Mahesh Bhatt, Suhrita Das SPILL Bollywood Secrets, Share Tu Meri Poori Kahani's Saga

Name: Mahesh Bhatt, Suhrita Das SPILL Bollywood Secrets, Share Tu Meri Poori Kahani's Saga | Table For Two
Uploaded: 2026-02-06T19:55:56+00:00
Duration: 1 h 1 min 46 s
Channel: Creator Connect

Creator Connect

Here’s the full episode of Table for Two – Episode 12 featuring acclaimed filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and Tu Meri Poori Kahani’s director Suhrita Das. Dive into candid conversations about Bollywood secrets, behind-the-scenes stories, and the creative journey of making memorable films.

Mahesh Bhatt shares his insights on storytelling, mentorship, and the evolution of Indian cinema, while Suhrita Das reveals the challenges and inspirations behind her directorial venture. From the power of music in films to personal anecdotes and lessons for aspiring filmmakers, this episode is a treasure trove for cinema lovers.

00:00 - 01:51 Opening doors to new talent in film industry
01:52 - 03:10 Changes in content consumption
03:11 - 04:55 Launching new actors, technicians, and musical talents
04:56 - 06:43 Vision behind alternate cinema and music direction
06:44 - 07:42 Discovery of lead actor Arhan’s authenticity
07:43 - 09:17 Lead actress Hani’s dedication and challenges
09:18 - 11:02 Real-life connection with characters and industry openness
11:03 - 12:26 Reverse mentoring: young teaching the old
12:27 - 14:38 Respecting mentees’ uniqueness and creative freedom
14:39 - 15:31 Audacity of younger generation in redefining cinema
15:32 - 16:32 Challenges and boundaries in mentoring careers
16:33 - 18:04 Recognizing hidden potential in mentees
18:05 - 19:48 Celebrating actress Shabbana’s defining film journey
19:49 - 21:18 Mentorship during doubts and setbacks
21:19 - 22:14 Supporting filmmakers facing adversity
22:15 - 24:09 Nurturing talent with patience and authenticity
24:10 - 25:56 Balancing popular cinema with authentic themes
25:57 - 27:58 Fame addiction and love vs ambition in the film
27:59 - 30:23 Actress’ conflict over love and ambition
30:24 - 32:12 Nature of love and its timing
32:13 - 34:17 The concept of tough love in personal growth
34:18 - 36:44 Letting go as part of true mentorship
36:45 - 38:19 Music’s vital role in Indian cinema storytelling
38:20 - 40:14 Emotional power and universality of music
40:15 - 42:25 Music director Anu Malik’s resurgence and influence
42:26 - 45:14 Audience emotional engagement with music
45:15 - 48:49 Favorite genres and impact of intimate cinema
48:50 - 52:31 Interactive segment: filmmaking memories and advice
52:32 - 56:36 Stories of public recognition and personal reflections
56:37 - 01:01:46 Emerging talents and future of Indian cinema

Credits:
Host: Shizaa Arshad Khan
Direction & Production: Gouri Prabhakar
Cinematography: PK Photography & Team
HMU: Ankita Ingale
Editors: George C Alex and Sajin Raj
Editorial Head: Sunita Iyer

#TableForTwo #MaheshBhatt #SuhritaDas #TuMeriPooriKahani #ArhaanPateel #Bollywood #Entertainment #IndianCinema #Cinema #Director #Interview #entertainmentnews #bollywoodnews

🔊 LIKE ➡ SHARE ➡ SUBSCRIBE

Download the Asianet News App now!

Available on Android & iOS

👉 Android:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vserv.asianet&hl=en_IN

👉 iOS:
https://apps.apple.com/in/app/asianet-news-official/id1093450032

For More Updates:

Follow us on our What's app Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va5Bq3yKwqSLSQTxam0r

English: https://newsable.asianetnews.com/

Hindi: https://hindi.asianetnews.com/

Malayalam: https://www.asianetnews.com/

Kannada: https://kannada.asianetnews.com/

Tamil: https://tamil.asianetnews.com/

Telugu: https://telugu.asianetnews.com/

Bengali: https://bangla.asianetnews.com/

Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AsianetNewsa...

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AsianetNewsEN

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ann.newsable/

➡ If you like our video, give us a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel to get the daily dosage of news, entertainment, sports and more.

Category

🗞

News

Transcript

Display full video transcript

00:00:00Film industry, the entertainment industry looked like a fortress

00:00:04that you couldn't penetrate.

00:00:06Now, there's a kind of willingness of people, makers,

00:00:11to open their doors to fresh people.

00:00:15We've launched directors, we've launched actors.

00:00:18Sushmita Singh, Vikram Bhatt, Arana Ashwin, Johnny Braham.

00:00:23So, where does a mentor draw the line?

00:00:27See, there's something that you see in a person.

00:00:30Let's talk about belief-bearing.

00:00:32Alhan and Hirani, right?

00:00:34When you saw them, what made you think that they've got it in them, a spark?

00:00:39I did not want to look for a boy.

00:00:41You know the so-called standard way they look or the way they speak?

00:00:45I wanted someone who had a little fingerprint of life on him.

00:00:49So, when I met her, I told her that,

00:00:50Dear, I have a love story, I'm going to come to you first.

00:00:53Good filmmaker of today's day and time,

00:00:55Anurag Kashyap, who was about to give up the lentil money,

00:00:58and you said, continue doing what you're doing,

00:01:00because you're good at it.

00:01:02No, because this industry tires you.

00:01:05Yeah.

00:01:06It kind of, it pushes you to the edge, you know,

00:01:10of your abilities.

00:01:14To deal with these fast-changing realities like this.

00:01:18What is your favourite genre to watch as a viewer?

00:01:22At this stage of my life, I'm not a great consumer of content,

00:01:28unless I'm told by somebody.

00:01:30Now, there's OTT, there's short-format videos, there's reels,

00:01:34and with that, people's attention span and their liking of content

00:01:38has also shifted over time.

00:01:40So, how do you sort of like weave it all together?

00:01:46Hi everybody, this is Shiza Khan,

00:01:48and today I have very special people with me.

00:01:51One is a legendary filmmaker, producer, a touch-bearer,

00:01:55who's not only made amazing films, but has shaped many careers as well.

00:01:59And along with him, joining me is Surita Das,

00:02:03who is the director of the upcoming film,

00:02:06Tumai Puri Kahani, that's releasing on September 26th.

00:02:10She's his new protégé, who brings new vision to the Bhatti legacy.

00:02:15Welcome to Table for Two.

00:02:17Thank you so much.

00:02:18So, first of all, let's talk about the film itself.

00:02:25A very important question that I have for most of you,

00:02:29and whoever would like to answer first.

00:02:32One thing I want to know is that you all are launching two new faces.

00:02:37Three.

00:02:38Three new faces, along with the director, of course.

00:02:41Actually four, because there's also a brilliant lyric writer,

00:02:44called Shweta Bhotra, who comes from Indore.

00:02:47You're also a writer.

00:02:49It's actually four.

00:02:50Four.

00:02:51Grand.

00:02:52Four.

00:02:53Actually five.

00:02:54Five.

00:02:55The number increases.

00:02:57Okay.

00:02:58So three actors.

00:02:59Three actors, two technicians, and one new singer.

00:03:03Wow.

00:03:04That's lovely.

00:03:05Let's talk about the lead pairing.

00:03:07Okay.

00:03:08Alhan and Hirani, right?

00:03:10So, when you saw them, what made you think, like, that they've caught it in them, the spark in them?

00:03:17I'll reply that question there, because the choice was made by her.

00:03:21It was your choice?

00:03:22To begin with then, Shiza, I'll have to tell you.

00:03:24The choice, she imposed her will.

00:03:28Ah.

00:03:29I said, I don't know about the capacity of the boy to act, but, but, but, but she looked there.

00:03:38So, I'll have to tell you about the discipline of Batsabh's writing guru.

00:03:42Okay.

00:03:43I came to write with him about 10 years back, and I came essentially to start writing.

00:03:48Because I was very taken over by his book, A Taste of Life, which is a candid confession

00:03:54of his, of the last eight or nine days that he spent before the passing away of his guru,

00:03:59U.J. Krishnamurti.

00:04:00Not a bad word guru.

00:04:01Teacher, father, master.

00:04:02Teacher, father, philosopher, guide, U.J. Krishnamurti.

00:04:06So, I felt I'm wasting myself saying I'm trying to write in Calcutta.

00:04:12So, I had to move to Broadway and start writing with him.

00:04:16So, television, film scripts, whatever, we were continuously writing.

00:04:20Shweta joined us four years back.

00:04:22Shweta was working in Vikram's company at that time as a dialogue writer.

00:04:25Vikram Bhat.

00:04:26Vikram Bhat.

00:04:27Yeah.

00:04:28And she's a poet.

00:04:29Okay.

00:04:30So, Bhatsabh had this vision instantly that you are a poet.

00:04:32You will write lyrics.

00:04:33You, you will be a lyricist.

00:04:35And here in Vikram's company, as you would know, they have been doing horror.

00:04:41They've been doing crime.

00:04:42So, the idea of starting an alternate stream of cinema came both from Vikram Bhat and Bhatsabh.

00:04:49Let's start an alternate stream of cinema.

00:04:51Center will be love, emotional stories and new talent.

00:04:55Launching a lot of new talent.

00:04:56Also musical.

00:04:57Yes.

00:04:58So, Vikram said a new girl, a new boy, a new director and great music.

00:05:03So, Bhatsabh said, music who?

00:05:06Because by then, you know, this buffet of five or six music directors playing to one film

00:05:12had come in.

00:05:13But it was Vikram's vision.

00:05:14He said, Anumalik.

00:05:15No one else but Anumalik.

00:05:16Yeah.

00:05:17So, that started off.

00:05:19By then, we had almost three months off on the race course of already writing the script.

00:05:25So, because I have made a transition from writing to film direction, I am very sure about

00:05:31the characters.

00:05:32When they are, when we are writing them, when they come to us, I am already visually seeing

00:05:37something.

00:05:38And I must say that with the character of Rohan, who is the hero in the film.

00:05:44Yes.

00:05:45I did not want to look for a boy.

00:05:48You know, the so-called standard way they look or the way they speak.

00:05:52I wanted someone who had a little fingerprint of life on him.

00:05:56So, I met him.

00:05:57I randomly kept meeting a lot of actors because, you know, so many of them come to meet Bhatsaap.

00:06:05And he always says, keep in touch with her.

00:06:07Yeah.

00:06:08So, when I met Arhan, he spoke about his hometown in Sehor, interior of Madhya Pradesh.

00:06:13I know Sehor.

00:06:14Yes.

00:06:15And his father has been in the, in the police service itself, but he's been a constable

00:06:20and he's been that all his life.

00:06:22So, his, his upbringing has been very stark and simple.

00:06:25He came here to do marketing jobs in one way.

00:06:28And people noticed him and say that everyone wants to be an actor.

00:06:32How come you have never tried it?

00:06:34Correct.

00:06:35So, when he told me the story of his and he was in tears, he said that, please don't

00:06:39ask me if I ever wanted to be an actor because I come from a place where I can't even tell

00:06:43myself I wanted to be an actor, but this is what I always wanted to do.

00:06:47So, I told sir that I don't vouch for the acting skills, but that person whom the camera

00:06:54is going to capture, whom we are going to stay with in the schedule and through the making

00:06:58of the film, I have found that person.

00:07:00Wow.

00:07:01If you find that person, you can later move into the actor or into the scenes.

00:07:06Yeah.

00:07:07So, that is how Arhan was found.

00:07:09Hiranya, I would say she is a, she is a totally devoted high priestess of just love for

00:07:16acting.

00:07:17Yeah.

00:07:18She moved from Delhi at 15 and she moved with her family's consent, of course.

00:07:23She stays here in a hotel in Bombay with her boa.

00:07:26Yeah.

00:07:27And she just learns acting from various places and keeps looking for that one role.

00:07:32So, when I met her, I had narrated another story to her, which was at that point of time

00:07:37on the top of my consciousness.

00:07:39And she had the courage to come back and tell me, I love your story and I really hope you

00:07:43make it.

00:07:44But I am too scared that I will not be able to portray this character.

00:07:47Wow.

00:07:48So, that stand of hers stayed with me.

00:07:50That if a girl is, when she's not even started, she can say that I'm sorry, but I don't want

00:07:54to make a start with this.

00:07:56Then there's certainly something in her.

00:07:58So, I told her the day I have a love story, I'm going to come to you first.

00:08:02Yeah.

00:08:03And I asked her to come.

00:08:05I usually narrated the story to her.

00:08:07In this room, I narrated to her.

00:08:09And she was like, yes, yes, yes.

00:08:11I love this.

00:08:12I love this.

00:08:13So, then I brought them to serve and I said, this is Anika.

00:08:16This is my Rohan.

00:08:17These are the two people who are going to play this.

00:08:20So, in the beginning, there were hiccups.

00:08:23I won't say there were not hiccups, but I have to give it to them.

00:08:26They were devoted.

00:08:27And they were all, we were all like in one circuit, you know.

00:08:30Shweta, me, sir, the actors, the R.D.O.P. Shayupattacharya.

00:08:34We used to be just in one circuit and it used to feel like you can't point out one person

00:08:39is doing it.

00:08:40We used to be all in one rhythm, one current.

00:08:42And it just happened.

00:08:44Yeah.

00:08:45Wow.

00:08:46That's a great story.

00:08:47You know, like how you actually read it, where everybody comes from.

00:08:51That means you are deeply in touch, not just with the characters of your film, but also

00:08:56in the real life persona and everything.

00:08:59Yes.

00:09:00I mean, that speaks volumes about the kind of-

00:09:03That's the new component that has come into the film industry.

00:09:09You know, you must understand there are a lot of new people who, until some time ago, the

00:09:16film industry, the entertainment industry looked like a fortress.

00:09:20They couldn't penetrate.

00:09:22Now, there's a kind of willingness of people, makers, to open their doors to fresh people.

00:09:32And, I personally feel that whatever is new into the music and the lyrics, it comes from these

00:09:43two ladies, the director and the writer who has written the lyrics.

00:09:49Yes.

00:09:50Because the new will come from the new.

00:09:51Yes.

00:09:52You see, because no matter how open you are and how willing you are to deconstruct your

00:09:59certainties, I completely have no wrong to say that these are the stage of reverse mentoring.

00:10:09I mean, the older people must listen to the young.

00:10:14You believe in that.

00:10:15You believe in that.

00:10:16I really believe in that because the young have a lot to teach the old.

00:10:20And, you may have a lifetime experience, you know, embedded in your consciousness.

00:10:28And, you may, on certain sound beliefs, out of pure love, dish them out to the younger generation.

00:10:39Here, now, are dealing with another reality and they're living raw.

00:10:44But, what makes them unique is the unquenchable thirst.

00:10:49While the people who have arrived are only interested in a repetitive process, in keeping the narrative going, you know.

00:11:00Yes.

00:11:01And, then the fears seep in the market concerns, no matter how much you are trying to divide them, they

00:11:09lay down on you.

00:11:10And, you are driven at source by fear because of the source of money riding.

00:11:17Correct.

00:11:18When the young come, they come with certain amount of love and passion for what they believe in.

00:11:25And, any work that is pulled out of love, you know, fierce conviction, has the problem of life and it has a different feel.

00:11:37It does.

00:11:38And, that's why I feel that the need to, otherwise you are like, you know, recycling the water in the swimming pool or you are fishing in your own bathtub.

00:11:48Right.

00:11:49You need to be a flowing stream.

00:11:52You know, you can't nail the river and say just catch the river.

00:11:57No.

00:11:58And, that's the money.

00:11:59Those are the roads.

00:12:00And, the only way to keep your, your consciousness alive is to interact vigorously and fierce

00:12:05with the young people.

00:12:06You take a mission and, and realize that what you need to, you know.

00:12:11Mentoring is very tough.

00:12:12It is not an easy business.

00:12:13Mentoring means to first wake up and realize that your fingerprints must not be there all

00:12:25time.

00:12:26because if you have a fingerprints or not then you she has a jaded feel right she has to have

00:12:34her own uniqueness which was not flower and i can give her all the data that i have and all the

00:12:42experience i have but then i respect her right to say yes or no for example we had a non-linear

00:12:51narration of this book which i completely vouched for but when the first rough cut was

00:12:58uh seen alone by her she insisted i want to see it all alone and i said you see up there

00:13:06she saw it and she loved it and then says she walked out of this office she called me i was

00:13:12at home and i believe she sat down with excitement on on the sidewalk on the footpath that she's

00:13:18talking about my people and she said i love what we have done but i sincerely feel that we must make

00:13:26it a linear meditation because i don't get engaged with a girl who has arrived and then flash back into

00:13:34her consciousness i want to see her battle away up the ladder and i thought that was one major

00:13:49narrative courage which was done after the entire film was assembled now that's really brave yeah and

00:13:57that audacity comes from i mean why this is not trying to fit in on the terms of the industry

00:14:07right because otherwise before even i say uh you are already ready to fit into it so if you do that

00:14:18then you'll be just a cheap imitation of me what i seek from them is deconstruct our certainties

00:14:26uh redefine cinema and who will redefine cinema they who are engaged with the life here and now for

00:14:36tackling the day-to-day problems and for whom it's very important that they leave their footprints on

00:14:44the sidewalk yeah but you know talking about you you've mentioned that your mentoring is great job yeah it's not

00:14:52just i mean you know about just launching somebody no no it's it's a sort of a big huge commitment in its

00:15:02own way right and you have mentored a lot of people all your life so now where do you draw the line now

00:15:08where do you sort of think like let's say you've launched directors you've launched actors um very

00:15:17famous ones also you've lost sushmeet assain likram bhat and imran ashmin john abraham

00:15:21so many people who are now in the limelight and i do tremendous great work right but uh and i also

00:15:31remember one thing that i read somewhere where you told imran that you were i think uh launching you

00:15:37for footpath that you know we've given you the launch pad but then like you know if you don't do well

00:15:45then i mean yeah you know it's it's your yes the door will be shut down the door will be shut on your

00:15:52face right so where does a mentor mentor draw the line like you where do you decide to draw the line

00:15:59as far as their careers come till how much time are you going to be the torchbearer see there's something

00:16:07that you see in a person and what the heart sees you'll never try they're never putting into words

00:16:16there are times when you go wrong

00:16:20but you get a feeling that there's something there for example what is it that i saw in this 28 year

00:16:28old guy to play about the 70 year old man with his first film is hurled into the top and he's still

00:16:38near because of that one film yes i was 34 he was 28 and together we made an outstanding film and now

00:16:47what was he came from national school of drama he was a gold medal he was acting teacher

00:16:52and he had this sensational thirst he came from very humble background i saw something in him which

00:17:00he was not aware of but his ability to surrender comes came from an obvious individuality that was there

00:17:06already there and it's only an individual who is surrendered to somebody's vision and in that in that

00:17:14in saransh's case i was a person i was talking about shabana shabana yeah you launched shabana yeah

00:17:25shabana is fine and i'm curious sean bennigan launched her but by defining film career as she says it also

00:17:33and the word also says is and that is something that i couldn't have made without her and it's like

00:17:43you know she gave up the death of life you know and she had she we arrived we were not out to make a film

00:17:54on female emancipation we made a film of a simple normal woman who thinks that she's always supposed to be

00:18:03to be in the uh in the house and look out to the husband's plates and keep his home intact till life

00:18:14hurls this kind of book flow how she is goes to pieces and puts herself back together that was because we

00:18:25we walked together when we were working you know step by step like as if we walked with thin eyes

00:18:36and we explored the film together with our hearts and we took that audacious leap same thing with

00:18:43too many purita is what uh she has done she's got a lot of her own life she comes from bengal

00:18:49she comes from a veterinary bailout she came with the courage to say i don't know anything about visual arts

00:18:58and i am a person of the written world i believe i write but images and sound i don't know i like a

00:19:07savage in in the room and all this dust i said no it's okay you will learn you're not swimming

00:19:14not swimming and it took her 10 years such a it's such a strange almost poetic coincidence in that

00:19:23yeah on 26th of the picture releases it's the day when the dhulga puja is

00:19:27starts wow the dhulga puja starts and i met her met sir in a dhulga puja in calcutta oh 10 years back

00:19:34wow yeah but you know on another um note when you call uh borders or you say sir where do you draw the line

00:19:42i must say i've learned this strange value from sir i've seen him over and over again

00:19:47he says this and he practices them he doesn't give up on people yeah when sometimes i get very

00:19:52impatient or someone else gets very impatient he says you will have to learn this value in this

00:19:58in this industry that we are you cannot give up on people like there were several testing moments where

00:20:04with my hero or in the situation that we were trying to enact scenes early on we really thought there

00:20:11were several times when there came a doubt that if we should step forward or not but there's a

00:20:16certain conviction because of which i had cast alhan there's a certain thing that i had seen in him

00:20:21so there is a shortcoming how do we move around it how do we work around what is given to us

00:20:27that is what i've seen in him so he actually doesn't draw a line yeah he just he just stays with people

00:20:33one more thing i actually read about you was that that very early on um when a very good filmmaker of

00:20:45today's day in time was almost about to give up you let him money and you said continue doing what you

00:20:52what you're doing because you're good at it because this industry ties you yeah it kind of it pushes you to be

00:21:01to the to the to the edge of your

00:21:07abilities to deal with these fast realities of that so you i even resigned that you actually don't

00:21:17everywhere you want to go so i so talented him and i you know you see and you're just doing what

00:21:26somebody had done to you you know and then i was going through a lean phase there was somebody who

00:21:31told me you just you're just a talented man going through a bad phase and what i have got from him

00:21:39is what i owe to them because as a great uh mystic uh jalaun in roomie said my lamp was lit by another

00:21:48so what was given to me i just gave it to them and it's really to see see them grow but i don't put

00:21:56anything in the seed i'm like a gardener i keep on saying that takes the seed and just put it in the soil

00:22:03in the soil and look after it and rest is done by nature and water it protects and then sunlight and

00:22:12the environment in which it blooms contributes to what is dormant in the seed and once it comes into

00:22:21full bloom then the garden gets sweet colors it is tyranny to force her to become another knee one is bad

00:22:30enough you see it's not it's it's not there's no point of having a second grade and third grade or

00:22:37fourth grade imitation of me right i was a byproduct of the time frame and i have enormous understanding

00:22:46but the times have changed this is the current voice and that's what makes the very pujita honey fresh new

00:22:55and yet wedded to those ageless emotions of the human heart as well yeah since the dawn of time yeah

00:23:04yeah talking about this only uh since the movie is about to release i think it's a very relevant question

00:23:11um now you see that indian cinema industry has uh been very dynamic in the recent times correct now there's

00:23:21ott there's short format videos there's reels and with that people's attention span and their liking

00:23:28of content has also shifted over time what used to work maybe five years ago doesn't work now maybe what

00:23:34used to work even two years ago doesn't can't work now right so how do you sort of like weave it all

00:23:41together how do you want like you know like how did you personally think that this film would be relevant

00:23:49for today's generation as well as keeping in tune with your own instincts how do you manage and balance

00:23:59both these things um we know i understand that we were doing popular cinema and uh to do popular cinema and

00:24:07yet bring something of your own that you have yeah the authenticity yes that is what was at the center

00:24:13of it there are two very important issues if i may call it which you will find as the essence of the

00:24:19film one is the bane of the times fame addiction everybody has a phone everybody in any walk of life

00:24:26has something to say or something to display and we are continuously feeding on that and that instant few

00:24:32seconds which puts you onto a pulpit when the whole world is watching you it's an addiction that the

00:24:37world is fed by so through this character of a girl who aspires to be an actress and when she goes to

00:24:43the other side of it and how it takes a hold on her we have brought out that fame addiction angle

00:24:50and the first more important center centered issue is uh the fact that even today maybe we are here in

00:24:58bombay city uh we are very progressive we are moving around but uh in interiors in towns in uh even in my

00:25:06city there is still the question of balancing between your relationship and your career or that what you

00:25:13want to do right so fame or love love or fame so that is a very central motto or uh theme that we wanted to

00:25:22win for yes like i wouldn't have been here sitting and talking to you on a sunday so easy if i wouldn't

00:25:30have shut a door on one part of my life and step forward i felt that i can only do this much of

00:25:37it with my life i have to step forward so to me i can own up fully because i left home to be able to

00:25:44pursue my career and i knew it would not be possible both ways so in this of course we have love as the

00:25:50center of it it gives a very big uh uh like a cloud it just uh you know guards the entire story

00:25:59but essentially these two things we have tried to balance and despite it being a very popular

00:26:03cinema space commercial cinema we have used music likewise each of our songs are stitched to the

00:26:09table because i had the advantage of shweta in the room so she was continuously in the current of the

00:26:14uh of the story so none of our songs i shoe on like a mood based song they are progression of story

00:26:21yeah you know what she said just to say there's something which i remember uh this later on my

00:26:27my daughter even told uh uh shweta who's a fiercely independent girl you know she is right on all

00:26:35terms and she just says things as they come to her in 1989 when i discovered her for daddy

00:26:46uh remember she was 17 and she was right for that job i didn't go out to make fun with my daughter

00:26:54i wanted a young girl who helps the alcoholic father to keep their addiction and forgive

00:27:00we gain the glory and lost and that works so success demands an encore so everybody said why don't you

00:27:11take her for ashti was an experiment so i asked her to do ashti

00:27:19and there was this studied silence then couldn't comprehend what it is and after a few days she

00:27:29said i'm not doing it i said why are you doing it you see because my boyfriend with whom

00:27:36i just started a really intense relationship which was fairly 18 yeah

00:27:45doesn't want me to do it i i think that uh if it comes to my dream to be an actor of

00:27:54my daughter that i choose according to his issues and so i didn't push my will on her and tried to

00:28:10him to do it i think that was a reluctant actor but when we were shooting the routine for ashti

00:28:21and i remember distinctly we were shooting a song in one of the gardens and she came to watch the

00:28:30shooting and i could see that she was green within me because she suddenly started feeling very very

00:28:37remorse that she turned down so by then i think she must have cracks in a relationship with her

00:28:47so she immediately then jumped and said yes to direct a nantari so when she just said this to her

00:28:56this is the core of the story she said you must mention this because if a person like me who now got

00:29:02this persona of the persona of the persona of being a tough you know the independent woman who lives

00:29:08life on own terms there was time when i was there so if you ask the girls out there today

00:29:17or even men outside the choice between love and your personal ambition would you

00:29:23have to go into the heart of the story the characters yourself and then arrive at

00:29:53what the resolution is i think she has come out with a story which has got a resolution which

00:29:59very best is this is very simple but very relevant and ageless concerns uh very very simply within the

00:30:08matrix of what is got populist among the songs i think engaging uh edge of the field experience

00:30:20so you mentioned romi and i happen to be a big fan of romi my favorite book is 40 rules of love

00:30:26and i'm sure i must have read it yeah by lip shafak and uh that beautifully encapsulates the uh

00:30:34relation between romi and shams of the grace and one thing that book changed my life so if i were to give two

00:30:41sense to this um because i've been somebody who's sort of like uh always been like you know uh like

00:30:51been this die-hard romantic person everything and what i learned out of that was that that everything

00:30:58will come to you in time whether it's love or whether it's you know professional achievements or whatever

00:31:06whatever your contours of life are love will eventually come to you but if you go like you

00:31:13know in quest of love chasing and you know you can't force somebody to love you right i mean it's just my

00:31:20thinking i'm sure you address this in the movie very beautifully yes exactly it comes by yeah

00:31:28yeah i'm sure you do but i mean as a human like i'm 29 years old so i've been by now i know a little

00:31:36bit about these things yeah i mean i thought i should you have to wake up to love yeah you have to wake up

00:31:42to love and always first one is an idea are you a romantic i don't know some people say yes i am

00:31:49actually just ask me i'm a romantic but um some say that you have a butcher's heart

00:31:59a person who helps other people which i was actually going to point out when i was saying

00:32:05anunnak kashib when i was citing his example it's very rare to see the humane side of people in this

00:32:12industry so i mean i'm sure you you don't have a butcher's heart no there's the people denying that

00:32:21you what do you call what i mean the butcher's heart is tough love tough love i always hear him use this

00:32:27word for us tough love what does tough love love is at the cost of you not liking me and at the cost of

00:32:35having the certainty if i say this to you i will lose you and lose the gratification that i get from

00:32:43you i say things to you because it is for your good because that the objective is to not be tied to your

00:32:54personal self-gratification but if you since you love that person you want that person to be happy

00:33:02in whatever he or she should be doing and you see them going away from that you say things to them

00:33:09which they don't want to accept which they don't like which breaks them which kind of apparently seems

00:33:16to belittle them take all that they believe that illusions that delusions that's what do you think

00:33:26you've been misjudged because of the tough love that you impart i think so but that is the price tag of being

00:33:34a person who actually loves the price of love is not to hold on to the person at the cost of seeing

00:33:47that she or he she or he are harming themselves yet you remain maintain a studied silence because

00:33:57that person seems to gratify you in something so you would rather uh tell the person look leave me and

00:34:11you'll be better off though i need you very badly but i am a limited person and you i see in you

00:34:23something which can see beyond the horizon that i have so you need to walk away from it the enemy that

00:34:31is standing in your way is the mentor so yeah that's why the great tradition of india was when the

00:34:39student in our distance the master master touched the students people said that you have love

00:34:47even the moksha that's the only role i was supposed to play a great leader creates better leaders

00:34:57a real guru if there is one frees you from himself and that is tough because you want you want to keep

00:35:07holding on to people like you you want them to be beholding to you and i think the worst thing a human

00:35:14being can do is people feel burdened with a sense of indebtedness whatever people have got were coming

00:35:22in contact with me was they already there in them i was just there like a mirror which reflected what

00:35:31was there in them back to them and they saw it and the moment they saw it they didn't need to be next

00:35:37to me so they're out there now uh doing their work and when i see them soaring and doing great work

00:35:45i feel very happy that makes you happy it's great yeah yeah okay um let's talk about the musicals okay

00:35:55now it started with la la land which won the oscars obviously and then in indian cinema also we've seen a

00:36:03couple of musicals recently um mohitsubhi made one sayana that was also very beautiful musicals

00:36:10now is it easy to sell musicals to indian audience or is it what do you think is the

00:36:19indian audience ready for that kind of oh i think the indian audience is very musical i mean i come

00:36:26from bingal for us it's music is music with story music with cinema it's paired you can't think one

00:36:33without the other correct uh and the indian audience has india is a country that has so many cultures

00:36:39it's more classical music is there is so many different kinds of classical culture music so when

00:36:46you bring it in cinema i think if you are doing justice to it pairing it with the story that you're

00:36:52telling the pacing of your story you know this putting it no you're not many musical promise

00:36:57i know that this is a lyrical moment it has to be expressed in music and automatically which is

00:37:06why the writing room is so effective uh when we sit and regularly work on a screenplay it automatically

00:37:12bleeds in and in my 10 11 years of sitting in the writing room and watching him work with so many

00:37:18writers directors coming in and stepping out i've seen that the best takeaway that i have from

00:37:23sir's writing room is uh music you have to yes it is indivisible i mean music is the subtext of the

00:37:31film it's indivisible from the story impulse which is causing to the range what i've noticed over the

00:37:37years of the years of your filmography of vishesh from saskatch is that our film music is great and

00:37:44i've grown up in this country in fact people say that right yeah in fact people also say that the movie

00:37:49will you like but the song will you like

00:37:51so yes music is what is music music is the

00:38:20the non-verbal emotional stream that is causing through the subterranean regions of your heart

00:38:30and somehow you give expression to that okay and the audience gets a taste in a very subliminal

00:38:41level of course this film has got this kind of music it must have to do with this frequency of aha

00:38:50see the universe the world that is there exists between us right now you talk and what

00:38:57appeals to you appeals to me appeals to me appeals to you you know if you touch fire in india japan

00:39:04your ben you know what i think you find for you right now your subconscious is bad you need to

00:39:14be a dreadful crip you are tired and you are tired and you are tired and you are tired and you have

00:39:19a little tired and you are tired and you will find a little tired and you have been a difficult one

00:39:24But a universal popular thing, which has emotional, built on flesh and blood characters, works everywhere, and that's the power of music.

00:39:39So in her case, Annamalik's music, he came from the winter of his career. And, you know, nothing like the breath of death to the artist who has been ruling the industry, who feel that he's on the edge of extinction.

00:40:01And a chance, it comes his way. And he gets a story, and he gets new people inspiring. Shwata's lyrics and music, her motivation, her year for her kind of music, because my presence was there all the time, has made it come out with some exceptional songs.

00:40:21But what really, really made me mighty please was Papon's song, which had angst in it, which has got…

00:40:30Papon is pure.

00:40:32Yeah, amazing. The finest singers. Its pace is slow. It's not the brain-numbing kind of EDM music. I'm not saying EDM music, but it has that.

00:40:46But that is the one that is reading the album. So, those who say that the Melendians or the Ten Z doesn't like this kind of music are being simplistic for this music.

00:40:59Because other rhythms and the data that comes to us from our music label, the truth is that the young are as emotional as you are.

00:41:08Yeah.

00:41:09I have no reason to do presumption and say that I am a 77, far more emotional and you have a strong heart. No. If I feel it, you will feel it.

00:41:18Yes.

00:41:19The human heart is a mirror. It mirrors the other person to deep feelings.

00:41:25So, one more question, last question before we sort of like change and shift the gears a bit is that the question is that what is your favourite genre to watch as a viewer? What's your…

00:41:44Well, I, at this stage of my life, I am not a great consumer of content unless I am told by somebody that the movie has certain emotional depths and has tackled in the room a great team.

00:42:06So, I would say for me, the interpersonal relationship is intimate cinema is what I feel that I lean towards.

00:42:26Any specific recent release, national, international, whatever, that's something you really liked?

00:42:33Well, I think that there was the UK television, Netflix thing about this young kid.

00:42:44Adolescence?

00:42:45Adolescence.

00:42:46Yes.

00:42:47It just won Emmy.

00:42:48It was stunning, it was stunning in form.

00:42:51Yeah.

00:42:52And the human space where this, it was stolen and the distances that have come between people and living in the same mood.

00:43:05Yeah.

00:43:06Because you are an ideal father, you are an ideal mother and you highly love your children.

00:43:11You are being nothing but the best for your children, but we are in another universe and it's so scary to wake up to a reality.

00:43:21Yes.

00:43:22And it was done so simply and done so brilliantly.

00:43:25Yeah.

00:43:26Yeah.

00:43:27It's very tragic, very heartbreaking.

00:43:28So I think that kind of content is very good.

00:43:33And of course, I have always been, since I was miscarized by his form and his depth.

00:43:46David Lean, the map that made Dr. Vivaldo, Lawrence Ferrevia, which was on the way of Hawaii.

00:43:53Yeah.

00:43:54And that kind of cinema, which had scale.

00:43:56Yeah.

00:43:57But it actually leaned more on human faces.

00:44:02He didn't get something by the landscape.

00:44:06The landscape was there, but never did you get the feeling that the human face is being

00:44:12picked me by the landscape.

00:44:16That is the kindness of the life you want.

00:44:19Yeah.

00:44:20What about you?

00:44:22I do love book adaptations a lot.

00:44:26I love adaptations and I love discovering them.

00:44:29When a filmmaker discovers a book, it gets another level, another scale altogether.

00:44:35So on a day when I would want to go back to something, you would find me maybe going back

00:44:40to the English patient for the hours.

00:44:42I love the classics.

00:44:45And because I have come from Calcutta, it's quite natural to have grown up with watching

00:44:53a lot of Hritha, Ghatak and Satyajit Ray.

00:44:56But I personally, when I was, you know, the flowering of the essence of womanhood was growing

00:45:01around me.

00:45:02I had a filmmaker named Hritha Karnakosh.

00:45:05So his women themes and how he wears music to the basic elements that's available.

00:45:10I think in a very short span of time, he created world cinema sitting in Calcutta.

00:45:15Whether it needed a commercial face from Bollywood or whether it needed an expanse of hillside

00:45:21or whatever, within those limited strains that were there available to him, he just created

00:45:28amazing films.

00:45:29And they are now when I look back at them, I feel that they are world cinema that he made

00:45:34in that little time.

00:45:36All right.

00:45:37So, I mean, book adaptations.

00:45:38Yes, book adaptations and Hritha Karnakosh.

00:45:40You have a very fun game.

00:45:42I don't know how much of it you're going to like, but I have two different separate games

00:45:47for both of you.

00:45:48So Switra, the game that I've personally designed for you is called Through Your Lens.

00:45:53Okay.

00:45:54And now you have to tell me that you have to basically, it's a choose and reveal game.

00:46:01Okay.

00:46:02Where you pick from options and add one line of explanation to it.

00:46:07Okay.

00:46:08So I'm going to give you-

00:46:09As to why that option.

00:46:10Yeah.

00:46:11Suppose I'm going to give you a category and then I'm going to give you a little bit of context

00:46:15to that and then maybe you can add on to that.

00:46:18Okay.

00:46:19Okay.

00:46:20Ready?

00:46:21Yes.

00:46:22Okay.

00:46:23Cool.

00:46:24Now first frame.

00:46:25The film that made you want to become a director.

00:46:27Saraj.

00:46:28Saraj.

00:46:29Okay.

00:46:30I'm going to his debut.

00:46:32Okay.

00:46:33Next one.

00:46:34Close up.

00:46:35A mentor who gave you clarity when you doubted yourself.

00:46:39Manish.

00:46:40What sir?

00:46:41Yes.

00:46:42Okay.

00:46:43Cut.

00:46:44One on-set moment you'll never forget from Tu Meri Puri Ghani.

00:46:49While shooting the song Ye Shri Meri Jaan.

00:46:53While we all insisted that we have a choreographer on set.

00:46:57It was Sir's determination.

00:46:58His ability to believe that he will do it and he will take us as participants, but he

00:47:03will essentially guide it.

00:47:05So I literally saw him slapping on his foot, on his thigh with the beats and instructing.

00:47:11Even for the actress, it was very difficult because she's in a high emotional state.

00:47:16She's gone back to drinking.

00:47:18There are moments when she has flashes of the hero.

00:47:20It's a large set.

00:47:21All of us trying to figure out how the music and the rhythm happens.

00:47:25And I just saw him shouting, beating his thigh and just making it happen.

00:47:31I will never forget this lesson.

00:47:33When a master takes up something.

00:47:35I went red.

00:47:37He takes up something on himself, how he does it till the end.

00:47:41Yeah.

00:47:42I'll never forget it.

00:47:43Okay.

00:47:44Silence short.

00:47:45A truth that you learned from Maheshwar that you will carry forever.

00:47:51Life first hurts you, then it kills you.

00:47:55Oh, that's deep.

00:47:57That's deep.

00:47:58That's hard love as he says.

00:48:00Tough love.

00:48:01Yes.

00:48:02So I keep that as a compass.

00:48:04So there are moments when I have extreme doubt, extreme anxiety about what's going to happen, what's going to happen.

00:48:11Then I just tell myself that line.

00:48:13No matter how big a film you make or how worse a film you make, life is first going to hurt you and then it's going to kill you.

00:48:19Okay.

00:48:20So that line of source.

00:48:22Okay.

00:48:23Recast.

00:48:24That means an actor you dream of working with in the future.

00:48:28Vidyabani.

00:48:29Oh.

00:48:30Lovely.

00:48:31Hidden gem.

00:48:32An unsung talent, actor, writer, musician.

00:48:36You want the world to notice?

00:48:38I want my son to be noticed.

00:48:39Who is 23.

00:48:40Gino, he's been associate director of my film.

00:48:41And he's a young boy and he just finished his class 12 and he just picked up his bags and promised his grandfather, I'm not going to the business school you want me to go to. I'm going to do what my mother does.

00:48:58So he came here and I know there's a story he wants to tell.

00:49:03He gets up and sits down, gets up and sits down with it several times.

00:49:08So as a mother, I pray that he finds that story inside himself and directs it and becomes the filmmaker.

00:49:14The first film of his becomes that story that he wants to tell.

00:49:18I hope so too.

00:49:19Last one.

00:49:20End credits.

00:49:21If your life till now were a film's title, what would it be?

00:49:30More and more and more.

00:49:32Dil maange more.

00:49:33Dil maange more.

00:49:34Dil maange more.

00:49:35Yeah.

00:49:36Okay.

00:49:37Cool.

00:49:38So now coming to you.

00:49:39Now it's called rapid fire.

00:49:43Okay.

00:49:44One piece of advice that you gave your daughter Alia that she still follows.

00:49:51And I respect her.

00:49:52I respect you of the stardom that she has achieved.

00:49:53This maxim which respects the other human being who is waiting for you at the destination.

00:49:54where you are supposed to make it and you cannot make it.

00:49:55If you make it, you make it.

00:49:56You are supposed to make it and you cannot make it.

00:49:57Or if you make it, you make it for the second time.

00:49:58You have to be the second time.

00:49:59If you choose to, you have to be the second time.

00:50:01So, the other women, you go to the second time and you have to do with the second time,

00:50:02a person and say that you are late and you will soon be there. She follows it and I respect

00:50:09her. We respect you with the stardom that she has achieved. This maxim which respects

00:50:15the other human being who is waiting for you at a destination where you are supposed to

00:50:21make it and you cannot make it or if you make it, you make it before five minutes so that

00:50:26you give the police person the feeling of respect the whole meeting starts.

00:50:32Punctuality. Okay. One film of yours you wish your granddaughter Raha watches when she grows

00:50:41up. Well, as a tough one I would like her to play the role of Kulia Bhatt in Viliya Kamantani.

00:50:52Viliya Kamantani. Oh wow. Okay. The most honest critic in your life and the most brutal feedback

00:51:04to you? The most honest. Honest critic. Who's been the most honest critic in your life? I don't

00:51:14think there can be a more honest critic that I found who was not a critic by perfection but

00:51:19what was a critic was my friend the Lord the third guy who was a Krishna Bhatt. When everybody

00:51:26was applauding on my film Saharaj when he taught the Social Critics Award at the Moscow Film

00:51:35in 1985 he didn't even mention it to me that it was a significant achievement. And I was quite

00:51:44disheartening. I thought that elders must encourage their juniors when they touch a particular mind

00:51:51store. And we were, I remember just to be walking on the road at the track of dawn and he almost

00:51:59refused to accept that such a thing had happened and it was announced on national television the

00:52:06night before. And he was informed that this has happened. And he played a significant part

00:52:14in holding my hand and making me come back to the movies from there which I had stirred away.

00:52:20Yeah. And then I was wondering why and then suddenly he saw these two young, big, small boys,

00:52:28I think they're 10, 12 years old kids, practicals who were, you know, all fully consumed by a magazine

00:52:40page of a Hindi glossy. And there was an image of Amistad Bachchan and the Lord Khanna back.

00:52:50So we were walking and we just saw that. And they were talking about them and one was talking about the other.

00:52:57So I remember he, there was silence and he said, the day these guys recognize you and talk, applaud you, that's the day I will tell you to.

00:53:12Wow.

00:53:13Critics at festivals do not, that's what you do. The true test is the people of the country.

00:53:22I think it's the time that the people of the country are coming and not being in your life.

00:53:31And so it's just you, you know, the time if you have your life and your life and your life

00:53:37and it's and you and many other men, you know, that's what I think is the best way to win.

00:53:46take garbage in open flux. I remember going in my car and there was a guy sitting on a

00:53:52heap of garbage there. And he recognized me and he said, and he mentioned Maharani. And

00:53:59I said, oh my God, a man who actually picks up rags and garbage acknowledges my existence.

00:54:08That was a great moment. And critic was responsible for this journey.

00:54:16A beautiful story. Okay. A habit of Shaheen's that inspires it.

00:54:23Her ability to contain her anguish and written everything as normal. And to tell me much later

00:54:33she's going through a tough time because she is, what is called depression. And the mood

00:54:43disorder is biochemical. It's not, the wind is low inside her. You don't even know when

00:54:50she's gone off. But in spite of that, how she keeps her sleep on the practice. And she

00:54:56is one shoulder that I can lean on and cry on. Though she is just my baby. In my entire

00:55:06family, she is the only one who can make me feel that.

00:55:13Wow. Now, any actor other than your family who you think can portray you in a biopic if

00:55:21there were any biopic to be made in your life.

00:55:26A person, a living person, I'd love to scratch my head, but the guy called Irvan Khan, who

00:55:35passed away, he would be able to play me. Because he was continuously talking to me about my

00:55:42restless energy and my inexhaustible passion and thirst for life. That's why his name came to me.

00:55:50But since you have said no-no to family members, I can't surrender and leave the truth. I don't see the

00:56:07truth. So it's either Irvan Khan or Rinby. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Now, a personal truth that Surita reminded you of while working on Tu Medhi Puri Kahani.

00:56:24When you live into a story, I mean, Tu Medhi Puri Kahani's

00:56:29comes from a light, she has lived in it. Then it has the throb and the beat and the pulse of it. And when you build on that, all works are created through your imagination. And your brilliant

00:56:45craftsmanship can't even hold a pen. So she reminded me of myself in my younger days. So as I say, when you go

00:56:52get older, you have faith in younger people. What she reminded me of is life rights you just copy.

00:57:02What life is fighting me. Wow. What a beautiful poem. Yeah. One thing that people always get wrong about Mahesh.

00:57:12I don't think they even know what courses through my heart and my mind because I have a tough time finding out myself what's going on to me. But I'm not so inaccessible as a thing. I am. I am perhaps the most accessible person.

00:57:38Because I don't have balls. Because I don't have balls. I am very vulnerable. And the greatest courage you need is to be vulnerable.

00:57:46Yes. But vulnerable, pity and courage are synonymous. Yes. Yeah. So I think they get me, get it wrong that I've got some kind of a fireball around me.

00:57:57It's an intellectual. More than I created. Still can't stay with an angry cry at the top of the left.

00:58:10Okay. The last time you truly felt proud in a cinema hall. When was it?

00:58:18I watched Sri Jaijeeva. Yeah.

00:58:19I watched Sri Jaijeeva. Yeah.

00:58:20I saw her name flash on the screen. I said, ah, what a Jaijeeva this girl. It's like the garden of these when he sees the first flower bud blossom on a tree.

00:58:36A seed which he planted. Wow. Some seasons ago. And he can't even step into his heart and figure out the fragrance that emanates from his heart.

00:58:49It's far more, far more, far more intense than what the flowers that he blooms will perhaps emanate.

00:59:00Wow. Okay. Um, now, um, a film you wish you'd made but didn't. No regrets.

00:59:10I, whatever I could do. Yeah. I was reflective. Those movies were a reflection of what I was.

00:59:19I don't rewind and try to re-edit life. That was me. That is what I was capable of.

00:59:29It was good. But, yeah, it was good perhaps for multiple reasons. But, there's nothing that makes me look back because you're so busy, engaged.

00:59:42It's just because they're engaged with the stream of life that you don't have time to go back and say, I wish I had done this.

00:59:51Yes. Yes. Okay, um, the most under, uh, uh, underdog talent in the industry right now.

00:59:57in the industry right now?

01:00:06Non-hospital.

01:00:11Last question to you sir.

01:00:13If you had to bet on one person

01:00:16who will change the face of Bollywood in the next 10 years

01:00:20in the cinema industry, who do you think it is?

01:00:24Glossary non-expression.

01:00:27Oh my God.

01:00:33She got an arsenal of stories.

01:00:36Yes, that I have.