Neha Maheshwri (BOMBAY TIMES; June 1, 2019)

He might have a few box office winners to his credit, but director Ali Abbas Zafar says that his craft is not rooted in formal education. Instead, it’s the world around him and the works of a few Indian and international filmmakers that has inspired him and helped him evolve. In a candid tête-à-tête with BT, ahead of the release of his next, Bharat, Ali talks about why he is a firm follower of Mahatma Gandhi, and the blind trust that Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif have in him. Excerpts…

Bharat is your third film with Salman Khan after Sultan and Tiger Zinda Hai (TZH). How has your equation with him changed over the years?
The relationship between an actor and director has be to be honest. During Sultan, my relationship with Salman was different, which changed while working on TZH. And, it has matured further with Bharat. Arguments and disagreements are bound to happen; if I can disagree with my family and friends, it can happen on a film set, too. However, I never impose myself on Salman or Katrina and it’s the same with them. Sometimes, I fall short, and other times, they do. But it’s never about pointing fingers at each other.

Katrina was part of your directorial debut, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (MBKD, 2011). As an artiste, how much has she evolved over the years? Her performance in Zero (2018) was appreciated by everyone...
She has evolved phenomenally. When I worked with her on TZH six years after MBKD, I saw a different person altogether. As an actor, what you do in front of the camera is not the only thing that’s important, what you go through in your personal life also matters. Everyone learns and grows with experience. For example, when I watch MBKD today, I feel that I made such an amateurish film. Maybe, I will feel the same about Sultan, TZH and Bharat when I watch them 10 years later. One should be critical of one’s own work, learn from it and do a better job in the next project.

Did you have to alter the script of Bharat when Katrina came in place of Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who opted out because of personal reasons?
Priyanka was doing something, which was giving her a lot of happiness. She said that she could manage the film, but her dates would go for a toss. I couldn’t do anything about it, as I had already zeroed in on my release date. If that wasn’t the case, we could have pushed it. However, I wasn’t upset. Marriage is very important, and Priyanka is still a good friend of mine. When Katrina came on board, I gave her the script and told her that we would retain only what she wanted. However, after reading it, she told me that she didn’t want anything changed.

You talked about how experiences help an artiste grow and evolve. How do you look back on your own journey? Could you take us back to the time you chose to be a filmmaker?
I had no intention of becoming a film director. After completing my schooling in Dehradun, I joined Delhi University (DU), where I was part of a theatre group called The Players, which boasts of a huge legacy of stalwarts like Amitabh Bachchan, Satish Kaushik and Kulbhushan Kharbanda. That’s where the writing, directing and acting bug bit me. I realised that I wanted to do films and found it to be more exciting than biochemistry. So, I came to Mumbai without any connections in the industry, but still landed work with a big banner. Five years later, I made my first film. I didn’t have a formal training in filmmaking, but learnt everything on the job. I was fairly good at studies, especially science. And when you are a science student, you understand technicalities really well. Cinema is applied art, where you really need to understand what the camera and the sound do. However, as far as the script and sensibility is concerned, it is internal and emotional. I feel that balance shows in my work.

Is there anyone in particular who inspired you?
Back home in Dehradun, I was hardly exposed to movies. At home, we had a DVD of the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Deewaar (1975), which is phenomenal. So, everything I do today is somewhere inspired by Yash Chopra’s work, along with movies by international filmmakers. People’s lives inspire me a lot as well, whether it’s The Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi or Bhagat Singh. Their stories helped me evolve as a person. I always believe that whether it’s a play, story, poem or film, what matters the most is the perspective that you want to show your audience.

Well, viewers seem to relate to your perspective, given the fact that your previous films were hits...
God has been really kind. But that’s always been my approach. For me, it’s all about relatability and the conversations happening around me. They somehow become the driving force behind my point of view. That’s the crux of cinema — it’s entertainment, but with that, if you can give the audience some content or a story they can identify with, you are through. My films reflect my own value systems and beliefs in some way or the other. Having said that, I also know that viewers come to theatres for entertainment. So, I am not here to preach. As Katrina Kaif says in Bharat, ‘Itne bhaari gyaan ki koi zaroorat nahi hai’. As a filmmaker, the most important thing you need is clarity about the story and its relevance.

You said that you have been inspired by real-life heroes like Mahatma Gandhi and The Dalai Lama. Does that prompt you to feature your heroes as larger-than-life on screen?
Till the time my hero doesn’t trigger anything emotionally, physically or do something for society, he is not a hero. Obviously, physicality plays a big role, too. I always ask myself one pertinent question: Why will the audience watch my hero or heroine? When I say hero, it doesn’t represent only the man in the film, it’s also the female lead and other characters. These days, people use the term ‘content’, as if it has just dropped from nowhere. The films I grew up watching, had content. So, why do we keep saying that Indian cinema needs content? The fact is that our stories are changing and we need to narrate relevant stories instead of old ones. My own films, which have worked, had strong and relatable stories. Relevant stories will always draw the audience; a bad story will not work even with the biggest stars. Actors are not superheroes. What makes them superheroes are the films they do.