let’s get this right: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra with Abhishek Bachchan on the sets of Delhi-6The giant poster of Delhi 6 with a mirror reflecting your image greets you as you walk into Rakeysh Mehra's Bandra office. Casually dressed and in an upbeat mood, the director almost tells me the actual story of the Delhi 6, about why he thinks Aamir Khan is his biggest competitor and reveals his plans for the future.
If I ask you which was the easiest film you've made, you'd say…I think Rang De Basanti came more naturally to me, it was the easiest to make.
As a filmmaker, how different is the guy who made Delhi 6 from the guy who made RDB?They are two different people altogether. RDB has another Rakeysh Mehra and in Delhi-6, I am another person. I feel a certain growth in me. I felt very scared to attempt Delhi-6, it's a far more difficult subject to handle than RDB. I wasn't going to attempt it. In fact, I had the story with me before RDB, and had narrated it to Abhishek that time. Destiny had RDB being made, and after that I wanted to make Paanch Kaurav and I had everything with me from the budget to the story. I thought I wasn't mature enough for Delhi 6 then. RDB made me grow as a person. That helped me with Delhi-6.
Do you want to attempt a comedy, a la Gowariker?Delhi 6 has shades of black comedy in it. But I haven't overtly gone with that. However, after Delhi-6, Iam in the frame of mind to make an out-and-out romantic film. Delhi 6 gave me the confidence to attempt that.
Is it true that you didn't know where to fit the Masakali song, which has now become quite the rage?No, the song was always there in the screenplay. It's a song about the spirit of the girl. It's about Sonam's character who's a small-town girl. She's a girl who wants to get out of old Delhi and not end up like her mother or aunt. She wants to break free, for reasons we don't know. We want to find them out. The dove symbolises freedom.
Everyone wants to know if the dove has a larger role in the film. No, it's just symbolic. It's not a talking dove! Jokes apart, a dove also signifies peace and that's an important theme – loving. We are all living in a time of fear and hatred. And in this time the dove stands for love and peace
Apparently there's even a goat! Yes there is, her name is Heena bhabhi!
The soundtrack of the film has been received well. How important do you think that is, when it comes to accepting a film?Yes it's a complete album. Each song has a different meaning. The tune of the track Maula Maula came to Rahman nine years ago but he wasn't giving it out till now. He heard the whole script and then started humming the same tune. He found it too hard to part with it since he had kept it for so long. In the song Bhor Bhaye, we have actually used the original recording of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Shreya has sung it now, so we brought both recording together even though they were recorded in separate time periods. Then there's an aarti, Tumre Bhavan Mein which my dad used to sing every morning. We didn't compose it, so I took my sound engineers to an old temple in Delhi where they still sing the song during jaagran. So we took our instruments and recorded it as it was sung, got the track back and made my actors sing it live on screen. I'm excited with the overwhelming response to the soundtrack.
Delhi-6 is about a boy who comes home to the land of his ancestors from and falls in love with it. Hasn't it been tackled before in many films?In Delhi 6, the basic storyline begins with Abhishek getting his grandmom (Waheeda Rehman) back home where she wants to die when the time comes. She's ailing for a long time and believes that her motherland should be the place where she takes her last breath. But when he comes to drop her, he gets attracted to this place, so it isn't a choice, but a subconscious awareness of what you feel. It's the discovery of India but not in the Karva Chauth, Holi, Diwali way. I am not dealing with symbolism here, but with the journey of the people in this country.
The movie is reportedly based on your growing up years in Chandni Chowk. What are your early memories of the capital city?Yes I have pulled out many memories of my childhood during the making of the film. I practically grew up in my nani's house in old Delhi, and we've given the same name to the roads and places I would frequent. I simply love old Delhi, the chaat gullies, the pigeons, the cricket, the kite flying, everything about it and I've created the sights and sounds of it in the film.
Why was the project shrouded in secrecy?But that's because it's a film that I can't sit down and talk about. I can show you the screenplay and tell you it's about a boy who comes to India, sees a girl and falls in love with her. The girl wants to get out of the place, while the boy is attracted to it, so that's the basic premise. However, I find it unfair to discuss the film without a retrospective. The monkey man episode is also a grapevine in the film, I have used the entire incident at a very key point in the film. We have gone verbatim as per the media reports and research covering the episode.
Apparently, even your cast and crew didn't have bound scripts. True?No, that's untrue. I can't make a film like that, everyone had a script with them. Even my make-up artist had the script with him.
What made you pick Sonam Kapoor?My experience as a filmmaker and my eye for casting. I tested so many girls, there was a debate if we should take a fresh face. And then, the commercial viability angle came into the picture. When someone first suggested Sonam, I said, 'Are you crazy? I am casting an Indian girl and she's a Juhu girl. They are all brats out there.' When I met Sonam, we talked for six hours. She kept reacting to the script and her character at the right places and times. The credit goes to Sunita and Anil Kapoor for the way they have brought her up.
What about focus groups? Will you be showing the film to them? Or is it too late to incorporate the changes now?I think focus groups are most important. With Rang De, we were saved by focus groups. I recently showed Delhi 6 to a few people and they all loved it. They called it a family film and that was a huge compliment. It helps me decide the kind of theatres I have to choose.
Among your peers, which filmmakers inputs do you value?Raju Hirani and Vishal (Bhardwaj). These are two directors whose opinion I would value. Not because others aren't that good, but because I can relate to their work most.
Have you been in touch with Aamir after RDB?Of course we are in touch. In fact, I had narrated the Delhi-6 story to him as well and he told me I have to make it someday. In fact, I am happy that he's turned into a sensitive director himself. I think now that he's taken to direction, Aamir is my biggest competitor in the fraternity.
Billu Barber releases a week before your film, do you see it as competition?It's unfortunate that this had to happen. I don't know why we can't all plan our releases. I find this cannibalistic approach of eating into each other's releases very depressing. It would definitely have been in the better interest of both the films had they released in a decent gap.
What's your next after Delhi-6 ?I plan to start Paanch Kaurav and I also have another script that I am reading. At the moment, I am just waiting for the audience to watch the film and give me their reactions. I think letting go of any movie and moving on to another is a tough process.
