‘You can’t put an an arm around Naseer sir and say, “sir, ek aur take karte hain“. You got to be clear why you want it.’
Key Points
- Robbie Grewal found a deep connection with Xerxes Desai’s quote about his team achieving the impossible in Made In India: A Titan Story.
- The director, who started his career with Samay in 2003, has balanced filmmaking with a successful career in commercial ad films.
- He highlighted the importance of clarity when directing a veteran actor like Naseeruddin Shah, contrasting it with his approach to friends like Jim Sarbh.
There’s a line in Made In India: A Titan Story that deeply resonates with its director, Robbie Grewal.
In Episode 6, when Xerxes Desai’s team presents him with the first watch that they made, he says, ‘I asked for the moon from my team and they gave it to me.’
“Gaurav then says that one beautiful line: ‘Duniya yeh yaad rakhe na rakhe, hum kabhi nahi bhulenge‘,” Robbie recalls.
Interestingly, neither did the world forget about the man who inspired this biopic nor did the series that earned rave reviews.
The series has put the spotlight on Robbie Grewal once again after his previous OTT outing, the Saif Ali Khan-Jaideep Ahlawat thriller Jewel Thief: The Heist Begins.
Robbie, who started directing with 2003’s Samay (yes, that Sushmita Sen thriller) at age 28, has been periodically churning out films and series while balancing his ad-man career.
He looks back, and tells Ronjita Kulkarni/Rediff, “My main line of work was doing commercial ad films. I ran a company for the longest time, and was really busy in doing that — having fun and also earning a bit of money. So I was never at a place where I *had* to make a film. I was living my life as an ad filmmaker, and the stories didn’t come to me till Romeo Akbar Walter happened to me.”
‘It was all new to me, so it was fascinating’
Robbie also discusses his stint with Made In India, saying, “Before the script came to me, I had no idea (who Xerxes Desai was). I had no clue about the ups and downs that the company went through, and how they made the watch. It was all new to me, so it was fascinating!”
‘If you want a second take, Naseer sir will give you, but…’
About directing a senior actor like Naseeruddin Shah: “You can’t put an an arm around Naseer sir and say, ‘sir, ek aur take karte hain‘. You got to be clear why you want it. Like Jim (Sarbh) is a friend, and I can put an arm around him and say, ‘ek aur karte hain‘, just for the kicks of it.
“But with Naseer sir, you got to be clear, and at the age and the stature he is in, rightfully so. So yeah, if you want a second take, he’ll give you, but you got to be sure why you want it.”
Will there be a second season for Made In India? Robbie answers this and gives many more interesting anecdotes in the video below.
Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff
