‘I didn’t tell anyone in the film industry. I used to think people might assume that if he has cancer, he might die, and they would probably not offer me any work. So I didn’t tell anyone.’
Director Pulkit did not grow up with a dream of becoming a filmmaker.
After moving out of his town in Bihar, he slowly gravitated towards a career where he got to tell the stories he always wanted to tell. Along the way, he got to work with his ‘idol’ Shah Rukh Khan, the producer behind two of his OTT films, Bhakshak and Kartavya.
Pulkit’s journey took an unexpected turn when he was diagnosed with cancer in 2019.
He fought through it with the constant support of his then girlfriend, now wife Jyotsana Nath, and, as he says, came out stronger with a new perspective on life.
“That incident has changed me as a person. I think I am a better person now. I respect people more than before. I respect every single second of my life,” Pulkit tells Mayur Sanap/Rediff.
Except for Bose: Dead/Alive, you have written or co-written all your films. How does directing your own material help your approach?
It makes a big difference. It’s like the difference you feel between driving someone else’s car and your own car.
When it’s not your own writing, you don’t feel full ownership. Even if something goes wrong, the car isn’t in your name, it belongs to someone else.
With my own writing, there’s a sense of ownership and freedom. When I spend time with the story, I feel I have more control over the characters, the world, and the narrative than I would if it were someone else’s material.
After doing Bose: Dead/Alive, I decided I won’t tell a story unless I feel I’m the right person to tell it.
‘I Used To Think I Won’t Be Able To Do Anything In Life’
You spent most of your childhood in Bihar. How do you look back at your growing up days?
I was an introvert, and bullied as a kid. I was a very suppressed boy. When I was growing up in Bihar, there was very little exposure.
We were told that you have to become an engineer when you grow up. There were no other options.
I was weak in studies; struggled a lot. I used to think that I wouldn’t be able to do anything in life because studies were seen as everything. But when I went to boarding school, it had a huge impact on me. It opened me up.
Today, I’m quite extroverted. In fact, when I meet people who knew me from childhood, they don’t even recognise that side of me anymore.
Do your personal experiences find their way into your stories?
If you have seen Dedh Bigha Zameen, Pratik Gandhi’s character is inspired from my father’s story. My father lost his land, which was the only thing he had earned in his life, and someone snatched it from him.
I saw him fighting for that land. At one point, he was even stabbed in the hand with a knife. Eventually, he couldn’t get his land back.
In a fictional world, a hero would have gone on to fight the system and recover his property. But in real life, 99 percent of Hindustan are not heroes, we are aam aadmi. I want to tell those stories.
The other thing that attracts me is small cities. I love the streets of Lucknow, Banaras, Patna. They really draw me in, and I feel there are so many stories there. Because I feel I know these places, I keep making small stories at my level.
There is a perception, often called the ‘Bandra to Juhu’ view, that some Bollywood filmmakers are disconnected from grassroots India. How has growing up in a small town shaped your understanding of the world you depict in your films?
I am still growing up in a small town. Whenever I get the chance, I take my car and go on road trips to discover India and talk to people.
Yeh hi toh Hindustan hain, yaar. The beauty of our country is that every 10 km, the language changes, clothes change, food changes.
There’s so much diversity you can show though your storytelling. I enjoy going to small cities and telling their stories.
Filmmakers in Mumbai with a different outlook are not wrong either, they are telling stories from the world they know.
Growing up in a small town definitely helps me. I might not be able to make a Gujarati film in its dialect because I haven’t lived that culture. But if you ask me to tell stories from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, or Haryana — places I’ve lived and grown up in — I can do that. Because that’s where my connection is.
‘Money Mattered. So I Decided To Move Towards Films’
What was your fascination with cinema? When did you decide you wanted to be a filmmaker?
It started in my childhood itself. I had a huge wall-sized poster of Shah Rukh Khan that I had bought for Rs 20. I used to think I just want to meet him once, see him once.
I had no exposure to cinema. I went to Lucknow for graduation, which I couldn’t complete. I stopped going to college after six months.
During that time, I met a group of people who were rehearsing a Greek play adapted into Hindi at a tea shop. I asked them what was going on. They explained, and I said I can help. So they allowed me to do a reading. That’s when I felt there is a future in storytelling. I can make stories, I can tell stories.
At first, I thought theatre wouldn’t give me financial stability, and coming from where I do, money mattered. So I decided to move towards films.
I came to Mumbai in 2011. I met different directors to work as an assistant, but didn’t get any opportunities because I had no experience. Then in 2012-2013, I made my first short film, then my first feature. After that I made Bose: Dead/Alive (marking his first collaboration with Rajkummar Rao).
What were your initial cultural shocks when you moved to Bombay?
I didn’t know anyone when I came here. I didn’t even know where I was or what I was doing.
I think that’s a scary feeling for anyone who comes to the city for the first time. You think you will come to Bombay, you will have a name, people will know you, but instead you are surrounded by a crowd. The first two-three years were scary.
But as they say, where there is a will, there is a way.
‘Shah Rukh Khan Is Something Else’
Does it ever feel surreal that you have made two films under Shah Rukh Khan’s banner, the same person whose poster you once had on your wall?
Oh, it’s a dream come true. There’s a saying never meet your idols, but after meeting Shah Rukh Khan, it felt like that saying was a lie. Because you should meet your idols.
He is still the same Shah Rukh Khan I admired when his picture was on my wall. Sometimes, I still pinch myself that my second film is produced by him.
I am very inspired by him. Growing up, we were all in love with him. I feel lucky that I got to work with him.
As he says, ‘Agar kisi cheez ko shiddat se chaho toh poori kainat use tumse milane ki koshish mein lag jaati hain.’
It happened with me, and I believe it happens with others too.
Does SRK watch all the films that have been produced under his banner? Does he give feedback?
He had seen Bhakshak as well as Kartavya.
I remember when Bhakshak was released, I got a call from him. I am sure the same thing will happen now, after Kartavya. But since he is shooting for King, I have not been able to meet him. I have been continuously talking to Aryan (Khan) about Kartavya.
In our interview recently, Saif Ali Khan described you as a ‘very cool person’ and said you set the tone on set.
Yes, I think you need to have a sense of humour. I am not an aggressive person, so there are no fights on my sets.
As soon as I reach the set, I hug everyone — from my spot boy to the lightman — because I feel fortunate just to be on a film set. That’s why all the actors and technicians show me so much love.
‘I Was Scared That My Life Might Just End’
You have spoken about surviving cancer during an important phase of your career. Did that experience reshape the way you look at life?
My world was over when I was diagnosed with cancer in 2019. Coming from that, I only feel gratitude in my life and for the fact I get to work on a film set. That incident has changed me as a person. I think I am a better person now. I respect people more than before. I respect every single second of my life.
We think of life through a narrow lens but it is far wider.
I am more ambitious now. Today, one film gets over and I start working on my next. I don’t want to do anything else. I just want to work, and I want to die while working.
Who were the people who stood by you during that nightmarish time?
My wife has been my biggest strength till date. She was my girlfriend then.
A couple of my friends who are engineers in Pune also stood by me.
I didn’t tell anyone in the film industry. Nobody knew about it. I used to think people might assume that if he has cancer, he might die, and they would probably not offer me any work. So I didn’t tell anyone. It was a personal fight.
How did you meet your wife, who is also your creative partner on films?
We met when she was assisting (theatre guru) Barry John. I worked with Barry for a short span of time in the early days.
I told her I didn’t come to Bombay to do this. I asked her to quit her job and I quit too. We started writing together, that’s how our journey started.
She was the associate director on Kartavya, Bhakshak, and Dedh Bigha Zameen.
We just had our baby boy, so she has taken a break.
Your next is Sundar Poonam with Sanya Malhotra and Aditya Rawal, who was so good in Hansal Mehta’s Faraaz. How is it shaping up?
We just shot in Kashmir. We are currently shooting in Jodhpur, then Jaisalmer, Chandigarh, and then Europe.
This film is a mad ride. Besides Sanya and Aditya, it has Aditya Seal and Udit Arora (Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo, The Royals). It’s a romantic psychological thriller, and also a musical. I am trying something new. It’s a little genre-breaking.
