Mumbai, Sep 20 Filmmaker-producer Mahesh Bhatt, who is known for nurturing fresh talent in Hindi cinema, has spoken up on how he honed the skills of Suhrita Das, the debutante director of his upcoming production ‘Tu Meri Poori Kahani’.
The veteran filmmaker spoke with IANS in the Andheri West area of Mumbai in the run-up to the film’s release, and shed light on the journey of Suhrita.
He told IANS, “Well, it started from the life she led. She comes from Kolkata, and I ran into her during the Durga Puja festival, 11 years ago. She told me that it was an unusual festival where the theme was about women. She told me that she is a hairdresser. Of course, she is married and she has a rich husband and two children, and she is settled by the worldly standard, but there was something unsettled within her, because she has this thirst for writing. She believes that a woman should do work irrespective of being a housewife. And she said that she cuts hair with the left hand and writes with the right hand. So, I was fascinated by her”.
He then asked her to send some of her writing samples. She did so, and he was impressed by the kind of recklessness her writing had.
He went on, “We were making a film called ‘Hamari Adhuri Kahani’. And I wanted one scene in the very end of the film where the picture in a way dissolves with the character of Vidya Balan locking horns with the character of her husband, where he comes to bully her for the end time. And she finally stands up for herself and gives him a mouthful. And I found that scene was the most unusual scene because it came from her life”.
He further mentioned, “It reflected her truth. So, I said she is a person who is capable of writing a story which is sourced from her living wounds, unlike most people who manufacture stories through imagination by watching films here, there, everywhere. Soon, she started working on a project. And that project, we worked on the entire film, but that project did not get finally onto the floors as it happens here”.
The two also worked in the medium of television, and made a show called ‘Naamkaran’. But that time she was very honest and she told him, “Look, I come from a literary background. I don't know much about cinematic craft”.
The director shared, “She was perplexed and lost because in cinema we write in images and sound. It's quite different from the literary world”.
“So, she sat down like an empty slate. And at times she used to get intimidated that I don't know anything. I said, no problem, even we don't know anything, we have learnt by reading. You learn swimming by swimming, you learn writing by writing”, he added.
‘Tu Meri Poori Kahani’, directed by Suhrita Das, is set to release on September 26, 2025.
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