Even as his next film is prepping up for release, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is toying with four different projects for his next directorial
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 17, 2016)


Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is just three weeks away from the release of a long-cherished dream, Mirzya, which will launch the careers of Anil Kapoor's son and Sonam's brother Harshvardhan and Baba, Tanvi, Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar's niece, Saiyami Kher.

And while another filmmaker would be contemplating a "break" after two-and-a-half years of intensive prep, 73 days of a gruelling shoot and over a year of post-production, Mehra is juggling with four dramatically different scripts.

Dismissing the idea of a break he points out that even when he is making a movie, he is living his life. "But as a writer and director I can't stop thinking so there are few projects in the pipeline," he admits.

High up in the list is action-romance-drama, Raja, and the Legend of the Flute which he has been living with for almost a decade. It combines mythology with current affairs in its hunt for Krishna's flute.

"Then there's Mere Pyaare Prime Minister, a story set in a jhopdi in Mumbai about an eight-year-old boy who wants to build a toilet for his single mother," informs the filmmaker. He's also been researching two concepts on farmer suicide, one set in today's time and another in the future. He admits that the more he gets into the subject the more scared he is about trying to bring to the screen something so intense and poignant. "But it's a story that has to be told and I can't die without telling it. Impossible!" he asserts.

Another interesting idea that has shaped into a six-page synopsis without finding a title yet is based on his observations of a family at dinner. "Everyone sitting around the dining table has a cell phone in his or her hand and is peering into it. Go to a temple and you will find that's how it is with half the devotees and ditto in a darkened auditorium. Even when there's a film playing on screen, some of the viewers are disturbing others by switching their mobiles on. This is something which has happened in the last 20-25 years and while exploring it I wondered how someone who had not seen it happen and was suddenly exposed to this new culture, would perceive it," he reveals, quick to point out that it is not just about phones but also about families and interpersonal relationships.

So which of these will go on the floors first? Rakeysh says that he's working with all of them and will let the story choose him. "Whenever I have tried to make something, it runs further away from me so now I have decided to be friends with all of them till one of them decides it's ready to roll," he smiles.

Besides these four, one of which he will be directing, Rakeysh is also producing Atul Manjrekar and Sanjay Khanduri's directorial ventures. Fanney Khan is a musical-comedy, a beautiful father-daughter relationship with Anil Kapoor and an 18-yrear-old newcomer in the lead. "We've shortlisted some amazing talents. It's always best to find the brightest acting talent before teaching them how to act," Mehra reasons.

Like Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Sanjay's film is the biopic of a 22-year-old soldier, Jaswant Singh Rawat, who was martyred in the 1962 Indo-China war while Irshad Kamil's Saanjhi is about three brothers fighting over property.

"The screenplay is ready, the music and casting is being done," Mehra informs adding that now it's his responsibility to support the vision of these directors and provide them what is required within budgetary constraints.