From winning a National Award for his documentary film, Amdavad Ma Famous, to the release of his first big budget Bollywood commercial film, Roohi, Hardik Mehta has certainly come a long way as a filmmaker. During this time, Mehta has co-written movies like Trapped and The Affair, the latter of which he also directed, and has also made his directorial debut as a feature filmmaker through his film Kaamyaab, that premiered at Busan Film Festival last year. Mehta’s outstanding skills as a filmmaker might make it seem like he was planning to be a filmmaker since ever since he was a child but such is not the case. It was only after he completed his degree in Engineering, which he funnily remarks is a prerequisite for any Indian before s/he makes further plans for their lives, Mehta ventured in the world of advertising, which finally led him towards the world he actually belongs to, filmmaking. As Roohi, starring Rajkummar Rao and Janhvi Kapoor, releases in theatres today, we connected with him to know more about his journey as a filmmaker and the new film. Excerpts follow:
How would you describe your cinematic sensibility?
I think one word that comes to mind is humour, and using it to explore the emotional aspects of society and life. This is something I want to be consistent with through my cinema because in India, I feel that if you want to say something, it is best said through humour. Everyone has their own set of problems and they don’t want to hear about your problems as well over that. It is important to use humour or employ really heartfelt emotions to what you are trying to say in order to catch people’s attention and make them pause and feel. This is my approach in my filmmaking, of course my current film is more of a commercial pot boiler, but there are still sensibilities that I draw upon in my work, and humour is one of them.
Your first cinematic venture was a documentary and now you’ve made Roohi, which is a full fledged Bollywood feature film. Could you tell us a little bit about your transitions between these genres and what your experience has been like with them?
I personally think that we are living in a really good time cinema wise because all kinds of cinema are now being appreciated and all kinds of mediums are available to a filmmaker, from a documentary, to musical to theatrical, et cetera. So these are actually really good times to tell all kinds of stories in all kinds of formats. So when I wanted to establish myself as a filmmaker, I was sure that I didn’t want to be helped by a senior filmmaker or a producer or live on this principle that you can only make a film with a big budget. I always thought why can’t I just make a film on my own because all the filmmakers that I look upto, started out on their own and never really depended on anyone. So that is how the idea for Amdavad Ma Famous came. Amdavad Ma Famous is about this boy named Zaid who flies kites during the kite flying festival in Ahmedabad which is humongous in scale in the city. Everyone, from a little kid to a 60 year old, is just walking on the street and staring at the sky and somehow I found this visual really funny. I hail from Gujarat as well, but sometimes when you move away from your cultural roots and come back, it gives you a different perspective to it. I thought that this festival had to be captured and documentary would be the best medium. That is how I ended up making a documentary and I didn’t think that it would travel to so many festivals, and we were very lucky to have been awarded the National Award that year. That film actually made me a filmmaker.
Then of course, as you live and work in Bombay, and since I had assisted in films like Lootera, the thought of making a feature film was always at the back of my mind. A feature film is much more accessible and it reaches a wider variety of people. Also with today’s cinematic landscape, one can always go back to making a documentary or a short film after doing feature films, as it allows you to do so. Thus this transition is perhaps easier to make now, back and forth, for filmmakers worldwide as such great platforms have opened up now.
Tell us more about your new film, Roohi?
I am actually not allowed to say much at this juncture about the film but what I can tell you is that its a horror comedy with Rajkumar Rao and Jhanvi Kapoor in the lead. Dinesh Vijan is the producer and Mrigdeep Singh Lamba and Gatuam Mehra are the writers. So this is the first movie that I am directing which I have not written. Even though the movie is completely the kind of cinema that I want to make but the script isn’t mine and its a really funny story so I feel privileged to have this opportunity of making the film. We’ve already shot some of the movie in pretty cool locations in North India around Manali and Roorkie, so its been a lot of fun actually. Of course it is also a completely different ballgame from the kind of work I have been doing so far as this is extremely commercial and comes with its set of challenges. But at the same time it is a good thing as I don’t feel stuck on the same route, on the same genre of making documentaries and shorts films. I actually feel really lucky to have worked on a documentary, a short film, a feature film and now a commercial feature film because I’ve had the opportunity to work with different mediums, which is really interesting!
You’ve worked with Rajkummar Rao and Janhvi Kapoor in Roohi. How was the experience of working with these two tremendously talented actors?
Honestly working with Raj is an actual pleasure. I’ve worked with him before because I had assisted on the movie Queen and that is where we met for the first time. I had also co-written Trapped and Raj was the absolute soul of Trapped, so that’s how our friendship became stronger. Then when Roohi was being planned and they were looking for a director, I was also simultaneously pitching to different production houses with my stories and I think Raj was also a big influence in me being selected for the role of director because he definitely must have said that he knows me and my work. I, and every director who has worked with Raj, can tell you that he brings so much to the film and adds so much energy to it. He could almost make the director an audience.
With Janhvi I am very impressed because she’s brought this unique thehrav (calmness) to the character, and the way she actually consumes your instructions and then produces something completely unique yet perfect for the film is really amazing. We also have Varun Sharma in the film who is another delight to work with because of his perfect comic timing!
Text Nidhi Verma