On the ninth anniversary of his first film 'Mere Brother Ki Dulhan', director Ali Abbas Zafar recounted his fruitful journey in the Bollywood industry -- from an assistant director to that of a star and independent director.
'Mere Brother Ki Dulhan', the romantic-comedy movie starring Katrina Kaif, Imran Khan, and Ali Zafar marks his first directorial project, after being an assistant director in Yash Raj Films (YRF).
As he recounted the journey of making his first film, the 38-year-old director said: "My journey from being an assistant director to director has been very exciting and I must say, little filmy. I was an assistant director in YRF on 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom', 'Badmaash Company', 'New York', 'Tashan' and then while I was assisting, I was writing films parallelly. So, after I finished 'Badmaash Company', I gave a script to Adi."
He added: "One day, I was driving to Goa with some friends and he called me and said I read your script and I think it's pretty good. It just needs some minor fixing and we are good to go. I would say it's been miraculous, it's been fascinating and to be a complete outsider in this industry, to get a chance to direct for YRF and to work with Katrina, Imran and Adi has been a blessing."
Hailing from the city of Dehradun, the 'Gunday' director is the youngest filmmaker to have two Rs 300 crores blockbusters to his credit with movies like 'Sultan' and 'Tiger Zinda Hai'.
In the process of helming 'Mere Brother Ki Dulhan', Zafar says he has made a friend for a lifetime in -the lead actor of the flick, Katrina Kaif.
"Katrina and I are like chalk and cheese! Definitely best of friends but we have our disagreements too. That is what keeps our relationship real and relevant. You just need to be true to yourself and especially when you find close friends, you need to be honest with them. I've always tried to do the best I could do with her and she supported me in every possible way she could," he said.
Zafar also credited actor Katrina Kaif's decision to choose him over other filmmakers as a "very brave decision".
"When she said yes to 'Mere Brother Ki Dulhan', the role on paper was very strong but you know I was a complete newcomer and she was riding super high on her success. Since then, till now we've been more of personal friends than professional friends. So yes, thank you Katrina for always being there for me and it's been great to have you in my life!" he added.
He also noted that being a first-time director and to have written a script that had a progressive woman protagonist who lived her life on her own terms, meant a lot of creative freedom to chase this idea.
The director revealed that there was "complete creative freedom" while working with YRF from 'Mere Brother Ki Dulhan' to 'Tiger Zinda Hai'.
"I think I found my voice as a film-maker in YRF. It's a dream to have a producer like Adi Chopra because he himself is a director and he understands that if he is giving responsibility to someone to direct a film, to tell a story, he just needs to fly, he needs to have wings of his own creativity," the director added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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