Deebashree Mohanty (TIMES LIFE; October 1, 2017)

So, how does Imtiaz define love?
Oh! I don't even try to define love. I have tried, at different times in my life to find out what it means to be in love but it confuses me all the time. I am a great believer that when you are defining your relationship with somebody, you are also somewhere defining your relationship with yourself. Personally, I haven't understood what 'love' stands for.

Have you discovered yourself?
Yes. Whenever I am shooting for a film; I have the deepest relationship with it, my cast, my assistants... with everyone who is involved in the process. During this time, when I look at myself in the mirror, I feel scared because I discover a part of myself which I didn't know existed.

You said once that for most part of your life, you pretended to be someone else...
When I was young, I pretended to be an imaginary person so that I could gauge everyone's intriguing reactions. I didn't want to reveal my true self to anyone. Sometimes, I pretended to be a secret service agent, sometimes a writer, sometimes a philanderer... I have played multiple characters in my lifetime.

Do you believe in marriage?
For me, marriage is very artificial. It comes with so many hang-ups that not only make you claustrophobic but also mediocre.

When it comes to love on screen, do you think Indian cinema has be come more liberal?
Liberal or not, I feel Indian cinema deals with love in a more mature way now than it has in the past. The romantic relationship in Jagga Jasoos, for instance, was not about guy-meets-girl-and-they-fall-in love. There was a certain degree of subtleness to it which I liked.

You delve a lot into the nature of romantic love. What kind of movies do you like to watch?
I don't like mushy films at all. I prefer watching language films. On a weekend; I would probably watch Bulgarian or Chechen films that talk about their folklore, their people. The only thing that puts me off is fakeness. I can't stand fake storytelling at all. If it's a nice original story, I am sorted.

What about books? What are you reading these days?
I have moved on from classics and everyday fiction ­ though my first love was literature. I was a literature student and topped my college without much ado. My friends used to complain about it. Now, I have turned to philosophical books that deal with our existential crises.

Your female protagonists are strong... is it a conscious decision?
No, I don't do anything intentionally. Art imitates life. So, if you see women essaying strong characters in my films, it is because the society sees them in that light too.

You say romantic stories happen to you instinctively. What else does?
This knack of over analysing and imagining things. Even when I am looking at the Taj Mahal, I want to know what Shah Jahan may have thought at that time, what must have been going on in the minds of the labourers. It is this imagination that keeps me alive. When I talk to a stranger, I want to analyze what that person may be feeling or thinking at that moment. If something about him (his language, diction, persona) excites me, I use it in some form or the other in my next film.

How does one discover oneself in a relationship?
Whenever you are in a relationship, and I am not talking about romantic ones alone, you tend to discover what kind of a person you really are. You start questioning yourself, your own value system. You ask yourself questions like, 'do you deserve to be in this relationship?', 'Are you a good human being?', 'Are you a good lover?' The kind of things you discover about yourself can sometimes scare you.