Film Industry: I MAY NOT HAVE COME INTO FILMS HAD MY PARENTS NOT DIVORCED Vikramaditya Motwane

I MAY NOT HAVE COME INTO FILMS HAD MY PARENTS NOT DIVORCED Vikramaditya Motwane

I MAY NOT HAVE COME INTO FILMS HAD MY PARENTS NOT DIVORCED

Vikramaditya Motwane, 36, considers himself emotional, but a little self-centred. He was quite stubborn earlier, but over time, has learnt to pick his battles. His first film Udaan won him many accolades. His second outing as a filmmaker, Lootera, is a love story set against the backdrop of the Bengali zamindars in the 1950s. His mother being a Bengali, it was a world he knew, but he also read up a lot to bring in the authenticity of that era. The love stories at that time had innocence, given the absence of the internet and the mobile phone as a means to communicate, leaving no other option but face-to-face communication. He talks to Bombay Times about the perfectionist, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, pop expert Ranveer Singh and why he may not have become a filmmaker had his parents not divorced. Excerpts:
How did you come into films? My father is a Sindhi and my mother, a Bengali. I was born in Mumbai and brought up between Mumbai and Nashik. My dad used to have a factory of electronic measuring instruments in Nashik, where he lived close to the factory, so we would visit him over the weekends. Post my parents’ divorce, when I was 10, my mother Deepa Motwane took up a job as a line producer with documentary filmmaker Shukla Das, who was a cousin of hers. When I was 17, she did a TV talk show and I helped her with research and assisted her as she was also producing that show. Initially, I wanted to become an engineer and used to get bored watching shootings until I got involved. After that, I started enjoying it. Sanjay Leela Bhansali used to assist Shukla Das while my mom was with him and so, I knew Sanjay. I was the assistant on the TV show for three years, after which I came to assist Sanjay on Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas. I then assisted Deepa Mehta on Water, where I met Anurag Kashyap, who was writing the dialogues for the film. I then assisted Anurag on Paanch after which I directed my first film, Udaan, in 2010. Did your parents’ divorce affect you as a child? It does hurt that your parents are not together and they are fighting. Looking back, I grew up a little quicker than I would have normally. I spent half the week with my mom and half with my dad. It took a while but then you get used to it, so it does put a bit of attention on you at school. I am glad my parents had a divorce and they spent that time apart, as today they have a really healthy relationship. Looking at it selfishly, had they not got divorced, my mom would probably not have taken up a job and I may not have become a filmmaker.
Your wife Ishika is a photographer and works with you. How did you meet her? We studied together at Jamnabai Narsee School and started seeing each other from Class IX when we were 13 years of age. She has a lovely laugh, is really sweet and very pretty. Her dad was a pilot, so I remember she was the girl who always had the fancy cheese and Coke cans in school. We broke up in between for a year, but realised how much we loved each other and have now been married past eight years.
Who are you most attached to? My wife. We have known each other for a long time and have grown up together and are friends first. We are not afraid to criticise each other and she is my biggest critic.
How was your experience assisting Sanjay Leela Bhansali? I have pretty much learnt everything I know about filmmaking from Sanjay. I worked for 2,500 per month for twoand-a-half years, eight days a week, but at the end of it, Hum Dil Chuke Sanam was my film school. It was one of the last films edited on the steembeck. Sanjay is passionate to a fault. And over a period of time, I have developed his traits of wanting to have a sense of control on everything you want to do in a film. Trying to be a perfectionist and sitting on every small detail of the film is what I have learnt from him. He works really hard himself and he inspires you to do that. Also, he gave me a lot of responsibility as his assistant so you learnt a lot by making mistakes.
How is Anurag Kashyap? He is one of the most encouraging and open people you will find and he loves to encourage talent. Even today, he has 14 assistant directors on his set in Bombay Velvet. He loves to see talent grow in front of him and do well.
Let’s talk about your lead cast of Lootera,Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha? Ranveer is an outgoing, garrulous, fun guy at one level, but he also has another side that is really chilled out, where he can just sit and watch movies at home. He is observant, sharp and has a knowledge bank in his head, which you will be shocked to know. His knowledge of pop culture references go way back and he can sing a full Baba Sehgal song, which is shocking for his generation, as he must have watched it in his childhood and remembers it. Sonakshi is fabulous and refreshing.