When Band Baaja Baaraat (2010) hit theatres, it made people sit up and take notice of a young filmmaker whose storytelling technique wasn’t just unique, but also shone through due to its sheer grandiose and a ‘real’ touch. A decade later, Maneesh Sharma is content with his journey’s trajectory.

“The best proof of how great this journey has been is that I don’t even realise it’s been 10 years. It’s been a fun, enriching ride, hopping, skipping and jumping from one passion project to the other,” he says, adding that the journey of making each film is unique. “It is also reflective of how you feel, what matters to you at that stage of your life. With the final product, you win some, you lose some and hopefully, in the process, you learn things, too. All in all, I’m happy to have gone with the flow, and would not really want to ‘fix’ anything,” says Sharma, who plans to direct a film early next year.

The Delhi boy, who’s also helmed films such as Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl (2011) and Fan (2016), feels the high point for him has been the “unexpected turn of becoming a producer.”

“Moving from one directorial to another through the first half of my career, it didn’t cross my mind to explore any such opportunity. It was Adi’s (filmmaker Aditya Chopra) vision, and overnight, I became a producer while I was prepping for my dream film. And it’s turned out to be such a rewarding journey in itself,” says Sharma, who has produced films such as Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015), Sui Dhaaga: Made In India, Hichki (both 2018) and the upcoming Jayeshbhai Jordaar.

Ask Sharma if being a producer is an additional responsibility and he says: “It is inherent to working in a collaborative setup. Each member owes it to each other and collectively, you owe it to audience. It’s been immensely fulfilling to collaborate with different creative minds, storytellers.”