nobody
knows
what
the
audience
is
going
to
like.
They
have
access
to
so
much
content,
so
they’re
becoming
more
discerning
with
their
choices
and
their
money.
Movie-going
is
not
a
cheap
experience,”
Kapoor
tells

Mayur
Sanap/Rediff.com.

You
wife
Pragya
Kapoor,
who
is
also
the
producer
on
this
film,
called
this
her
toughest
project.
What
made

Azaad
so
daunting?

That’s
because
of
the
kind
of
elements
we
are
dealing
with.

You’re
dealing
with
animals
and
you’re
dealing
with
newcomers.
One
of
them
is
enough.
So
now
you
have
two
newcomers
and
a
horse.
That
in
itself
should
give
you
an
idea
of
what
all
needs
to
be
done
to
mount
a
film
like
that.

I
can
create
all
this
in
my
head
and
want
to
execute
it
but
someone
has
to
deliver
it
on
schedule.
Ronnie
Screwvala
(co-producer)
and
my
wife,
they
are
the
people
behind
me
who
are
doing
this.

You
don’t
see
them
but
they
are
responsible
for
me
to
have
this
playing
field
for
myself.

The
soundtrack
and
score
have
a
big
impact
in
your
films.
Tell
us
about
the
creative
process
with
your
music
composers.

Every
time
I
make
a
movie,
I
dive
into
a
new
world.

Every
time
we
all
sit,
be
it
with
Amitabh
(Bhattacharya,
lyricist)
or
Swanand
(Kirkire,
lyricist),
or
whoever
I
am
working
with,
we
start
from
zero.

It
is
like
as
if
we’ve
never
made
a
movie
before.

You
just
have
to
be
humbled
by
the
fact
that
you’re
getting
into
an
arena
you
know
nothing
about.
Then
you
start
exploring;
you
explore
the
music
of
those
times,
you
go
back
to
the
time
and
see
what
kind
of
life
was
at
that
time.

At
the
same
time,
you
have
to
make
it
relatable
for
today’s
audiences
because
you’re
not
making
it
for
audiences
of
that
time.
So
you
have
to
create
nostalgia
value,
at
the
same
time
a
contemporary
relatability
to
it.

When
you’re
aware
of
these
things
and
if
you’re
aware
of
who
your
audience
is
going
to
be,
your
craft
starts
to
work.

Your
last
film

Chandigarh
Kare
Aashiqui
did
not
make
a
great
impact.
As
a
film
director,
what
happens
when
your
last
film
underperforms?

Actually,
I
don’t
think
it
underperformed
because
the
subject
matter
was
such
that
it
was
never
made
for
box
office
success.

Everything
cannot
just
be
box
office.

Those
days
were
COVID
times,
so
OTT
was
a
dominant
player
in
the
market.
That
subject
for
those
times
was
correct
because
the
movie
had
so
much
penetration
in
the
OTT
realm.

I
mean,
who
makes
a
movie
about
a
transgender
woman?
It’s
not
even
lesbian
and
gay.
It’s
transgender
and
they
are
very,
very
different
from
being
gay
or
lesbian.
The
issues
are
also
very
different.

It
was
something
I
wanted
to
do
and
give
back
to
society
because
I’m
not
from
that
community
but
I
can
understand
the
pain
they
go
through.

Maybe
you
don’t
want
to
answer
this,
but
do
you
have
a
least
favourite
project
you
have
worked
on?

No,

yaar
(Laughs).

The
movies
I
make
are
like
my
children,
they
can
be
successful
or
they
can
be
unsuccessful,
but
you
just
love
them.

In
fact,
the
ones
that
have
not
been
well
are
the
ones
that
you
root
for
the
most.
Because
you
feel
like
that’s
not
my
strongest
child.

Also
in
life,
I’ve
seen
enough
success
and
failure.
I
know
that
failure
teach
you
far
more
than
your
successes
do
you.

Like
they
say,
success
has
many
fathers
and
failure
is
a
bastard.
You
just
have
to
own
it
up.

So
many
films
later,
people
still
remember
you
as
the
man
who
launched
Sushant
Singh
Rajput’s
film
career.
How
do
you
look
back
at
your
friendship
with
him?

It
was
great.

He
was
a
fantastic
actor,
incredible
individual.
So
much
to
offer.

I
have
still
to
meet
someone
more
dedicated
to
his
craft
than
him.

He
was
like
a
rocket.
You
could
just
shoot
him
into
space
or
you
could
use
him
to
drill
right
into
the
centre
of
the
earth.
He
could
do
both.

Ekta
Kapoor
is
your
first
cousin.
Why
haven’t
we
seen
you
two
collaborating
on
a
project?

We
love
each
other
very
much.
Both
of
us
are
very
strong-headed
people;
we
own
our
films.

For
the
sanctity
of
a
relationship,
we
have
avoided
working
together
so
far.

We
respect
each
other
too
much,
and
are
very
cautious
that
if
we
are
going
to
work
together,
we
should
not
be
ending
jeopardising
what
we
share
otherwise.

If
we
ever
do
work
together,
we
will
have
to
secure
our
other
areas
before
we
get
in
there.

How’s
the
film-maker
in
you
coping
with
the
times
where
it
has
become
tougher
to
pull
audiences
into
theatres?

If
anybody
says
they
know,
then
they
really
don’t
know
what
they’re
saying,
because
nobody
knows.

Nobody
knows
what
the
audience
is
going
to
like.

They
have
access
to
so
much
content,
so
they’re
becoming
more
discerning
with
their
choices
and
their
money.

Movie-going
is
not
a
cheap
experience.

I
think
it’s
important
to
give
them
something
fresh
that
can
enrich
their
lives.
They
won’t
come
to
see
the
same
stuff
again
and
again.

There’s
a
lot
of
marketing
out
there
but
now,
the
audience
doesn’t
bite
every
bit
that
you
throw
at
them.