Feted, felicitated and much-loved writer, film maker, poet, author and lyricist Gulzar has many facets to his personality. His daughter Meghna Gulzar is three films old, her latest being the muchtalked about Talvar , which recently premiered at the 40th Toronto Film Festival (TIFF). In a candid conversation with us, the father-daughter duo speaks on their professional and personal equation.

Gulzar saab, please tell us about your contribution to Talvar?
I must tell you an interesting story. An alley cat taught a tiger how to hunt and actually go for the kill. After learning the technique, the first person the tiger attacked was the cat. She was smart. To save her life, she climbed a tree. The tiger stood below, looking at the cat and said, “Hey , but you didn't teach me this.“ To which the cat replied, “I could foresee that this is exactly what you would do once you mastered the killing technique. Hence, I didn't teach you this last trick.'' (Laughs) Likewise, I taught Meghna how to pen screenplay, dialogues and script etc. She knows direction and post-production. Now she has become a tigress. But, I didn't teach her how to write songs. So, she still has to depend on me (the cat in this context) for that aspect. I write songs for her films and that is my contribution to her cinema. It is challenging to write songs for her. When she wants something, no one can make her change her mind. She has a passion for movie making. This time around both Vishal (Bhardwaj) and I had to deliver. Sometimes she didn't like the tune, if she liked the tune, she didn't like the lyrics. She is hard to please. Vishal and I had to keep working continuously to present different versions to director sahiba.
Meghna: Papa would hum some words and Vishal sir would compose a tune around it. They would only come to me when it was nearly ready. So, I told them both, “Hello, please include me in your song-making sessions.'' It is a treat to watch them work. When they are working together, there is so much that is left unsaid. Vishal is humming and dad is able to know where the tune is going and throw words at him accordingly. It is not a director thing; it's a purely selfish thing. I wanted to be in that experience.

Gulzar saab, had you followed the Aarushi Talwar case when it happened in May 2008?
I had seen Meghna meticulously making newspaper cuttings of the case. Her involvement and fascination for the subject automatically rubbed onto me. I, too, started taking a keen interest in the subject. I would see her jotting down notes. That is how I followed the case. I knew Meghna was researching the subject. If I came across any snippet or report on the Aarushi Talwar murder case, I would quickly cut it and give it to her. I have seen Vishal and her do a thorough job.

Sir, have you seen a growth in Meghna's graph as a director?
Yes from Filhaal to now, her graph has seen a steady rise. What I like about her is that she is so focussed. She knows exactly what she wants. I have seen her handling her unit also. It so happened that she was shooting in Delhi and she expressed to me that she was missing her son Samay. So her husband Govind, my grandson Samay and I went to the shoot. You know, as a filmmaker, I must tell you that handling a machine is different but handling human beings needs a special tact. I was impressed with the way Meghna did that. I also have deep admiration for her unit. Her cameraman (Pankaj Kumar) is a good listener. He would patiently hear her out before executing the shot. Another assistant who was very attentive and helpful was a guy called Honey. I guess his name is Honey because he is so sweet. Meghna has made documentaries for Saeed Akhtar Mirza. So I know she knows her job. However, in the case of Talvar, this kind of maturity comes only when you have been deeply involved with the project. Like any parent, I, too, was anxious about her. But now I'm less worried because she has taken a step ahead of me. She has actually beaten me to it. None of my films have had a premiere at Toronto or at any other international festival.
Meghna: Papa, you have won an Oscar.
Gulzar: (Chuckles) Now let's see how you achieve that. However, I have made so many movies and I have not been invited to any international film festival. I even got the Dadasaheb Phalke Award but none of my films have had a foreign premiere. As a filmmaker, I'm very happy and confident of this girl's growth.

Gulzar saab, what did you think of Talvar?
Talvar is an important social comment. Everyone knows that the law has long hands; however, no one knew that the law travels through a narrow alley. That is how the song came in, Patli gali aana. I must say that we have good laws, we have a good judiciary but our system of implementing laws is something like what is shown in Talvar. Meghna has put her finger on this. It is not a murder thriller. It is much more. That is why I feel the audience has to be prepared for it. You are not going to see a thriller in which bullets are flying. I'm also happy that the producers of this film (Vineet Jain and Vishal Bhardwaj) had conviction in the story that they were making and have allowed Meghna to make the film the way she knew best.

Meghna, speak about your key cast.
I must start with Tabu. By now everyone knows that she is not playing Aarushi's aunt. She has a special appearance in the film. Though I have made movies in the past, this time around, I felt like I was starting over probably because the genre was new to me. And I couldn't have done this without Tabu. It was gracious of her to accept the small part. The actual shooting was a breeze. It was like two friends (she and I) were catching up for lunch. It was as casual as that.

In sharp contrast, is Irrfan sir who is very tricky. You are well aware that Talvar presents multiple viewpoints on the Aarushi murder case. He plays an investigative officer and till today, I have no idea which side of the story he believes. Throughout the making he was playing the devil's advocate. Every time he would have to do a scene he would question--what if this had transpired like this and not like this? It took me a while to understand that he was asking so many questions so that he could plug all the holes. He took in all the information and then delivered his performance. Irrfan sir has given an evolved performance. The way he has conveyed his sense of restlessness and his appearing distracted, etc. are all things which he has put into his character. This can only happen when an actor internalises not just the part but the entire film.
Gulzar: Irrfan has portrayed the character so beautifully.
Meghna: Neeraj Kabi sir and Konkona (Sen Sharma) have the toughest job in the film because they both play the guilty and the damned. And they have to do both these things convincingly. Moreover, they had to do everything twice over. But I must tell you that their approach as actors was diametrically opposite. There was Konkona (Koko) who would ask what the scene is, seek a few clarifications and say, 'Cool, let's go'. If it was an intense scene, she would cry and when I called cut, she would be smiling with her eyes shining bright. Neeraj sir, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. After the entire briefing, he would ask for 30 seconds. Then he would stroll off to a part of the set where no one was allowed to enter. And then he would come, stand in front of the camera and give the perfect take. From the spot boys to the costume and light departments, everyone would maintain pin drop silence. Honestly, who does this for an actor anymore? I had a really good unit. Neeraj sir also didn't snap out of a shot, after I would say cut. At the end of the day, he would bid everyone goodbye and say, 'See you tomorrow'. Though Koko and Neeraj sir's style of working is diverse, you cannot tell the difference on screen because both of them have delivered pitch-perfect performances.

Meghna, were you prepared for the reactions that you got at TIFF?
Not at all. I knew Cameron Bailey, the artistic director of TIFF, was in Mumbai to look at films but we couldn't connect with him and he went back. It was another festival director who asked if we had sent Talvar to Toronto. It was after this that Vishal wrote to Cameron and we sent a screener within a short time. We had to pull up our deadline by a month. But nothing could have been more worth it than showing our film in Toronto.

How would you describe your relationship with Vishal Bhardwaj?
Meghna: Vishal has done all the rituals as my brother at my wedding. But at that time, we were not as close as we are today. Our personal equation has evolved over the years. I had done a couple of scripts with him in the past, but Talvar is actually our first full-fledged attempt at making a movie. I was to do Timbuktu and Mr Mehta And Mrs Singh for him. Both didn't materialise because I was in my world, making different kind of movies. For me, the biggest learning has been watching him as a writer. You can understand him as a filmmaker when you see his films. He always shares his scripts with dad and me. So, I know the script and I see what he does with his films. Vishal sir writes his characters beautifully. That is his biggest forte. He gives each one a texture. There will always be some distinguishing trait in each character. He brings them to life and that, for me, was a huge learning experience. He visited us on the sets just twice. It was so good to have him there because it felt like someone was standing behind you. I felt protected. Having that sense of support made me do that job better. I must explain to you, the kind of equation I share with Vishal sir. When I was explaining to Sohum Shah, who plays Irrfan sir's assistant in the film on how to approach his character visà-vis his equation to his senior (Irrfan), I gave the example of Vishal sir and me. I explained to Sohum that Vishal and I have dinner together, we crack jokes and laugh, but when he is around on the sets, I always stand there respectfully with my hands behind me and address him as sir.
Gulzar: I'm proud of how Meghna has defined her relationship with Vishal. She has described it beautifully.
Meghna: Everything about Talvar is two-sided, including the relationship between the film's writer-producer and director.

Has your mother seen this film?
Gulzar: Actually, Raakhee is even more anxious about Talvar than Meghna.
Meghna: I have shown my mother the first print that I made for India. I didn't want her to see a subtitled print. However, I had shown my father the first international print with subtitles on August 18. It was his birthday and it was my surprise gift for him.
Gulzar: It was a great gift. Every year we go out to celebrate my birthday. This time she was busy with Talvar but she told me, 'Dad, I will still give you a gift'. I'm a happy man.

We had reason enough to pride ourselves over the fact that films by Indian directors and producers were premiering at the Toronto Indian Film Festival this year. However, the attention that these films are garnering at the festival is proving to be the cherry atop our cake.

Sharing moments from the location in Toronto, director of Angry Indian Goddesses Pan Nalin recently shared a picture of the Indian cast bonding at TIFF, as his team of the AIG girls met Deepa Mehta's Beeba Boys. He captioned the pic, “Randeep Hooda. Beeba Boys meet Angry Indian Goddesses. (sic)“