Baar Baar Dekho

The Filmmaker 
She was all of 21 when she assisted Spike Lee on 3am. From the streets of New York she shifted to the salons of Mumbai where she worked on Everybody Says I’m Fine! and then to Chandni Chowk, New Delhi, where she worked on Guru. This was just the beginning for debut director Nitya Mehra, as after that she explored various films and genres and worked with auteurs from the industry, be it Oscar-winner Ang Lee, award-winner Mira Nair or the multifaceted filmmaker, Farhan Akhtar. Nitya has been on some of the most dynamic and versatile film sets, worked extremely hard and learnt from these Masters, and at the same time given full dedication and passion back to them. ‘I wasn’t one of those kids who always knew what they wanted to do with their lives. I never knew I wanted to be a filmmaker even though I wrote my first play at the age of ten. I had never been exposed to the magic of making films even though I loved watching them in Punjab and Delhi where I grew up. It was in college that I realized how much it interested me and set off to do a 3-month course at NYU with my best friend.’ Nitya was hooked. ‘I immediately knew that this is what I want to do. I knew I had a lot to learn though and began searching for any job that would get me onto a film set. I managed to get my first job as a runner getting coffee for everyone on a Spike Lee Production called 3am. Set life is like an addiction. I knew I loved it from the day I walked into one.’ She also took great pleasure in writing stories. ‘In between films I would try and develop stories. David Lynch once said, “The whole world is wild at heart and weird on top.” I love that saying. Human beings and life in general is such great fodder for stories and I love that I get to tell them.' 

The Film 
In its simplest form, Baar Baar Dekho is a love story but not about how two people fall in love but about what it takes to hold on to that love. An inherently simple premise of a math professor from Delhi in love with his childhood sweetheart but presented through an extraordinary world of storytelling. The film talks about love, life and it realities, and the choices people make. 'It’s my belief that as one grows older, life only gets harder and as the moments of happiness reduce for the few that do appear, one must have the people they love by their side else those moments won’t matter. I can only hope the film reflects these ideologies.'

The Inspiration 
'The inspiration of making the film comes from the inherent passion I have for telling stories, be it writing or directing but if I had to narrow it down further I would say I was hugely inspired by Ang Lee, who I got to work with very closely in Life of Pi. His stories and struggles that he encountered in order to make his film inspired me greatly. And I decided that I would wait as long as it took to make my film. This particular film came to me at a time where I was looking to tell a story and my producer, Ritesh Sidhwani bought the concept to me and I instantly knew this is the film I have to make.'

Text Platform Desk