7th Jagran Film Festival: Bollywood's little secrets

When Sonam Kapoor-starrer Neerja earned rave reviews earlier this year, many commended Ram Madhvani on an impressive 'directorial debut'. Tell him about it and he chuckles, "Chalo, achhi baat hai." But, people of a certain vintage would recall that his maiden film came in 2002. Titled Let's Talk, the unconventional film marked Boman Irani's acting debut and was the country's first digital film to be released in theatres. It will be screened at the 7th Jagran Film Festival (JFF) that starts today.

Ram Madhvani

So, what took Madhvani 14 years to make another film, Neerja? "For 14 years, Ram was in vanvas," Madhvani responds with a laugh. During that period of low visibility, he continued making ad films while waiting for the right script to be turned into a feature film. "There is a divine hand that conspires to make things work and for me, it was to make Neerja, so it was worth the wait. Not that I did not try earlier, but the projects never materialised. Yes, it was frustrating; 14 years is a long time."

Madhvani says Let's Talk was made for family and friends. "When Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges was asked why he writes, he said, 'I write for my friends, for my family and to ease the passage of time'. I made Let's Talk for the same reasons."

A still from Neerja

Much like a home video, he'd thought it would be seen only by near and dear ones. "I did not imagine that it would premiere at the Locarno film festival in Switzerland or do the rounds of film festivals and bag awards," he recalls.

Let's Talk was shot with a digital camera over a week. Madhvani showcased it to several people and after receiving feedback, shot it all over again. "We rehearsed and shot it again. It was almost like a theatre process. The response was heartening. Aamir Khan, Shyam Benegal, Shabana Azmi and Vidhu Vinod Chopra became part of our marketing campaign. The film was produced by us and when it was screened at the Mumbai Film Festival, it was a sold out show with people standing in the aisles for a peek," he says.

Let's Talk

What made him cast Boman Irani? Madhvani says, "I had seen him in the play Jesus Christ Superstar as well as in Gandhi Viruddh Gandhi. He was among the finest actors I'd seen. I had to grab him and tell him to do the film because he was also into photography at that time. Boman has remained a dear friend ever since."