Fatima Sana Shaikh has packed in a lot, from dabbling in photography to shooting & directing a music video; a wedding comedy is up next
Akash Bhatnagar (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 26, 2020)

Five months of being locked in may have driven many over the edge, but Fatima Sana Shaikh has enjoyed chilling at home. “Lockdown has been enjoyable for me. I’m a very private person and hardly attended any social gathering even when life was normal. When I went out, I’d often go unrecognized because people were looking for Dangal’s Geeta, the same body type and hair, and I was very different. Sometimes, they come up to me looking confused and wonder if I was really Geeta and just to test them, I’d say no,” she admits, breaking into peals of laughter, and admits that now no one follows her downstairs when she goes out for a walk. “I’m not a star yet,” she reasons.

To keep herself occupied, the actress brought home a hyper active puppy, Bijli, who’s kept her busy through the Coronavirus lockdown. That apart, Fatima has been honing her photography skills for the collaborative work she is doing. “I’m exploring editing and following the works of some well-known editors and cinematographers. I dabbled in bird photography which required a fair amount of research. Soon, I hope to head for Dharamshala, my favourite holiday spot, for some travel clicks,” she informs.

Her camera skills came in handy recently when she did a music video with Vishal Bhardwaj, based on a poem by Dr Bashir Badr, “Palkein Kholo”. “The song is about appreciating people around us during these unprecedented times. I’ve been pestering Vishal sir to make a film with me and when he made me this offer, I jumped at it,” she exults, adding that she also got a chance to direct herself in it. “Vishal sir asked me for my inputs, then, gave me the freedom to shoot the music video the way I wanted.”

She points out the National Award-winning filmmaker-composer must have expected her to opt for a static camera, but wanting to impress him with her photography skills, she got creative, shooting on the road and inside her house, with her brother as her one-man crew. “Even Bijli makes an appearance in the song. She is lucky to debut in a Vishal Bhardwaj music video. Even if she steals the limelight, I would be a proud mother,” Fatima chuckles.

So, will she move behind the camera next? “No, shooting is just a hobby. Managing myself is different from managing a whole unit. I just want to please the director as an actor,” she asserts, adding that now she wants to be directed by Vishal. “On a real set.”

Fatima will next be seen in the Abhishek Sharma-directed wedding comedy, Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari, and she is happy it isn’t releasing soon or on the OTT platform. “I don’t want people to see my work in this situation,” she reasons, adding that working on the film was amazing as she was shooting with talented people like Manoj Bajpayee, Diljit Dosanjh and Abhishek himself. “Manoj ji is a senior actor but so humble, with perfect work ethics. I recently watched his 2017 psychological drama, Gali Guleiyan, and called him to ask how he had come up with such a brilliant performance. Wah!”

Neeraj Kabi returns with the web series Taj Mahal 1989 and renewed interest to create talent as acting coach
Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; February 16, 2020)

Known for his acting chops, Ship Of Theseus (2013) and Talvar (2015) actor Neeraj Kabi, features in Netflix's new series, Taj Mahal 1989, which takes on love and relationships in the pre-Internet era. Kabi plays a professor whose marriage is on the rocks. "The Taj is symbolic, it's a monument of love, but the show takes on all its manifestations beyond romantic love. There is this scene in which I am talking about Faiz Ahmad Faiz's poetry. It is a romantic poem but the Urdu poet had written it for the motherland. The show weaves it through four different stories."

Kabi, who will be seen next in Dibakar Banerjee's Netflix film Freedom, says he is part of several projects which people may not know about "as he is not in the business of making people aware of what he is up to." Nor does he believe in having a PR machinery. "A lot of the projects may not have a big commercial release or do the film festival rounds, like Gali Guleiyan (2018), a film I am proud of."

When he is not tied up with his films, Kabi turns acting coach. He also does theatre "as it helps you grow as an actor." He adds, "We need to create performers. Senior actors should evince interest in creating talent by imparting knowledge about the craft. Instead of talking about the weather, they should help the younger lot hone their skills. We [industry] churn out mundane stuff because we lack actors of calibre. First, generate quality then work will happen."

From old havelis, congested lanes,to the more than 100-year-old sweet-kachori shops, Old Delhi has retained its look and that makes it an attractive shooting location
Niharika Lal (BOMBAY TIMES; July 30, 2019)

A long shot of Jama Masjid, and then the camera zooms in on a shop in Chandni Chowk. That’s how the recently released Salman Khan-starrer Bharat begins. The setting of the film, Old Delhi, has been a perennial favourite with filmmakers and not just Bharat, several Bollywood and regional movies and docu-dramas have been shot in this part of the town. As Dipesh Jain, the director of Gali Guleiyan, puts it, “In Old Delhi, time has stood still.” And this is its USP.

We spoke to line producers as well as residents of Purani Dilli on why shooting in the capital has become synonymous with shooting in Old Delhi, and what Bollywood loves the most about the popular area.


‘TERRACE FOR AERIAL SHOTS AND LANES FOR CROWD SHOTS’
Filmmakers tell us that when films have to show the background of a Delhi-based character, they usually opt to shoot in Old Delhi because of the distinct locales, which create a sense of nostalgia. From old havelis, congested lanes, to the more than 100-year-old sweet-kachori shops, the fact that Old Delhi has retained its look and feel is what makes it an attractive shooting location for filmmakers. Line producers say that apart from the iconic places such as the Jama Masjid, Red Fort and Meena Bazaar, most of the filmmakers want to shoot on terraces and lanes to capture the true essence of Old Delhi.

Last year, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Farhan Akhtar shot for The Sky Is Pink on the terrace of a haveli here. A line producer says, “For most directors, be it Indians or foreigners, shooting on terraces seems to be mandatory because the visuals that you can capture from there are rich and they give the true feel of the city. After the song, Sasural Genda Phool from Delhi-6, a number of other films such as Ankhon Dekhi also had terrace scenes. Dilliwali feel toh Purani Dilli mein hi aati hai.”

Due to a tight schedule, when Kabir Khan couldn’t shoot a terrace scene in Old Delhi for Bajrangi Bhaijaan, it was recreated in a studio in Mumbai. A Delhi-based crew member associated with the film says, “There’s a scene in Bajrangi Bhaijaan where Salman Khan is on the terrace and Kareena Kapoor Khan comes to chat with him. That scene wasn’t shot at the location, but was later recreated in a studio in Mumbai. However, a number of other scenes, which also had Salman, were shot at a haveli in the old city.”

Other than the terraces of havelis, line producers say that there’s a hotel, Tara Palace, which is quite popular with filmmakers. From its rooftop, places such as Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib, Jama Masjid and Lal Qila can be seen, and hence, it is preferred for aerial shots.


FOR THE LOVE OF HAVELIS
According to line producers, half of the films based in Delhi are shot in Old Delhi. A line producer, who has been associated with a number of films shot in the area, says, “There are 30-40 havelis in the area, which are available for film shoots. However, the most prominent ones include Mahavir, Chiku Ki Haveli, Tipu House, Lachu Ram Ki Haveli, among others. Shooting at these havelis costs Rs 2,000 per day and it can go up to Rs 2.5 lakh per day. Only when they have a family function or their kids have exams, the owners refuse to give the havelis for shoots, else they are usually available.”

The line producer adds, “A few of the havelis are preferred by filmmakers and most of the big-budget film shoots are organised there, as in other havelis, owners impose too many restrictions.”Another Delhi-based line producer adds, “Also, what filmmakers appreciate the most is that residents of Old Delhi are quite considerate, and do not interrupt shoots.”

Rajiv Gundhi, whose haveli has featured in a number of films including Bharat, PK and Hindi Medium, says, “My haveli is huge, so when line producers contact me, depending on their requirements, we give them the rooms, terrace, aangan — whatever is needed. For Ankhon Dekhi, we gave them one portion of the haveli and they shot there for over a month.” As per their requirements, the crew members are allowed to even paint the rooms used for shooting, but only on the verbal agreement that they will repaint them before leaving.

Not just Bollywood films, regional movies are also shot in the Walled City. Javed, a line producer, says, “A number of regional projects like the Punjabi movie, Mukhtiyar Chaddha, starring Diljit Dosanjh, another Punjabi film, Sardar Saheb, starring Jackie Shroff, were shot here. And Diljit also shot for a music album in Old Delhi. A foreign film Iqbal was also shot here, but hasn’t released yet.”


‘NOT SALMAN, BUT HIS BODY DOUBLE SHOT IN OLD DELHI FOR BHARAT AND SULTAN’
Haveli owners tell us that it’s only when a star like Salman Khan is shooting that people from all over Delhi gather near the buildings to see the shoot, which creates a lot of chaos. Bajrangi Bhaijan was the last film for which Salman shot in Old Delhi. While even Sultan and Bharat feature Purani Dilli, Salman didn’t shoot in the area. A haveli owner says, “There’s a scene in Bharat where Salman is standing on the terrace, looking over the city. That terrace scene was shot at the location in Old Delhi, but it was shot with Salman’s body double. Even during Sultan, it wasn’t Salman, but his body double who shot in Old Delhi.”


‘IRRFAN WOULD FLY KITES, PRIYANKA AND FARHAN CLICKED PICTURES DURING SHOOT BREAKS’
At most of the shoot locations, when actors get breaks between shots, they go back to their vanity vans. But the lanes of Old Delhi are so narrow that they can’t accommodate vanity vans. A line producer says, “As it is not possible to get vans, we prepare a few rooms in the havelis for the actors. These rooms are as luxurious as their vans.”

The actors, line producers say, choose different ways to spend their time in between shots. For instance, during Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Salman would interact with people on the sets during breaks. Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Farhan Akhtar used to click photos on the terrace during breaks while shooting for The Sky Is Pink, while Irrfan would fly kites in his spare time. Rajiv adds, “For Hindi Medium, all the scenes of Irrfan’s home are shot at our haveli. Whenever there was a long break, Irrfan would go to the terrace, and patangbazi karte thay.”


The film’s story is set in Delhi where seven thieves attempt to rob an old palace in Delhi. Manoj Bajpayee, along with Kay Kay Menon and Aditi Sharma, shot several scenes here

Meena Iyer (DNA; September 22, 2018)

It’s raining films for Manoj Bajpayee. The actor, who will complete 25 years in showbiz next year, is enjoying this phase where he is feted, felicitated and rewarded with mainstream fare like Satyameva Jayate to the hatke stuff like Love Sonia and Gali Guleiyan. Right now, Mumbai is more like a stopover port for the 49-year-old, who has been travelling the world with his work. And though home is where the heart resides, Manoj admits that he also has to adjust being a suitcase daddy sometimes.

Excerpts of our chat with the multi-talented artiste, who never fails to surprise.

It’s been a Manoj Bajpayee season; it began with Aligarh and continues to gather momentum, right?
The typical response would be that God has been kind. But then, that’s also the truth. You have been a part of this business for a long time, in fact, you were around, much before I arrived on the scene. You know the nature of this business. One never knows when one movie starts and how the ball keeps rolling. You need to find a reason for it, so you can repeat the same thing in the coming season. But it never happens. Over the 24 years that I have been here, I have come to only one conclusion; when it’s happening, be happy and celebrate. In this field, the lows are too many and the highs are too few. So if you don’t celebrate, you will miss the train (laughs). No matter how big a star you are, you will feel lonely, left out and miserable. But the best part is that when the high comes, it can either spoil you, ruin you or make you think that you’re the best.

You’ve been able to mix and match very nicely. After a Satyameva Jayate, you also had a Gali Guleiyan.
This year has been great for middle-of-the-road films. Missing is doing well on the digital platform, but sadly, it wasn’t distributed too well during its theatrical release. Gali Guleiyan, too, has managed to generate curiosity and become a talking point, by the grace of God. It’s an independent parallel film, there is no denying it. But once you sit through it, it will not leave you easily. I’m proud of it.

Considering the whirlwind it has been, how are you holding on to sanity? Obviously, you have your wife Shabana and daughter Ava Nayla at home...
The sanity of the experience lies in keeping yourself intact. I’ve been doing a lot of things.

You’re doing a digital series, too, with Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK.
Yes, we will be finishing it this month. It’s an amazing series about a middle-class guy, who tries to balance the demands of his job and family. He’s an intelligence officer and there’s this myth that they are like Superman. Through it, you understand what a government official working in the intel does, goes through and what happens to his family. There’s also a cultural difference as he’s from Benares while his wife is from South India and their children are studying in an English Medium school in Mumbai. So, you have three different cultures under one roof, failing and succeeding to strike a balance between both worlds. It’s a great subject and we’ve shot some amazing sequences.

Tell us about your experience with Love Sonia, though it’s a special appearance.
When it was first offered to me, I said no. It’s a pathetic character, I didn’t want to do it. I turned the complete black into some grey; that was my contribution. It’s a small role, but it stays with you. Director Tabrez Noorani, producer David Womark and I have put our minds to this character and have tried to make him look like a businessman who thinks he is a saviour of the girls. Pimp is too small a term for him, he is actually managing the racket or the mafia of human trafficking. He believes that he is a businessman and anyone who tries to ruin his job is in danger. We’ve given him a complete human look, and when he changes his colours, it baffles you as to how anyone can be such a chameleon. When you see his dark side, he is fearful and dangerous. On the other side, he is a father, mentor, guide and saviour of the girls. You see everything in him, but you can’t mess with his business as he calls it. I’m supporting the film because the issue is close to my heart. I fail to understand why in the world, none of the governments of any country could bring this into the forum of the United Nations and make it a global rule that people involved in human trafficking are given such a strict punishment that the message goes out to everybody.

Globally, films like Aligarh, Gali Guleiyan and now, Love Sonia have been earning you a lot of notices. How does that feel?
Demi Moore didn’t speak to me after Love Sonia. She was very chatty with me before it started. When Simi Garewal saw it in Melbourne, she said please don’t talk to me (laughs). So, I know for a few days, I’m going to lose some of my female fans because of the feelings my character evokes.

With your performances garnering international acclaim, are you looking at more opportunities in the West?
Yes, at the insistence of a few of my friends, I’m looking westwards. I’ve spoken to some and they have been selflessly working on finding a way to promote me. David is one of them. Tabrez is doing it in his way. Deepesh Jain, who is based in Los Angeles, is doing it for Gali Guleiyan. There are other friends in LA, and they have been at it, too. Also, because they love me as a performer, they feel I should find some work there.

How does being a suitcase daddy work for you? How does your daughter Ava Nayla react?
Since the last few months, I have been at home. My wife Shabana says this is what she likes. She knows that I will be coming home for a few months. It doesn’t matter if I’ll be leaving early morning and returning in the evening. So, it’s a good feeling. I’m loving it too. But now, they’re bored of me (smiles). That’s the life of an actor.

You’re looking leaner. Have you been hitting the gym and eating healthy?
Yes, I’ve been eating well, leading a very healthy life. I quit smoking 13 years ago and hard liquor as well. I used to have white wine earlier, but now I’ve quit that, too. For the last few months, I’ve been a teetotaller.

Has that been easy?
It’s very easy. In the 24 years that I have been an actor, you know how to switch off. I started believing that it was not all fluke, it was a lot of hard work. That’s the good feeling I have.

How good a driver are you considering you started late?
I’ve become a good and safe driver. I’ve been learning cooking also. I’m learning to become a good husband and a good father. When I’m at home, I try to be with my daughter. She shouts at me when I’m on my phone. She immediately says, ‘Papa, shut your phone.’ She demands my attention, which is good.

If others can want your attention, your daughter can also want it.
My daughter doesn’t want it, she grabs it (laughs).

Dhaval Roy (DNA; September 15, 2018)

Love Sonia has just released in India and its director Tabrez Noorani is excited to bring the tale of human trafficking to a wider audience.  “It’s like the line from Life of Pi (2012) — ‘The story’s yours now’. This one belongs to the viewers and I am making them a part of the journey that may not be an easy one,” he says. However, the Hollywood producer (Slumdog Millionaire, 2008; Eat Pray Love, 2010 and more) and now debutant director hopes that cinegoers will leave the cinema hall with hope and a ray of light after seeing the courage of the characters and real-life survivors. The filmmaker talks to us about the challenges of making the movie and more.

The idea of Love Sonia believably germinated in 2003 when  you worked towards rehabilitating human trafficking victims. What took the film so long to make?
It’s taken a lot of time for various reasons — the tough topic, money, casting and not having stars attached to the project. We ran into a wall because there was no one to fund a movie about human trafficking at that point of time. We wanted to be in the business with the right people and not someone who would exploit the film. So, I refused to compromise and let someone milk the situation. We also had to be extremely careful that we were respectful to the victims and honest to the subject. After all, these were girls I have known and helped rehabilitate. So, it’s been a tough journey but definitely worth it.

Tell us about casting for the film...
I had to chase Richa Chadha and Manoj Bajpayee both. Richa didn’t know me from Adam and I refused to do a script narration because I don’t know what that means. I sent her a draft and she wanted to make sure that the one she read was the same that I would make. But once we started talking, she became more confident about me as a filmmaker and then she took the script to another level. I just got extremely lucky that everyone came on board.

Didn’t you feel the film was getting too delayed?
I’m glad I didn’t make this earlier because the research continued and I kept developing the characters. After the first season of Sense8, I decided to stop producing and focus on this project.

In spite of having produced a number of big Hollywood flicks, why didn’t you venture into direction earlier?
I wanted to debut with this film. I believe for your first outing you need to make something that you feel passionately about. I had other offers, but I felt anyone else could have directed those films but no one could have done this one.

With realistic cinema, filmmakers can often get self-indulgent. How did you ensure that didn’t happen with your movie?
Yeah, self-indulgence was one of the biggest concerns for me. And that’s why I had members of the NGOs as well as trafficked girls on the sets in Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and India. Survivors were also involved in the scripting and editing processes and we made a conscious effort to not exploit the exploited. Once both parties saw the film, it was a validation that we navigated the land very well.

With many so-called parallel films doing well in India these days, do you think it’s a good time for stories like Love Sonia?
Absolutely! I think the audience here has been more open to different kinds of films of late — more than they were, say, three to five years ago. India is making such fantastic cinema, whether it’s a large film like Padmaavat (2018) or a low-budget one like Titli (2014). People here want to go see Stree and a Gali Guleiyan releases at the same time, too.

Which films have impressed you of late?
I thought Titli was an outstanding movie. Udaan (2010), Masaan (2015), Anurag Kashyap’s works, and the Marathi film Fandry (2013) were quite impressive.

What’s next? Would one have to wait too long for another film from you?
Hopefully not. I’m working on two films and they will be very different from this one.

Apart from human trafficking, is there another cause you’d like to make a film on?
That’s an interesting question, but I haven’t thought about it. Anyway, this work won’t end after the release of the project. Trafficking is a massive problem all over the world and I can do anything to help tackle it — even if I have to disguise it in the form of a movie, I would do it because down the line, it will create awareness.

A ‘THANDA’ FRIDAY AS 3 NOT-SO-EXCITING HINDI FILMS TO RELEASE; THE NUN TO DOMINATE!

The last week turned out to be very exciting as the Rajkummar Rao-Shraddha Kapoor starrer Stree turned out to be a surprise super hit. There are talks that it may earn around Rs. 56-57 crore in Week 1 and cross Rs. 100 crore mark. What will benefit Stree is that the Hindi releases tomorrow are not at all exciting for the viewers. My analysis:

PALTAN: It is directed by J P Dutta and is the third film in his ‘war triology’ after Border and LOC Kargil. The premise of the film has caught attention as it talks about the war that happened between India and China in 1967 and where the former won. Shockingly, this bit of information never became known and as alleged by the makers, the government then didn’t publicise about it either. Paltan promises to tell this untold story. The star cast comprises of a lot of actors like Jackie Shroff, Arjun Rampal, Sonu Sood, Gurmeet Choudhary, Harshvardhan Rane and Siddhanth Kapoor. Sadly, the trailer looks weak and the manner in which the war scenes are shown looks amateurish. The dramatic manner in which J P Dutta had especially shot Border is missing. Songs haven’t worked at all. The buzz hence is very less. The film can hope to have around Rs. 1-2 crore opening.

LAILA MAJNU: It’s produced by Imtiaz Ali and Ekta Kapoor and is the directorial debut of Imtiaz’s brother Sajid Ali. It is not a debut as such but the first lead roles for Avinash Tiwary and Tripti Dimri. The film has been shot in Kashmir and promises to be an eternal love story. The trailer has evoked mixed reactions and the lead actors sadly haven’t really generated excitement. That’s not good news for a film that has unknown faces. What has kept the film in the news is Imtiaz Ali backing it and the songs. Again, music isn’t chartbuster but has got noticed. Just like Paltan, Laila Majnu is all set for a poor opening of around Rs. 1-2 crore. It’s very difficult to say as of now which film will open better out of the two.

There’s one more film releasing tomorrow, titled Gali Guleiyan. Titled In The Shadows for international market, it stars Manoj Bajpayee and as per response, it is said that it is one of his finest acts. But it’s too niche and getting a very limited release.

The film that however is expected to be the top film this week is The Nun. It is the fifth film in The Conjuring Universe. All it’s films have been immensely successful. In fact, The Nun can have an opening in the Rs. 7-8 crore range. The Conjuring 2 in 2016 earned Rs. 61.18 crore and The Nun definitely has chances of reaching this mark or even crossing it.

WHICH FILM WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE AND WHY? DO LET ME KNOW!

Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; August 30, 2018)

Having found a place in  many film festivals across the globe since its release in October 2017, debutant director Dipesh Jain’s Gali Guleiyan attracted several accolades from cinephiles. But, few are aware about the daunting past of child-actor Om Singh, whose story is reminiscent of that he plays on screen, of a victim of physical abuse.

Talking about the casting for Manoj Bajpayee-starrer Gali Guleiyan, which chronicles a man’s obsession to rescue a child from abuse, Jain says he auditioned 2,500 boys before zeroing in on Singh. His search ended at the Salaam Baalak Trust in Delhi, where he found the boy who turned up there after running away from home owing to physical abuse. “I was shocked to learn that Om had been a victim of child violence. I had found a real-life Idris [the character Singh plays in the film],” Jain says.

Having commenced working with the child, Jain even incorporated incidents from his life into the script. “He told me that after many abusive nights, he ran away from his home and ended up at the old Delhi railway station. Not knowing what to do, he would sit at a spot and watch people pass by. So, we decided to shoot [that event] at the same spot and on the same platform.”

For the child, there were also moments that helped him understand love, when filming for the venture. “Until we began shooting, the only thing that Om knew about human touch was one that dealt with abuse. In a particular scene, it was needed that he run and hug his mother [Shahana Goswami]. But Om would always freeze. Later, I realised what was worrying him. So, we altered the scene to show Shahana kissing him on his cheek instead. He started blushing, but realised that there is more to a touch than one that leads to a slap.”

The venture also stars Ranvir Shorey.

Rinky Kumar (DNA; August 28, 2018)

Manoj Bajpayee is among the rare breed of actors who surprises us with each performance. In his career spanning over two decades, he has lent his unique touch to diverse characters and straddled commercial as well as offbeat cinema adeptly. The actor, who is having a dream run at the box office this year, with as many as four releases, is now gearing up for his forthcoming film Gali Guleiyan. Directed by debutant Dipesh Jain, the pyschological drama is about Khuddoos, an electrician living in self-imposed isolation and battling his inner demons. His life takes a turn when he starts looking for a child, who is regularly assaulted by his father and feels that he should rescue him. The movie has already been screened at various international film festivals including the 22nd Busan International Film Festival, Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, Atlanta Film Festival, 42nd Cleveland International Film Festival and Chicago International Film Festival. In a freewheeling chat, the 49-year-old, who recently bagged the Best Actor Award at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) 2018, talks to us about playing such a layered character and why this movie is close to his heart. Excerpts…

What appealed to you about Gali Guleiyan?
It’s a story that is untold on our Indian screens. It is about a man with a complex mind, who is scared to get out of his house and face people. My character, Khuddoos, is trapped in the lanes of old Delhi and in some way trapped in his own mind where he feels comfortable with all the puzzles that he is trying to solve. His only friends are the four walls of his home and the CCTV camera monitors that he has installed there. When I read the script, I realised each and every page was a revelation. It was like peeling an onion. You don’t know what is going to unravel in the next layer. I loved this element about the script and felt I should go ahead and challenge myself.

What were the challenges that you faced while portraying such a character?
Layered and nuanced are the apt words to describe Khuddoos. You are actually trying to understand a mind that is full of darkness, complexities and the deeper you dig in, the more you understand this person. That’s why this is the most difficult role I’ve done till date. Every time, I ventured further into understanding this character, I would discover more layers to him and then explore them further. So, the work continued till the end of the shoot. On the 28th day, I finally told my director to wrap up the shoot as I couldn’t do it anymore; I thought I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Gali Guleiyan is an engaging film. It has been screened at more than 23 International film festivals and we had a few private screenings here. The response that we have received is phenomenal. After watching it, viewers don’t know how to come out of the world that they have just seen. That is the job of the story — to take you through the character’s journey and to expose you to the world that has never been seen before.

How was the experience of working with a new director?
Dipesh’s clarity is impeccable. He knew exactly how he wanted to shoot the film. He did a lot of research and prepared for this project. At the same time, he was open to seeing how the characters are moving and the actors improvising. He was ready to capture each and every movement of the actors.

The trailer has received a good response and the movie has struck a chord with international audiences too. What’s the reason?
It’s the story of a man people have empathised with. They were completely taken in by his life’s journey, the mental trouble that he has been going through. People could relate to these things and somewhere they were shaken up by the misery in the way he has accepted all the turmoil in his life.

This has been a great year for you professionally. You have had as many as four releases till now…
I feel lucky and blessed. The year started with Aiyaary which was one of the best performances of my career, followed by Baaghi 2, which was a blockbuster. Then came Missing, a psychological thriller which is doing well on an international streaming platform. My last film, Satyameva Jayate, is a sleeper hit; viewers were whistling and clapping while listening to my dialogues and now it’s Gali Guleiyan. It has passed the test of the international audience, now we are bringing it here for Indian viewers.

Produced by Shuchi Jain of Exstant Motion Pictures, Gali Guleiyan will release in India and worldwide on September 7