Vicky Kaushal plans to spend the day with his family, hopes to give them more time post-lockdown
Titas Chowdhury (HINDUSTAN TIMES; May 16, 2020)

“I have been working on most of my birthdays over the last few years. I try and make that happen. These are tough times but this birthday is going to be special,” says Vicky Kaushal who turns 32 today.

Talking about having a low-key celebration at home, he shares, “It’s going to be different this time because it’ll be a quiet one. It is going to be all about spending time with family. I’ll also be catching up with my friends over video calls.”

The actor says that the pandemic has made him realise the value of family and being there for each other. “From this point on, it’ll be a conscious effort to give more time to them. When the Coronavirus lockdown is lifted, I’ll make sure that no matter how busy I get in life, I’ll spend ample time with them, have meals with them and talk to them rather than blaming the fast-paced life for not being there with my family,” he says.

Kaushal gets nostalgic, fondly remembering his birthday celebrations from his school days and one of his main complaints. “I used to be very upset because my birthday would fall during the summer vacations. I couldn’t wear regular clothes to school on my birthdays and distribute chocolates to the entire class. But what I remember are the sweet parties at home where I would cut cakes surrounded by my friends. That was the time when technology hadn’t advanced so much and nobody was aware of the concepts of video calls and selfies. Those celebrations felt so real because we wouldn’t be busy clicking photos for social media,” he shares.

He says that a lot has changed since his birthday in 2018. His first big hit, Raazi, recently marked two years. With gratitude, the actor says, “By God’s grace, things only got better from that point on. Raazi came out after Masaan (2015), Zubaan, Raman Raghav 2.0 (both 2016) and Love Per Square Foot (2018). Raazi presented me to a wider audience and the way it was received and the love we got was too special. It was my first experience with the mainstream and things began changing post that.”

As told to Ankita Chaurasia (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 16, 2019)

I was styling Angira Dhar who had featured opposite Vicky Kaushal in the 2018 romcom Love Per Square Foot and had met him a few times. Since he was looking for a new stylist and I was keen on increasing my clientele, I dressed him for the film’s premiere, giving him an ikat jacket in earthy tones because he always came across as down-to-earth and real. He liked the look and I jumped on board.

I like to play it elegant while still making a statement. For Vicky, too, fashion is more an extension of his personality. Since, he likes it subtle, I don’t go overboard on colours and overwhelm him. Instead I play with earthy tones like browns and yellows which resonate with his personality and add a personal touch with a little quirk. Like for Neha Dhupia’s chat show with Taapsee Pannu, I gave him a floral tee with a sporty jacket. The overall effect was playful.

Whenever I enter the menswear section, Vicky is on my mind because given his tall, toned frame, he can do justice to most clothes. It’s an altogether different issue that I have to sell them to him. Like recently I picked up these bracelets with chain detailing from an artisan bazaar and used them for a photoshoot. Since it was a more casual look, he didn’t mind and I notched up a small victory.

Vicky doesn’t like playing with colours. For an award ceremony, he’ll want a ‘nice black suit’ though I’ve already given him over 10. At the most, I’m allowed blue. Once I insisted on an all-green suit and he kept asking me if he was looking like a ‘pista’. When I give him yellow, he whines that he’s looking like a ‘Mango Duet’ and I have to constantly reassure him that he’s still Vicky. I’ve got him to wear a layer of pink and slept really well when he gave the nod to neon.

Our trial sessions are like battles. For every “no” I remind him that have a reputation to maintain. He’ll eventually growl, “Arre chal, give me a hoodie or something.” Aarrgghhh! But now we’ve reached a compromise. If I’m playing with colours, the silhouette will be classy and vice versa.

For Raazi, he wanted a little Indian, so I picked up some kurtas with draping that broke gender-specific silhouettes with asymmetrical cuts. He couldn’t stop laughing when he wore them. He is a manly man that way. We then went with a very basic shirt and trouser look, but we weren’t crazy about it. Finally, we chose some unconventional kurtas which weren’t wildly out of Vicky’s comfort zone.

For Manmarziyaan, he was more open, and we used a lot of hip-hop elements, long, over-sized tees, drop-crotch pants, hoodies and jackets with patchwork detailing. We also went with bold colours like red and green for the promotions.

The promotions of Uri: The Surgical Strike were a big win and right up Vicky’s alley. I used so much camouflage, I couldn’t stand the sight of it anymore, but he was completely at home.

Filmmaker has complained that Indian producers/distributors are being forced to pay Rs 20,000 per theatre, something Hollywood films are exempt from
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 19, 2019)

Ronnie Screwvala has filed a case with the Competition Commission of India against four multiplex chains—PVR, Inox, Cinepolis and Carnival Cinemas—as also the FICCI Multiplex Association of India for “anti-competitive collusion with respect to undue imposition of Visual Print Fee (VPF)”. In his petition the filmmaker has complained that the multiplexes make Indian film producers/distributors pay Rs 20,000 for every film screened in every theatre as VPF. He described it as a “draconian discriminatory charge that the multiplex chains are forcibly imposing”.

Following a discussion among producers, distributors and exhibitors in 2010, the process of transformation from physical prints to digital started and the fee was agreed upon to support the evolution for a period of five years till December 2015. But, according to the complaint, it was extended twice following a verbal agreement with producers and distributors with the sunset clause till December 2017. “However, they have continued collecting VPF directly from the distributors of Hindi and regional films,” the petition states, pointing out that Hollywood movies, even dubbed versions, are exempt from VPF and this gives them a competitive advantage over domestic films.

The petition brings to notice that 2016 Aamir Khan-sport drama, Dangal, produced by Disney was not charged the discriminatory fee owing to an arrangement with the foreign studio regarding the exhibition of their international films in India. “This severely limits any kind of level playing field that Indian content creators crave for.”

The petition informs he was forced to release Love Per Square Foot, digitally, as the exorbitant charges to get his film screened in the national chains were not economically viable. It reasons that while national multiplex chains are the obvious choice for a theatrical release since they control 60 per cent of the entire multiplex film exhibition business in India, given that Love Per Square Foot was made on a budget of just Rs 8 crore, the additional cost would have made it a loss-making venture, as hypothetically, the multiplexes would have earned in excess of Rs 7 crore from him as compared to his earnings of Rs 2.35 crore. “All the Indian producers on an average have to pay Rs 2 to 3 crore to the multiplexes as Visual Print Fees, if they want to release their film on 1000 to 1500 screens,” it states.

More recently he had a run-in with cineowners during the release of the Sonchiriya. He’d planned to release Sushant Singh’s dacoit drama on 505 screens in PVR, INOX, Cinepolis and Carnival. But that would have meant spending Rs 93 lakh on VPF. So he had to change his release plans.

When we reached out to Kamal Gianchandani, the CEO of PVR Cinemas, he said, “Since the matter is now sub-judice and will be under investigation there is nothing more to add at this stage.”

Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; October 13, 2018)

Actress Alankrita Sahai attributes her foray into cinema to the Miss Diva platform. In a chat with Bombay Times, the Delhi girl, who now calls Mumbai her home, talks about why she is perhaps the most unlikely beauty queen and spills the beans on her upcoming film Namaste England, starring Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra. Excerpts...

You made a successful film debut this year with a web film, Love Per Square Foot, co-starring Vicky Kaushal and you have another big release lined up, Namaste England. You must be thrilled...
I am happy for Vicky. When you see an actor you’ve worked with doing so well, it makes you happy. Everyone deserves their due. I enjoy being on a film set and I am thrilled that I have two film releases in the same year. I’ve also done a few commercials.

Your full-fledged Bollywood outing, Namaste England, seems interesting. Tell us a bit about the film and your role in it.
It’s a romcom, but not exactly a sequel to Namastey London (2007), as the story is different, but it does revolve around relationships. Love has no boundaries. When you love someone, you just love them without expecting anything in return. I play Alisha, the third angle in a love triangle. She is a Punjabi kudi in London, who’s warm, happy-go-lucky and independent. It’s a significant role, as it changes the equation between characters in the film. Arjun and Parineeti are established actors, and they are so good to work with. I am also thrilled and grateful to have bagged a three-film deal with Vipul Shah, who has allowed me to work on other films simultaneously.

Did winning the Miss Diva Earth 2014 title help you pave the way for films?
Miss Diva gave me a platform to showcase my talent and my name. I definitely wanted to do films and the pageant was a step towards that goal. My parents always told me, ‘Naam kamaa, paisa khud aayega.’ The pageant gave me an identity. It opened several doors for me. If you are not from the film industry, you need to work a lot more than the others. You have to go step by step, as it’s unlikely that you will get a film directly.

Representing your country at Miss Earth 2014 in Philippines must have been a valuable experience...
When I was a kid, my mom gave me a diary and told me to write what I wanted to become when I grew up. I wanted to be an IAS officer back then and hoped to serve the country and make India proud. As luck would have it, I got to represent my nation at Miss Earth. My mom reminded me, ‘You wanted to do something for the country and you are now doing it in a different way.’

From the girl-next-door to a beauty queen, what was your biggest challenge?
I was into dramatics and extracurricular activities from the beginning, so stage fright never bothered me. I wasn’t worried about being in shape either as I am a health freak and was always into sports. What made me nervous was the hair, makeup and dressing part. I was a total tomboy in school, as I grew up with the boys. Till date, I don’t know how to paint my nails.

What has been your life’s biggest learning so far?
Rejection. I have learned a lot more from rejection than from success. It changes your attitude and for good, sometimes. You have to be patient and be a people’s person. Also, be yourself and love yourself. As women, let’s empower each other instead of being judgemental. Let’s not make it easier for men to pull us down.

Vicky Kaushal on playing an army officer in Meghna Gulzar’s espionage-thriller, Raazi, and interacting with the ‘cool’ Alia Bhatt
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 24, 2018)

Three years after Vicky Kaushal, 29, cropped up on cinephiles’ radar as one of the troubled protagonists in Neeraj Ghaywan’s 2015 directorial debut, Masaan, the actor is gearing up for the release of his first film with an A-list heroine — Meghna Gulzar’s Raazi alongside Alia Bhatt. Excerpts from an interview:

What was it like to play an army officer for the first time?
Meghna told me not to read the book (Calling Sehmat, on which the film is based) because of its expansive narrative. For the film, she chose a particular journey from it and wanted me to treat the script as the only blueprint for my character, Iqbal. It was a learning experience because there is more to Iqbal than just being a Major in the Pakistani army. It was important to understand his emotional side. Also, studying the hierarchy of the army, the significance of each medal, the maroon beret, it was all a first for me.

As a team, we all got to know of anonymous people who strive to safeguard us because that’s their top priority in life. It’s the riskiest, most thankless job ever. Like Meghna did with Talvar, which I thought was 2015’s finest film, she chose a subject that required its characters to walk on thin ice. Not many realise how huge a responsibility it is to even attempt making a film like this. Not many directors are capable of achieving this feat.

The Junglee Pictures and Dharma Productions’ film revolves around Alia Bhatt’s Sehmat, an Indian spy who is the wife of a Pakistani army officer. Did you have any inhibitions or prejudices about working with an A-list actress?
Raazi was an experience like none other because I got to work with two of the most incredible women I know — Meghna and Alia. I don’t need to tell anyone how good an actress Alia is; her body of work speaks for itself. Sehmat is definitely the toughest character she has played till date and she’s pulled it off in an incredible way with immense hard work.

What I admire most about her is that even though she’s a leading star today, she doesn’t wrap herself up in a bubble. She is comfortable and cool, easy to bond with, and always makes sure to lift the performances of her co-stars.

Shooting in the Valley must have been equally exciting…
We had filmed the interior sequences in Mumbai and Patiala and were shooting exteriors across Kashmir, which was a first for me. The locals are hospitable, the sights mind-blowing and we were continuously hogging on local delicacies. On my only day off, I trekked to the Aru Valley, uphill of Pahalgam, and I want to go back there.

Buzz is, you’re taking off to Serbia for your next, Uri, after Raazi hits screens on May 11.
Yes, I immediately jump into my next based on the Uri attacks. It’s a story everyone should know about because it’s one of the Indian army’s best operations conducted with valour and efficiency. It feels wonderful to be working on another Ronnie Screwvala production after Love Per Square Foot brought me fan mail from Brazil and Argentina, among other countries where Hindi films are not popular but the issues of space constraints are. I connected with the film because of my father’s (action director Sham Kaushal) own struggles of finding a house in Mumbai. I rediscovered my city through the film. When it was made available online across 190 countries on Valentine’s Day, it felt great to be a torchbearer for Hindi cinema globally.

You have another love story coming up with Aanand L Rai’s Manmarziyaan, directed by Anurag Kashyap. The microphone changed so many hands before it finally went on floors the second time…
I was a part of this film right from the beginning and in every director’s version. Every film has its own destiny and we’re all happy with how Manmarziyaan has shaped up. The story is fresh, and even though it’s up Anurag’s ally, there is so much he’s doing for the first time. My character has shades of comedy, romance, drama...

You’ve also completed Karan Johar’s short as part of the Lust Stories anthology. What was the experience like?
When Karan directs, there is a rare energy on the set. It’s like a big mela — no stress, lots of excitement. No one’s worrying about production issues. Once, the DoP was going to take another hour to set up the light and the entire crew and Kiara (Advani, co-star) just hung out on set. I was pleasantly surprised to discover how strong Karan’s comic timing is. When he narrated portions of the film to me, I was bowled over. I told him he was hilarious and that he needs to direct a full-fledged comedy next. But he brushed it off with “ya ya”. He’s a lovely, modest filmmaker and that’s inspiring for a new guy like me.

For an actor who found acclaim with Neeraj Ghaywan’s indie darling Masaan, you’ve come a long way in commercial cinema.
I don’t believe in labelling myself, and I don’t want to set boundaries for myself. I want to be instinctive... my job is to perform with all my heart.

Harshada Rege (DNA; February 24, 2018)

Vicky Kaushal’s work in movies like Masaan and Raman Raghav 2.0 won a lot of praise. This year, the actor stepped into a new zone by being part of the first Indian film made for a digital streaming platform. The actor was seen in Love Per Square Foot, the quirky romantic comedy that premiered on Netflix recently. His future projects — Raazi and the Sanjay Dutt biopic — will see him sharing screen space with Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor, respectively. We caught up with the actor to talk about his digital film debut, future plans, and love for the big screen.

This is India’s first film that was screened directly on a digital platform. Are you happy with the response that it has got?
It’s special because it’s a new thought that you conceive and try to execute. You are working every day for 16-17 hours over two months. Eventually, when it reaches the audience in around 190 countries, it’s a great feeling. Getting messages from people of countries with whom you have never interacted before is amazing. They don’t know much about Indian cinema, but when they watch your film and tell you that they have liked it, that means a lot.

Has it been any different from how you would shoot a film meant for the big screen?
Not really. Every film has its own challenges. With a film like Raman Raghav 2.0, the space is so intense that playing that character is tiresome. Then there are movies like Masaan, where you are so restricted by the budget and there’s so much to shoot, that it’s a challenge to make it. With a movie like Love Per Square Foot, the content is light and breezy, but when you have to cover a city like Mumbai, which is almost like an important character here, you have to face different kinds of difficulties. However, these are also the things that you enjoy. When a team takes up the task of making a movie, it can be difficult and tiresome, but you are happy to get a chance to tell the story that you want to. As artistes, we are always up for such a challenge.

Unlike your earlier films — Masaan and Raman Raghav 2.0 — which were intense, this is a light-hearted movie. Was that the reason you took it up?
It definitely was. This was a genre that I hadn’t explored as an actor. Also, when I heard the narration from director Anand Tiwari, everything worked. The story, the character, the humour...I was smiling throughout the narration. The story is so relatable. It’s one of those stories, which we see around us all the time, but nobody has narrated it. The dream of finding a house in Mumbai is something that people are talking about constantly or it’s on their minds. Here we managed to convey that struggle in a fun and humourous manner.

Do you see yourself doing more work on digital platforms?
A film has to suit the medium. It’s about getting a chance to be a part of a good story. The point is to reach the audience. The trend is changing... you never know, eventually a majority of films might be made for digital platforms. But I dreamt of being part of cinema because I have seen actors on the big screen. That’s the reason I wanted to be an actor. So. my dream of being on the big screen will never die.

Considering you are new in Bollywood, wasn’t it a risk to invest your time in a film that would be seen on a streaming channel?
When we shot the film, it was meant to have a theatrical release. Yeh decided nahi tha ke iska final release kis medium pe hone wala hai. Eventually, when I got to know that it would release on a digital platform, obviously, we asked questions. But producer Ronnie (Screwvala) sir has an extraordinary vision. He understands the trends well. He explained it all to us, and now we are reaping its benefits.

Weren’t you apprehensive that you are investing your time into a film, which won’t have a theatrical release?
By the time the decision was taken to stream it on a digital platform, we had made the film. Whenever a new trend sets in, you do have a lot of questions. You are trying to understand the trend as an audience yourself. Almost all of us are subscribing to digital platforms and are hooked on to their content. When you know that you are the first Indian film to come out on this platform, it’s a huge honour. Its reach is immense, not just in India, but across the globe. That people around the world are going to judge Indian cinema on the basis of this film is a huge responsibility. We are happy that people are reacting in a positive manner.

How did Ranbir Kapoor’s cameo happen?
That was the time when I was just locked for the Dutt biopic. We used to sit for workshops when I was finishing this film. Ronnie sir and a few other people from the crew had worked with Ranbir before. They made a call and he was sweet enough to agree to come on board.

You are working with Ranbir in the Dutt biopic and Alia Bhatt in Raazi...
It’s been wonderful working with both of them. They are great to work with and really secure as actors and human beings. Working with them is easy as they don’t have starry airs... They don’t carry any extra baggage. They just come on the sets and do their job like the rest of the crew. When your co-actors are amazing, your work shines. So, it’s wonderful to act with them.

Are you playing Gulshan Grover’s character in the Dutt biopic?
No, I’m not playing Gulshan Grover. I play a very close friend of Sanjay Dutt. I can’t divulge much about my role.

Sonia Lulla (MID-DAY; February 10, 2018)

Given that news about him venturing into alternate fields — including tech education, health and sports — garnered interest over the past few years, reports of Ronnie Screwvala turning his attention to entertainment by launching an array of debutante directors raised many eyebrows.

Speculation around the reason behind his decision to back new talent was quick to be made. But the entrepreneur dismisses suggestions by reflecting on his own journey in Bollywood. “I’m backing new artistes because, for most part of my journey, I felt like an outsider in Bollywood,” he says alluding to the opportunities he can give those who find themselves in his place.

Screwvala isn’t a harsh critic of the quality of content being churned out by industry bigwigs. His desire to support debutante filmmakers has little to do with such assumed apathy, he says. “Of course, we’re trying to encourage better storylines, but that doesn’t mean I am not working with the big players in the industry. The new league of directors has simply come to me with great stories. So, why would I not support them,” he questions.

The first venture from this assortment, Anand Tiwari’s romance-comedy, Love Per Square Foot, is gearing up for a Netflix release later this month. Attribute it to Tiwari’s vast experience in the industry, or the skills he displayed as director on the set, but Screwvala makes his trust in him evident. Directors, suggests the producer, can decide the fate of a film with their prowess. “When Anurag [Basu] came to me with the script of Barfi!, he gave me a 15 minute narration. That’s it! I asked him about it, and he said, ‘Well, that’s all I have because the actor can’t speak.’ But, he made the film [as successful as it is] due to his vision and visual storytelling ability.”

He doesn’t negate the fact that there is scope for improvement in the scripts being greenlit by filmmakers, but is quick to add that it is a “work in progress”. “We’re getting there,” he shrugs. For now, Screwvala celebrates the fact that the depleting obsession with stars is becoming increasingly evident. The biggest testimony of this trend, he says, is the recognition received by unconventional actors at a recently concluded awards gala. “[This show] usually harboured a love for stars, but it celebrated works by artistes like Rajkummar Rao, Konkona Sen Sharma and Irrfan Khan this year.”

While films featuring A-listers receive attention, they form only a small part of the work being done in Bollywood, he says. “Such films [ featuring stars] comprise only 20 per cent of the releases. There’s another 80 per cent, which is also being consumed in abundance by viewers.”

MUMBAI MIRROR (February 7, 2018)

Entrepreneur and media mogul Ronnie Screwvala, in his first avatar at UTV, backed many first-time directors and pushed the established ones out of their comfort zone to build India’s largest movie studio back then.

RSVP, his new avatar at the movies, is following in the same footsteps if the line-up of debutant directors signed up with them is anything to go by. Diverse and creative talent with strong scripts is the formula for movie going audiences today and RSVP seems ready to disrupt this space again.

“We want RSVP to stand for three kinds of storytelling — stories that must be told, stories that we would love to tell and stories that everyone goes to the movies for. Along with some other exceptional talent we are very proud to associate with some promising debutante directors and writers who see the narrative as we do,” says Screwvala.



THE SEVEN FILMMAKERS

Anand Tiwari
With vast experience in the world of films, advertising and theatre, Anand makes his directorial debut with RSVP’s Love Per Square Foot, featuring Vicky Kaushal and Angira Dhar. It premieres this Valentine’s Day across 190 countries on OTT platforms.

Akarsh Khurana
Akarsh has been a part of theatre for over 15 years and has written screenplays for Anurag Basu and Rakesh Roshan. His directorial debut — RSVP’s Karwaan featuring Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan and Mithila Palkar — releases in theaters worldwide on June 1.

Sneha Taurani
After working as an assistant director with Ayan Mukerji, Milan Luthria, Mohit Suri and others, Sneha, daughter of Tips Music founder Ramesh Taurani, is all set to make her debut as a director with RSVP’s Dance Franchise — the first of which will be a Bhangra film written by award-winning Punjabi writer Dheeraj Rattan.

Aditya Dhar
Aditya has served as an assistant to Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rohan Sippy, Priyadarshan and Vishal Bhardwaj. He has also written story, screenplay and dialogues for the National Awardwinning Short film Boond and lyrics for Kabul Express. RSVP’s URI, which revolves around the landmark moment of 2016 in India’s military history featuring Vicky Kaushal, marks his directorial debut.

Vandana Kataria
Vandana won a FilmFare Award as Production Designer for Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, was selected and participated in the Berinale Talent Campus 2016, and is currently working on Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy. RSVP’s Tara Ki Shaadi, a heart-warming but brutally honest tale about Tara and set around her wedding plans will be Vandana’s first feature film as writer and director.

Amit Joshi
After moving to Mumbai from Nanital four years ago, Amit wrote the highly acclaimed film, Trapped, which recently got nominated for Best original story and Best Screenplay at the Filmfare awards. Amit now makes his directorial debut at RSVP with a comic-adventure about two buddies who embark on a crazy ride.

Vasan Bala
Vasan is an award-winning ad filmmaker, who assisted Anurag Kashyap for a decade, was an associate on Michael Winterbottom’s Trishna and co-wrote The Lunchbox. His first film Peddlers (2012) competed for the Camera D’or at Cannes. He now directs RSVP’s Mard Ko Dard Nahin Hota.

In addition to the debutants, RSVP also has some of the industry’s top directors, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, Anurag Kashyap and Karan Johar making four short stories on Love And Lust. Then, there’s Abhishek Chaubey directing Sonchiriya, Meghna Gulzar’s next after Raazi — a biopic on Field Marshall Sam Maneckshaw, Hansal Mehta’s biopic on Ram Jethmalani and veteran Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s kabaddi film for RSVP. Shashank Ghosh (of Khubsoorat and Veere di Wedding fame), Amit Masurkar (Newton), Konkona Sen Sharma (A Death In The Gunj), Anu Menon (Waiting) and Sankalp Reddy (The Ghazi Attack) sum up what promises to be the most exciting slate to come out of a production house in the next couple of years.

Anand Tiwari, now the first Indian director to find Netflix release, talks of shifting personalities around the camera
Kusumita Das (MID-DAY; December 3, 2017)

In a game-changing move for the Hindi film industry, Anand Tiwari has become the first Indian to make his directorial debut on Netflix. The film, a Mumbai rom-com titled Love Per Square Foot, will release on the global streaming platform early next year. For acclaimed actor Tiwari, who wore the director’s hat for several short films and the hit web series Bang Baajaa Baaraat, this film marks his entry into feature films as director.

The 34-year-old, who grew up in Matunga West, has incorporated 34 locations in Mumbai in a filming period of 50 days. “I am a Mumbai boy and for this film, we have shot in locations that have not been explored in films before. Like for instance, the railway colonies of Lower Parel and Dahisar. We have shot throughout the city. Our first day was at the Gateway of India while we wrapped up in Naigaon,” he says.

The story revolves around a couple that enters into a marriage of convenience in order to buy a house in Mumbai. “Their love becomes transactional. I believe that in the urban space, we deal with interesting and complex relationships that we like to call ‘love’. Therefore, the irony of the title, ‘Love Per Square Foot’. The story draws from many personal experiences, as well as the lives of those around me. Growing up, our ideas of romance was courtesy everything between classic novels to right up to Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge or Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Love, nowadays, is anything but unconditional; there’s a lot of questioning that goes on and the conflicts are far more internal than external,” Tiwari says.

Even as the film tackles these thought-provoking subjects, he insists that it is a funny telling throughout. While Vicky Kaushal and Angira Dhar play the central couple, they are supported by a stellar cast comprising Raghubir Yadav, Ratna Pathak Shah and Supriya Pathak. Explaining how he is as a director, Tiwari says, “I am a very sweet actor; I cannot say the same about me as a director. I’m a complete Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. But, then, I am a Gemini — I am allowed to be two people.”

However, calling the shots while working with veterans may have felt strange at times. “Sometimes I would walk back to the monitor thinking, ‘Did I just ask Raghubir Yadav to redo a scene?’”

With Shah, the roles had reversed. “We have done theatre together, where I was the student and she, the teacher. For this film, the role reversal was as smooth as it gets. It’s a revelation how receptive veterans get with age. They are just like students. Vicky, Angira and I would just watch them in awe,” he adds.

Being an actor primarily, Tiwari feels he can understand his actors better when compared to pure directors, or people who come into direction from other professions. “I know what an actor is going through; if there’s a problem, I get to the reason faster. And most often, it has got nothing to do with filming. It could be a vanity van parked too far, or a fight at home.”

For Tiwari, heart scores over skill. “In cinema, the camera is so close to you, that if you’re not in the moment, it shows. No amount of skill can cover that. I never let my actors give me skill. I insist on heart. And, as an actor myself, I know when one’s heart is not in it.”

Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 17, 2017)

The filmmaker’s first production in three years is a romcom featuring Vicky Kaushal and Angira Dhar
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 11, 2017)

Ronnie Screwvala, who in January 2014 exited the media and entertainment company UTV which he had founded in 1990, is back at the movies with a new production. Titled Love Per Square Foot, the film is directed by Anand Tiwari, who co-wrote the script with Permanent Roommates breakout star Sumeet Vyas. The romcom features Vicky Kaushal and Angira Dhar as the leads. It wrapped up towards the end of January after a 50-day schedule and Ronnie hopes to release the film later this year.

After Neeraj Ghaywan’s critically acclaimed directorial debut, Masaan, and Anurag Kashyap’s dark drama about a psycho killer, Raman Raghav 2.0, for the first time, Vicky is playing a fun character in an entertaining film. “It’s a romantic story peppered with comedy about a boy and girl trying to find a house in Mumbai. I hadn’t been a part of a happy film before this so I had a ball shooting for this one. My character, Sanjay, is ambitious and street-smart,” says the 28-year-old actor as he reminisces about his own family graduating from a 10x10 room in Malad to a one BHK, followed by a two BHK and, finally, their present sprawling apartment in Andheri.

The film was shot across Mumbai, from SoBo till beyond the suburbs of Mira Road. It is almost entirely shot on real locations. “What I found most intriguing is that the lifestyle and milieu changed every 10 km. I remember shooting in the North of the city where there were many fishermen and nobody gave a damn about us. But shooting in Parel was a task as many people turned up to see us. Anand is a Matunga boy himself and knows the city like the back of his hand,” the actor informs.

Now that his repertoire boasts of a fun film to offset the bleakness of his previous hits, can he say he likes playing one kind of character over the other? “To be honest, after every film that I do, I want the mental space to go on. After Masaan I was enjoying the intense space and after Raman Raghav 2.0, I felt aggression had its own charm,” Vicky says.

Mirror (February 27) had earlier reported that Bombay Talkies directors, Karan Johar, Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar and Dibakar Banerjee, would reunite for another as-yet-untitled project, similar in format but not a sequel to the 2013 anthology film. It will be produced by Ronnie and Ashi Dua. However, so far only Zoya is ready with her short film.