As long as Zoya makes money for our company, we will back her - Ritesh-Farhan
8:13 AM
Meena Iyer (BOMBAY TIMES; May 29, 2015)
Sixteen years ago, buddies
Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar formed Excel Entertainment.
From Dil and Chahta Hai (2001) till
their latest venture Dil Dhadakne Do that releases on June 5, these two
suave guys have nurtured a goal to make noteworthy films. And though
their common faith is good cinema, they have no desire to be seen as two
peas in a pod. Both have independent minds with definite
viewpoints.Yet, they are able to bring their individual strengths to the
table. Excerpts from a conversation with them.
Zoya Akhtar made money for your company with Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD). Is that why you backed her Dil Dhadakne Do?
(Both chorus and laugh) You are so right! That is exactly why we have chosen to back DDD. As long as Zoya continues to make money for our company, we will continue to back her (they laugh some more and then on a more serious note, add) Zoya made a good film in ZNMD. And we are fully confident about Dil Dhadakne Do because we have seen it. So long as she makes good films, we are happy to produce.
Does Zoya get paid her fee? Or is she treated like ghar ki murgi?
(Both chorus) She always takes her fee.
What is the kind of cinema your hearts beat for (Aap ka dil kis tarah ke cinema ke liye dhadakta hai)?
Farhan: The attempt is to put out fresh stories that on some level have their own unique quality; cinema that stands out in content. The idea is to always back content that you can emotionally connect with.
Ritesh: We want to be able to say that this is the kind of story that we should tell. Irrespective of the genre, it should be a story that you can emotionally connect with and that you, as producers, should want to see being made into a film.
Have you guys always had the same beliefs as far as cinema goes?
Ritesh: Farhan and my sensibilities are similar as far as cinema is concerned. That is the reason why ours is a good partnership. We are making the kind of films we believe in. Any film we make comes out of a solid discussion. When scripts come to us, we read and discuss them. Ideas are constantly bounced off one another; we also have in-house discussions with our team of writer-directors and between our selves.
Ritesh, will you direct a film someday?
When we were promoting DDD in the cricket season, I was asked when I would make my acting debut. Now, I'm being asked whether I wish to direct. The answer to both the above suggestions is a 'No'. You see, currently most of the directors we are working with are new. And I need to be around them, nurture them. That itself is so exciting. I get to share a lot of experiences with them. We were earlier making one film at a time. Now, we are making multiple projects. Earlier, Farhan was the only one directing movies for us. Then, we got Zoya and Reema Kagti on board. Now, we have several young people making movies for us. Farhan is also acting. One of us constantly needs to be around. It is not as if you just fund films and then sit back. There is a lot of work that goes into putting a project together. I enjoy that process and I intend to concentrate on that aspect only.
How would you two define your areas? Is one of you creative and the other, the money matters guy?
Farhan: It is true that in every partnership or for that matter, in every relationship, there has to be a certain balance. There are certain strengths that each one brings to the table. If at all there are any weaknesses in one partner, then it is compensated by the strength of the other partner. I have always maintained the business organisation in our company is done by Ritesh. He is truly the guy who takes charge. When it comes to financing or organising things with the line producer, it is Ritesh all the way. My involvement is more on the creative side. I try to get the screenplay right, the dialogue and the music is what I focus on.
Was it tough to convince Anil Kapoor to play a father to PC and Ranveer?
(Both chorus) Yes, it was tough to convince Anil to play dad. It is a big step for him. While we were watching the film, all the memories of our earlier meetings came flooding back. But we are really glad that he came on board. He is the most perfect Mr Mehra we could have asked for.
You guys have seen Dil Dhadakne Do. In hindsight, do you at all feel having Ranveer Singh and Priyanka Chopra as siblings turned out to be better than having Ranbir Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan, who were the first choice for the same roles?
Farhan: Every film has a destiny of its own. Turn around and look at the various posters in this room. With the exception of Don, where the starcast is the repeat of the first part, almost every film has gone through a casting process where a certain actor has been approached for a certain part and then someone else has come on board. This happens not only with us, it happens with every filmmaker. The people they wrote for didn't end up doing their film and someone else did. In retrospect, to think what could have been, is not really important. We are happy that we ended up with a really good cast. We have seen the film and the performances and it is a really perfect cast.
Ritesh, besides Farhan, Aditya Chopra and Karan Johar are said to be your close friends...
Yes, they are my friends. Besides Adi and Karan, there are others too with whom I interact a lot socially. We talk. We meet socially. Work wise, we speak to one another. We are happy to show our films to each other. But it isn't as if I talk to them every single day.
This is the first time you are associating with another producer. Tell us about your association with Junglee Pictures?
Ritesh: We agreed to associate with Junglee Pictures because in our conversations with them, we found out about their keenness to back good content. They came on board without asking us about the starcast of our films. They were keen on good storytelling, a good narrative. They let us function in a completely autonomous way.
Zoya Akhtar made money for your company with Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD). Is that why you backed her Dil Dhadakne Do?
(Both chorus and laugh) You are so right! That is exactly why we have chosen to back DDD. As long as Zoya continues to make money for our company, we will continue to back her (they laugh some more and then on a more serious note, add) Zoya made a good film in ZNMD. And we are fully confident about Dil Dhadakne Do because we have seen it. So long as she makes good films, we are happy to produce.
Does Zoya get paid her fee? Or is she treated like ghar ki murgi?
(Both chorus) She always takes her fee.
What is the kind of cinema your hearts beat for (Aap ka dil kis tarah ke cinema ke liye dhadakta hai)?
Farhan: The attempt is to put out fresh stories that on some level have their own unique quality; cinema that stands out in content. The idea is to always back content that you can emotionally connect with.
Ritesh: We want to be able to say that this is the kind of story that we should tell. Irrespective of the genre, it should be a story that you can emotionally connect with and that you, as producers, should want to see being made into a film.
Have you guys always had the same beliefs as far as cinema goes?
Ritesh: Farhan and my sensibilities are similar as far as cinema is concerned. That is the reason why ours is a good partnership. We are making the kind of films we believe in. Any film we make comes out of a solid discussion. When scripts come to us, we read and discuss them. Ideas are constantly bounced off one another; we also have in-house discussions with our team of writer-directors and between our selves.
Ritesh, will you direct a film someday?
When we were promoting DDD in the cricket season, I was asked when I would make my acting debut. Now, I'm being asked whether I wish to direct. The answer to both the above suggestions is a 'No'. You see, currently most of the directors we are working with are new. And I need to be around them, nurture them. That itself is so exciting. I get to share a lot of experiences with them. We were earlier making one film at a time. Now, we are making multiple projects. Earlier, Farhan was the only one directing movies for us. Then, we got Zoya and Reema Kagti on board. Now, we have several young people making movies for us. Farhan is also acting. One of us constantly needs to be around. It is not as if you just fund films and then sit back. There is a lot of work that goes into putting a project together. I enjoy that process and I intend to concentrate on that aspect only.
How would you two define your areas? Is one of you creative and the other, the money matters guy?
Farhan: It is true that in every partnership or for that matter, in every relationship, there has to be a certain balance. There are certain strengths that each one brings to the table. If at all there are any weaknesses in one partner, then it is compensated by the strength of the other partner. I have always maintained the business organisation in our company is done by Ritesh. He is truly the guy who takes charge. When it comes to financing or organising things with the line producer, it is Ritesh all the way. My involvement is more on the creative side. I try to get the screenplay right, the dialogue and the music is what I focus on.
Was it tough to convince Anil Kapoor to play a father to PC and Ranveer?
(Both chorus) Yes, it was tough to convince Anil to play dad. It is a big step for him. While we were watching the film, all the memories of our earlier meetings came flooding back. But we are really glad that he came on board. He is the most perfect Mr Mehra we could have asked for.
You guys have seen Dil Dhadakne Do. In hindsight, do you at all feel having Ranveer Singh and Priyanka Chopra as siblings turned out to be better than having Ranbir Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan, who were the first choice for the same roles?
Farhan: Every film has a destiny of its own. Turn around and look at the various posters in this room. With the exception of Don, where the starcast is the repeat of the first part, almost every film has gone through a casting process where a certain actor has been approached for a certain part and then someone else has come on board. This happens not only with us, it happens with every filmmaker. The people they wrote for didn't end up doing their film and someone else did. In retrospect, to think what could have been, is not really important. We are happy that we ended up with a really good cast. We have seen the film and the performances and it is a really perfect cast.
Ritesh, besides Farhan, Aditya Chopra and Karan Johar are said to be your close friends...
Yes, they are my friends. Besides Adi and Karan, there are others too with whom I interact a lot socially. We talk. We meet socially. Work wise, we speak to one another. We are happy to show our films to each other. But it isn't as if I talk to them every single day.
This is the first time you are associating with another producer. Tell us about your association with Junglee Pictures?
Ritesh: We agreed to associate with Junglee Pictures because in our conversations with them, we found out about their keenness to back good content. They came on board without asking us about the starcast of our films. They were keen on good storytelling, a good narrative. They let us function in a completely autonomous way.
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