‘Ekta Decided To Cast Smriti As Tulsi’

‘Star
didn’t
think

Kyunki
Saas
Bhi
Kabhi
Bahu
Thi
was
good
enough
to
come
immediately
after

KBC.’
‘Except
for
Ekta,
no
one
imagined
it
would
become
such
a
hit.’

Anurag
Basu
is
all
set
to
gift
us
a
romantic
weekend,
with
his
new
film

Metro…In
Dino
coming
up
for
release.

Ironically,
he
had
chosen
a
very
different
genre
to
start
his
career,
more
than
three
decades
ago.

Anurag
goes
back
in
time
and
tells


Rediff
Senior
Contributor

Roshmila
Bhattacharya,
“During
my
brief
stint
on
television,
I
was
able
to
tap
a
different
kind
of
audience,
who
were
not
an
extension
of
me.
That
was
a
different
high.”

You
were
a
part
of
Ekta
Kapoor’s
‘K’
shows,

Koshish…
Ek
Aashaa,

Kyunki
Saas
Bhi
Kabhi
Bahu
Thi
and

Kahani
Ghar
Ghar
Ki.
After
the
path-breaking
soap
on
a
contemporary
woman

Tara,
how
did
you
get
drawn
into
these?

It
started
with

Koshish…
Ek
Aashaa,
which
revolved
around
a
young
girl
who
is
tricked
into
marrying
a
mentally
challenged
boy.

She
refuses
to
give
up
on
her
husband
and
eventually
gets
him
cured,
unmasking
the
person
responsible
for
his
condition
who
has
been
scheming
to
kill
him.

Ekta
was
very
confident
of
this
soap,
which
started
airing
on
Zee
TV
from
March
2000,
I
was
not.

Since
my
aesthetics
are
very
different,
I
didn’t
understand
this
kind
of
content.
But
I
decided
to
trust
her
vision.

Koshish…
Ek
Aashaa
was
adjudged
Best
Soap
Opera
at
the
RAPA
Awards
and
Ekta
started
churning
out
one
successful
soap
after
another.

It
was
a
wonderful
journey
with
lots
of
learning.

During
my
brief
stint
on
television,
I
was
able
to
tap
a
different
kind
of
audience,
who
were
not
an
extension
of
me.

That
was
a
different
high.

Ekta
is
all
set
to
bring
back

Kyun
Ki
Saas
Bhi
Kabhi
Bahi
Thi
as
a
150
episodes
serial.
What
are
your
memories
of
the
show?

Kyun
Ki
Saas
Bhi
Kabhi
Bahu
Thi
was
Ekta’s
brainchild.

I
was
helping
her
with
the
casting
which
is
why
you
see
so
many
Bengali
actresses,
like
Jaya
Bhattacharya
and
Kamalika
Guha
Thakurta,
who
were
a
part
of
my
gang,
playing
Gujarati
characters.

Even
Smriti
Irani
had
worked
with
me
earlier,
but
it
was
Ekta
who
decided
to
cast
her
as
Tulsi.

She
was
the
one
who
identified
the
subject
and
deserves
full
credit
for
the
soap’s
phenomenal
success.

Did
you
think
it
would
run
for
eight
years,
starting
July
3,
2000,
and
winding
up
on
November
6,
2008?

I
don’t
think
even
Star
Plus
did.
In
fact,
the
channel
didn’t
even
think
it
was
good
enough
to
come
immediately
after

KBC.

They
slotted
Neena
Gupta’s

Saans
for
a
repeat
run
at
10
pm
with

Kyun
Ki
Saas
Bhi
Kabhi
Bahu
Thi
following
at
10.30
pm.

Except
for
Ekta,
no
one
imagined
it
would
become
such
a
hit.

Not
even
me
till
I
heard
the
title
track
playing
in
every
home
when
I
entered
my
society
complex.

A
bigger
surprise
is
that
television
content,
which
was
changing
every
two
years
back
then,
from

Tara
to

Thriller
At
10
to

Koshish…
Ek
Aashaa,
has
hit
a
pause
since.

Even
after
20
years,
we
are
still
churning
out
the
same
content.

Characters
with
different
names
are
grappling
with
the
same
crisis.

Why
so?

I
have
no
idea.
It
baffles
me.

Will
OTT
bring
about
the
much-needed
content
change?

OTT
is
only
trying
to
tap
TV
for
bigger
numbers.

It
won’t
bring
any
change,

woh
jaldi
aati
nahin
(that
doesn’t
happen
easily).

Both
TV
and
OTT
will
co-exist.

Would
you
be
interested
in
doing
OTT
shows?

Sure,
why
not?

Today’s
Web
series
are
no
different
from
the
finite
series
Sriram
(Raghavan),
Tishu
(Tigmanshu
Dhulia)
and
I
were
making
back
then.

They
were
five-eight
episodes
and
technically
not
too
great,
but
the
stories
were
very
strong

aur
unhe
banane
mein
bahut
mazaa
aata
tha.

I
got
offered
a
movie
because
of
one
such
show.

Which
one?

Ajeeb
Dastan.
Bhattsaab
(Mahesh
Bhatt)
had
seen
it
and
I
got
a
call.

Anurag,
you
started
out
wanting
to
be
an
actor…

(Cuts
in)
No,
no,
I
never
thought
of
making
a
career
in
acting.

My
parents
(Subroto
and
Deepshika
Basu)
had
their
own
theatre
group
and
I
would
perform
on
stage.

But
I
enjoyed
writing
and
directing
plays
more.

Starting
out
as
my
father’s
shadow,
I
went
on
to
direct
plays
independently
in
college.

But
we
saw
you
as
the
hero’s
friend
in
a
bit
role
in
Partho
Ghosh’s
1993
action-drama

Dalaal.

Dalaal,
with
Mithun
Chakraborty
in
the
lead,
was
a
Hindi-Bengali
bilingual.
Since
I
spoke
both
languages
fluently,
I
was
hired
as
an
assistant
director
to
prompt
the
actors
with
their
Bengali
dialogue.

I
was
in
college
then.

One
day,
they
needed
some
young
guys
to
play
the
hero’s
friends
and
I
was
one
of
those
rounded
up
and
made
to
stand
at
the
back.

I
don’t
know
if
Partho
Ghosh
even
knew
my
name.

I
was
just
one
of
the
many
ADs
who
were
there
in
the
crowd
scene.

I
never
met
him
after

Dalaal
and
was
sad
to
hear
that
he
had
passed
away.

One
of
your
earliest
hits
was

Murder,
an
erotic
thriller
starring
Emraan
Hashmi,
Mallika
Sherawat
and
Ashmit
Patel.

I
was
doing
some
other
film
with
Mukeshji
(Bhatt)
and
Bhattsaab
when

Murder
made
a
backdoor
entry
and
I
had
to
finish
the
film
fast.

We
shot
and
delivered
the
film
in
four-five
months.
Even
the
casting
happened
quickly.

We
never
imagined
it
would
be
such
a
big
hit.

I
produce
my
own
films
today
and
the
discipline
with
which
I
make
them
came
from
my
training
with
Vishesh
Films.

Barfi!
would
definitely
rank
amongst
the
best
Hindi
films
in
the
last
15
years.
Ever
thought
of
taking
the
film
forward?

Many
people
have
suggested
this,
but
I
don’t
know
how.

I
can
make
a
similar
kind
of
film,
but
I
don’t
have
a
story
right
now.

From
all
your
films,
which
one
would
you
say
is
a
special
baby?

Jagga
Jasoos.
A
lot
of
people
come
up
to
me
at
airports
and
talk
about
the
film
which
released
eight
years
ago,
in
July
2017.

I
guess
many
young
people
who
approach
me
now
were
kids
then
and
the
film
had
appealed
to
them.

Their
late
reactions,
the
fact
that
people
are
celebrating
Jagga’s
birthday
on
the
Internet,
is
overwhelming.

If
you
ask
this
question
to
Pritam
and
me,
both
of
us
will
pick
this
film.

Pritam
and
you
have
been
best
friends
for
years
despite
being
polar
opposites
in
many
ways.
What
cements
this
bond?

Actually,

hum
donon
ek
jaise
hi
hain.

We
are
both
so
disorganised,
and
much
to
the
exasperation
of
our
producers,
we
don’t
know
when
to
put
a
full
stop
to
the
creative
process.

We
keep
working
on
our
films
and
songs.

(Laughs)
We
are
friends
because
I
pretend
I
understand
music
and
Pritam
pretends
he
understands
the
creative
process.

That’s
what
keeps
this
relationship
going.

You
don’t
have
to
pretend,
you
have
a
ear
for
music
and
he
has
an
instinctive
feel
for
scripts.

He
does.
Tani
and
Pritam
are
the
first
ones
I
narrate
my
scripts
to,
for
all
my
films.

You
have
another
release
this
year,

Aashiqui
3
on
October
17,
and
buzz
is
that
for
your
lead
actors
Kartik
Aryan
and
Sreeleela,
the
romance
has
spilled
over
into
real
life.
There
is
even
talk
of
a
wedding
soon.

(Laughs
uproariously)
Really?
We
never
got
that
feeling.

I
think
it
is
just
a
rumour,

mujhe
nahin
lagta
aisa
kuch
hai.

There
was
a
film
titled

Imli
that
you
were
to
do
with
Kangana
Ranaut
some
years
ago.
What’s
happening
on
that?

Some
shades
of

Imli
have
gone
into

Metro…
In
Dino,
so
I
don’t
think
that
will
happen
now

You
launched
Kangana
in

Gangster
in
2006.
Any
chance
of
reuniting
in
future?

Every
year
or
two
we
keep
making
plans,
but
the
film
doesn’t
happen.

Par
hoga,
kabhi
na
kabhi
to
hoga.

Is
there
a
subject
you
have
been
nurturing
for
years?

The
Kishore
Kumar
biopic.

I
can’t
say
much
before
a
formal
announcement
is
made
except
that
it
will
my
next
film.

Why
did
the
film
take
so
long,
given
that
it
is
your
passion
project?

It
is
difficult
to
write
about
a
person
you
have
never
met
and
only
read
or
heard
about.

To
portray
him
convincingly
on
screen,
I
had
to
get
inside
the
head
of
Kishore
Kumar
and
that
happened
slowly,
thanks
to
Amitda
(Kishore
Kumar’s
elder
son
Amit
Kumar).

I
didn’t
want
the
story
to
be
just
a
string
of
anecdotes.

I
wanted
to
understand
him
as
a
person.

And
while
it
took
time,
the
process
of
visualising
and
writing
this
film
has
been
amazing.

Now,
I
want
what
is
on
paper
to
translate
better
on
screen.