‘Metro… In Dino Is The Life I Have Lived’

‘Very
rarely
does
a
film
give
you
the
opportunity
to
do
this,
I
was
constantly
improvising
and
adding
scenes
on
the
set.’

He
points
out
that
he
is
not
a
businessman
who
has
to
make
and
release
a
film
in
nine
months.
He’s
is
happy
to
wait.
For
his
actors.
And
even
for
his
daughters,
Ishana
and
Ahana.

Pointing
out
that
you
can
only
mould
a
child’s
personality
till
they
are
in
the
12th
standard,

Anurag
Basu
shares
that
his
wife
and
collaborator
Tani
and
he
took
a
conscious
decision
to
slow
down
the
pace
of
their
work.

Speaking
to


Rediff‘s
Senior
Contributor,

Roshmila
Bhattacharya
in
the
first
of
a
two-part
interview,
the
writer-producer-director
says,
“Now
that
my
younger
daughter
has
completed
her
12th
standard,
you
will
see
a
film
from
me
every
year-and-a-half.”

“When
you
are
playing
a
long
innings,
you
have
to
pace
yourself.
It’s
like
cricket,
you
know
you
have
to
make
this
many
runs
in
this
many
overs
and
can
afford
to
go
slow
for
a
few
overs
in
the
middle,
provided
you
pick
up
pace
later.”

What
do
you
remember
from

Life
In
A…
Metro,
which
got
you
your
first
Filmfare
nomination
for
Best
Director
and
won
you
a
Black
Lady
for
Best
Screenplay?

I
have
very
few
friends
and
one
of
them
was
Bobby
Singh,
the
cinematographer
of

Gangster
who
also
shot

Life
In
A…
Metro.
He
is
no
longer
with
us,
I
miss
him.

Also,
Rajat
Poddar,
my
art
director
and
production
designer,
whom
we
lost
last
year.
He
had
been
with
me
since
my
television
days.

Ajay,
my
assistant
editor,
also
passed,
all
three
were
a
part
of
my
core
team.

Another
friend
Irrfan
Khan,
who
played
the
irrepressible
Monty,
also
went
away
too
soon,
as
did
KK
who
came
down
from
Pune
to
sing

Alvida
and

O
Meri
Jaan.

I
don’t
remember
much
from
the
film,
but
I
remember
these
friends.
We
were
a
close-knit
unit.

And

Metro…
In
Dino?

This
film
gave
me
the
opportunity
to
relive
moments
which
I
had
experienced
with
family
and
friends.

When
she
saw
the
final
edit
two
months
ago,
my
wife
Tani
complained,
‘Tumne
to

humare
sab
scenes
film

mein
dal
diya
hai
(You
have
put
all
our
moments
into
the
film).’

(Smiles)

Metro…
In
Dino
is
the
life
I
have
lived
and
the
many
crisis
my
friends
have
faced.

Very
rarely
does
a
film
give
you
the
opportunity
to
do
this,
I
was
constantly
improvising
and
adding
scenes
on
the
set.

Also,
shooting
with
these
talented
actors
who
have
such
different
personalities
was
such
a
joy.

It
reminded
me
of

Barfi!
and
the
friendships
we
had
built
on
the
sets.

The
bonding
between
Ranbir
(Kapoor),
PC
(Priyanka
Chopra),
cinematographer


Ravi
Varman
and
me,
in
fact,
the
whole
unit
was
something
I
had
never
experienced
before.

Recently,
when
we
were
shooting
in
Darjeeling,
we
remembered
all
those
fun
times.

Eighteen
years
later,

Life
In
A…
Metro
is
still
remembered
for
its
memorable
performances.
Who
among
the
cast
of
the
sequel
surprised
you?

I
wouldn’t
call

Metro…
In
Dino
a
sequel
since
it’s
a
very
different
film
about
love
and
loss,
heartbreak
and
heartache,
set
in
today’s
times.

All
my
actors
surprised
me
and
I’m
not
being
diplomatic.

You
will
understand
why
I
am
saying
this
when
you
see
the
film.

They
are
playing
normal
people
who
you
see
around
you
everyday.

You
have
never
seen
Sara
(Ali
Khan)
playing
a
character
like
this
one
before.

I
had
worked
with
Koko
(Konkona
Sen
Sharma)
earlier
in

Life
In
A…
Metro
and
know
her
to
be
a
wonderful
actress.

Ditto
Anupam
Kher.

But
I
was
equally
impressed
with
Neena
Guptaji,
Pankaj
Tripathi,
Fatima
(Sana
Sheikh),
Ali
Fazal
and
Adi
(Aditya
Roy
Kapur).

Aditya
has
been
openly
expressing
his
admiration
for
you…

Really?
Adi
is
a
sweetheart
and
not
just
me,
my
whole
unit
loves
him.

He’s
an
honest,
sincere
and
under-rated
actor
who
deserves
much
more.

He
also
needs
to
pick
his
films
correctly
and
while
he
is
always
pushing
for
retakes,

uska
‘ek
aur’
khatam
hi
nahin
hota
(his
requests
for
one
more
take
never
ends),
he’s
not
a
pushy
guy.

He’s
very
laid-back
and
that’s
holding
him
back.
He
understands
that.

After
taking
four
years
to
complete

Jagga
Jasoos,
you
have
also
acquired
a
reputation
of
being
‘slow’.

That’s
unfair,
my
first
few
films
came
in
quick
succession.

I
had
a
release
almost
every
year.
In
fact,

Murder
and

Tumsa
Nahin
Dekha:
A
Love
Story
came
in
the
same
year,
with

Gangster
following
two
years
later
in
2006.

I
never
intended
for

Kites
to
take
two-and-a-half
years
to
complete,
but
I’ve
realised
since
that
big
films
take
time.

Raju
(Rajkumar
Hirani)
makes
a
film
every
three-four
years.

It’s
the
same
for
Karan
Johar.

Except
for
Anurag
Kashyap,
no
one
makes
films
back-to-back.
There
is
a
minimum
gap
of
three
years
between
releases.

It
was
slightly
longer
for

Jagga
Jasoos,
but
those
who
keep
talking
about
how
it
took
me
four
years
to
complete
the
film
forget
that
Ranbir
had
four
releases
at
the
time
and
Katrina
(Kaif),
three.

He
was
so
busy
shooting
and
then
promoting

Ae
Dil
Hai
Mushkil,
Roy,
Bombay
Velvet
and

Besharam
that
it
was
difficult
to
get
his
dates.

I’m
not
blaming
him.

Jagga
Jasoos
needed
time
and
I
was
fine
with
him
completing
his
other
films
before
returning
to
mine.

(Smiles)
I’m
not
a
businessman,

mujhe
itna
paisa
nahin
banana
hai
(I
don’t
have
to
make
so
much
money).

Even
though
the
film
took
time,
you
never
heard
the
studio
crib
because
it
did
not
go
over
budget
and
I
did
not
ask
for
extra
dates.

Even
if
I
need
100
days,
they
are
spread
over
a
year,
two,
three
or
four
depending
on
the
situation.

(Sighs)
Sometimes
things
are
not
in
your
control.

So,
you’re
saying
the
delay
with

Jagga
Jasoos
was
not
intentional
but
accidental?

Partly,
yes.
Also,
since
my
wife
Tani
is
also
a
collaborator
professionally,
we
took
a
conscious
decision
to
slow
down
the
pace
of
our
work
when
the
kids
were
in
school.

You
can
only
mould
your
child’s
personality
till
they
are
in
the
12th
standard
and
films
take
time
to
complete.

I
would
have
never
forgiven
myself
if
we
had
not
been
around
for
our
two
daughters,
Ishana
and
Ahana
when
they
were
growing
up.

Now
that
my
younger
daughter
has
completed
her
12th
standard,
you
will
see
a
film
from
me
every
year-and-a-half.

When
you
are
playing
a
long
innings,
you
have
to
pace
yourself.

It’s
like
cricket,
you
know
you
have
to
make
this
many
runs
in
this
many
overs
and
can
afford
to
go
slow
for
a
few
overs
in
the
middle,
provided
you
pick
up
pace
later.

But
won’t
upping
the
pace
now
be
difficult?

(Chuckles)
No,
if
you
remember,
I
came
from
television.
I
am
used
to
making
20-minute
episodes
and
can
change
my
pace
anytime.

Yeah,
you
started
out
as
an
independent
director
with
Zee
TV’s

Tara,
a
path-breaking
soap
featuring
a
strong-willed,
contemporary
Indian
woman
played
by
Navneet
Nishan.
It
was
the
first
Hindi
drama
series
to
run
for
almost
five
years
which
is
quite
an
achievement
for
a
director
who
was
in
his
early
20s
then.

I
give
complete
credit
for

Tara‘s
success
to
Vinta
Nanda.

It
was
her
baby,
she
wrote
the
series
and
developed
the
characters.
I
only
boarded
the
ship
mid-way,
after
almost
100
episodes.

As
you
pointed
out,
I
was
very
young
then
and
being
around
Vinta
taught
me
a
lot.

Since

Tara
was
almost
autobiographical,
I
started
to
understand
the
nuances
of
a
mature
man-woman
relationship.

Since
then,
you
have
explored
this
relationship
beautifully
and
sensitively
even
in
a
commercial
film
like

Murder.
Where
does
this
understanding
come
from?

I’ve
always
been
a
keen
observer
of
my
surroundings
and
since
I
was
very
young,
my
cousins,
some
of
them
older
than
me,
would
come
to
me
for
relationship
advice.

Also,
thanks
to
my
parents,
Subrato
and
Deepshikha
Bose,
and
all
the
Bengali
literature
I’ve
read,
I
see
life
through
a
woman’s
lenses.

It’s
my
weakness
that
I’ve
hardly
written
any
stories
from
the
point
of
view
of
the
man.

I
guess,
it
has
to
do
with
my
mother’s
influence
when
growing
up.

Then,
Tani
came
into
my
life,
followed
by
my
two
daughters
who
are
strong
personalities
with
minds
of
their
own.

Ishana
will
tell
me
straight
if
she
doesn’t
like
any
of
my
stories.

I
am
surrounded
by
these
wonderful
women
at
home
who
are
teaching
me
something
new
every
day.