Director Ali Abbas Zafar on completing a hat trick with the superstar in Bharat, tying together 70 years and his bollywood journey
Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; May 5, 2019)

When Salman Khan first saw himself in the mirror dressed in his character's old look from Bharat, he told director Ali Abbas Zafar, "Wow, am I going to look like this at 70? I think I will age gracefully."

Zafar is teaming up with Khan for the third time with Bharat after Sultan (2016) and Tiger Zinda Hai (2017). He hopes to collaborate yet again with the superstar. "God has been kind to give me. I have had the opportunity to work with a superstar so early in my career. Now, there is this connect."

He admits, however, there were "teething problems" when Sultan took off. "But it lasted barely for two weeks, and then we flew with the film." So is he more comfortable directing Khan now? "It is a director and actor relationship. More than comfortable, I can say things have remained the same. There are days we argue, some days we have discussions galore. Filmmaking is a collaborative process. But I can say, I am used to working with the biggest of them now."

So that makes Zafar a 'star' of sorts himself. We are with him at Yash Raj studios, Andheri, where he is getting his make-up done for video interviews. We are used to seeing actors dabbing on the greasepaint, but this is the first time that we are in the green room of a director. So we talk, sometimes looking at the mirror and at times, looking at each other. The film's release is exactly a month away and Zafar is tied up with the post-production, so, every minute counts.

Bharat is the official adaptation of the Korean film, Ode To My Father (2014). "When we began work on it, we realised it needed a complete rewrite. It had to suit Indian sensibilities. A lot of research had to be done as the film spans six decades since Independence. The only thing that remains the same is that it is the story of a family getting displaced due to Partition. We have packed 70 years in two and a half hours. Usually, films span a few years or a decade, here, we have shown how the country has evolved over the years as well," explains Zafar.

Both Khan and co-star Katrina Kaif have pulled out all stops to get things right. "Six Salman Khan films have been packed into one. It required a lot of patience and long hours to get the various looks for every decade, right for Katrina and Salman. Both have not done anything like this before. The excitement on the set was contagious, everyone wanted to go beyond what was expected. The film is packed with actors. There is Disha Patani, Jackie Shroff, Sonali Kulkarni, Aasif Shaikh, Shashank Arora, and Karishma Irani. You can refer to it as a film with an ensemble cast, as each character is crucial to the story, in the various timelines of the film. It felt like directing several films at the same time as we shot for one decade at a time."

Khan had a roaring success at the box office with his previous outings, Sultan and Tiger Zinda Hai, hence expectations are high from Bharat. "Numbers matter and thanks to social media, now everyone is up-to-date. As the day of the release nears, anxiety does sink in, you want things to be appreciated after all the hard work that has gone in," says Zafar who began as an assistant on Marigold (2007), which starred Khan. "At that time, I did not even go near Salman. I was way down the line to interact with stars."

Zafar says he veered into filmmaking by chance through friends. "I am from Delhi with no film connections. My dad was in the defence and later in ONGC. My mother, a teacher. Everyone in the family is into academics, except for me, I am the only undergraduate. I dabbled in theatre during college (Kirori Mal, University of Delhi) days, and when I came to Mumbai, I did ad films." One thing led to another till his directorial debut, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (2011), which was followed by Gunday (2014).

Bharat also marks the first time he has stepped out of the Yash Raj banner to wield the directorial baton. "I want to work with everyone, there are so many interesting actors around," he says. But Yash Raj, he says, will always be home."