Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; October 24, 2019)

While he has written about 20 films in his 15-year-long career, the label of being an expert with double-entendre comedy seems to have become his identity. Even as he wrote hit commercial films on various subjects for top directors, he had to wait for five years to make his debut as a director. In a chat with BT, Tushar Hiranandani talks about why he wrote sex comedies and why he chose a subject like Saand Ki Aankh for his first outing as a director. Excerpts...

It has taken you 15 years and about 20 films as a writer before landing your first project as a director. That must have been a long wait, right?
I always wanted to direct. In fact, I started assisting director Inder Kumar just to realise that dream. But back in the day, it felt like films are only made with stars, and assistants weren’t as close to them as writers. So, I wrote Masti (2004) without letting Inder sir know. Over the years, I would write stories thinking I would direct them, but would chicken out at the last minute. Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai (2010) was supposed to be my directorial debut, but I handed it over to Milap Milan Zaveri. I continued to find stories for others, but nothing that I wanted to go all out and direct. At the time I got to know about Chandro and Prakashi Tomar, my wife Nidhi and I were planning to quit, whereas these women became sharp-shooters at the age of 60 (Saand Ki Aankh is based on Chandro and Prakashi, who are considered to be among the oldest sharpshooters in the world). They turned a new leaf for the sake of their daughters. Prakashi’s daughter Seema became the first Indian girl to win a silver medal at the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup. Today, nearly all the girls in the Tomar family have joined the police or the armed forces.

When you decided to make the film six years ago, the grammar of cinema was different from what you wanted to attempt. Did you feel that it was too much of a risk?
Tell me about it! This film revolves around two sixty-plus women. To top it, I, the writer of films like Masti, wanted to direct it. People thought that I had lost it. It’s destiny that this film found supporters, and today, it is ready for release. It was writer Sanjay Massoom, who put me in touch with the Tomar daadis. From that point, things began to fall in place. The first woman to support me on this film was my wife. She would never have supported me on Masti, but she went all out for Saand Ki Aankh. She even became one of the producers. Anurag (Kashyap) also continued to encourage me.

Do you think it was difficult for people to believe in your ability to handle a subject like Saand Ki Aankh because of the vulgar comedies you wrote earlier?
A lot of people think that Milap and I are some kind of perverts. People only see the beginning and the middle of the film. At the end of every Masti installment, we’ve shown the guys repenting for straying and getting punished. I have had to fight to include it in the script. When you’re starting out, you grab everything that comes your way without thinking much. After Masti, I wrote films like ABCD: Any Body Can Dance (2013) and Ek Villain (2014), too. But Masti was such a shocker of a first film that people labelled me with it. I hope Saand Ki Aankh changes that.

Do you regret the sex comedies you wrote?
I wrote sex comedies because they came to me. I had expenses to meet. Also, I enjoyed writing them, so there are no regrets. But I’ve matured now and I am doing different things. You know, even sex comedies or comedies around sex are being made differently today. Made In China, for instance, is a sex comedy, too. It offers a great take on sex and I am happy that today, people are curating films in such a way.

Saand Ki Aankh opens on Diwali with Housefull 4 and Made In China. Does the box office clash worry you?
Today, any well-made film runs at the box office. The producers backing my film are confident about it. What else can I ask for? If it’s a bad film, it will be rejected even if it releases solo. So, there’s no point fretting. I am just happy that my film is releasing, it has taken me 20 years to become a filmmaker.

Anurag Kashyap has been involved with this film since its inception. Was he ever tempted to take over as the director?
Anurag came on the set just once. He let me fly with the film, without making me change anything about it. He gave me confidence and there is nothing bigger than that. In fact, he was the one who pushed me to direct. When many people didn’t understand the title of the film, he backed me on it.

Your film has Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pedenkar in lead roles. Heroines are perceived to be insecure, especially when it comes to sharing screen space with another equally powerful actress. Did you sense that while working on this film?
Taapsee and Bhumi are like chalk and cheese. The only difference is that they complement each other and are similar to the women they play. They gave each other a lot of space. The team used to place bets saying, ‘Aaj to jhagda hoga’, but they didn’t fight. They didn’t ask us to change anything about the script or the division of scenes.

You started your career in the movies as a writer, the film industry has changed quite a bit over the years, with writers being well-acknowledged for their contribution to cinema. Would you say that it’s still the most underpaying field in the movie making business?
Writers are underpaid and undervalued. No one wants to know them, but it’s their content that sets everything up. If we don’t help them get their due, how will they ever get it? It’s like you love the granite in the building, but don’t thank the pillar for keeping it together. I’m glad that writers are finally getting their names on film posters now. Things are changing, but they could be better.