As epic sports-drama 'Chak De! India' on Monday clocked 13 years, the film's screenplay writer Jaideep Sahni said that through the story he aimed to make a bridge between the world of women athletes with the rest of the country.
"I had wanted to tell this story for a few years. So, when Adi (Aditya Chopra) asked me after 'Bunty Aur Babli' what I wanted to do next, I told him that I wanted to do this film which could somehow form a bridge between the world of women athletes and the rest of the country," he said.
"As I told him more about what I'd seen and felt, he agreed that it was a shame that not enough people knew about this world, and also that it could make a really great film if we got things right," he added.
Fans have often speculated that the Shah Rukh Khan starrer was a film ahead of its time from a creative vision. Jaideep said he feels elated that the film had become a milestone moment in Indian cinema.
"Sometimes people call 'Chak De!' was ahead of its times but I don't know how to judge that. It's just that as audience we get too busy in our daily lives and forget how happy something new can make us if we give it a chance, and as storytellers, we are always under pressure to be entertaining which can impose an artificial ceiling on our choice of subjects," he said.
"But subjects are always bigger than the storytellers, and if we respect them, they gently show us the way," he added.
Jaideep completed 20 years in the film industry this year. He debuted as a writer for 'Jungle' in 2000 for Ram Gopal Varma. He collaborated with Yash Raj Films in 2005 for 'Bunty Aur Babli' and has since then worked closely with filmmaker Aditya Chopra.
Speaking about his 20-year-long journey, Jaideep said, "To have imagined and written films of different genres, set in so many different environments, with different rhythms and dialects and slangs, has been a great joy. So many of these characters, dialogues or phrases of songs have become a part of peoples' everyday conversation."
"This is something I didn't aim for but have finally learned to enjoy gracefully without getting shocked. But I am always conscious that this is also because of the reach of this medium, and we should not let go of any opportunity to put this clumsy power to some good use, to build a few bridges of trust or maybe start a useful conversation."
'Chak De! India' revolves around the Women's Indian Hockey team and how they achieve the target of winning the Women's Hockey World Cup for the first time.
( With inputs from ANI )