Brother Act

Introvert Imtiaz Ali says that younger brother Arif is more genial and likes getting people together. Pic/Sameer Markande

We have similar food tastes," says director Arif Ali of his elder brother, writer and director Imtiaz Ali. Somehow, the conversation that has to be about the second season of Netflix thriller She, which Imtiaz has created and written, and Arif has directed, has become about the cuisine that Mumbai is home to and isn't. "We share the same opinion - the North has better food, but we need to find a few places and then be happy within that," says Arif. Surprisingly, this attitude is also reflected in the rest of the conversation, which is about the brothers believing in the same philosophy - do the best you can, and then just put it out in the universe.

When it comes to She, a story about a woman constable who goes undercover as a sex worker to bust a kingpin no one has seen, the two seem to be in sync as well. The second season is about the lead, Bhumi, played by actress Aaditi Pohankar, coming into her own, realising the power of her sexuality, and how she can use it to gain control over others. "That's what I find most fascinating about the second season - the fact that she uses it now like a weapon," says Imtiaz. The two brothers often look at each other before they answer questions, almost taking unspoken permission, a courtesy that may have helped them through the making of the show. "Imtiaz pays attention to the details, while I am more macro. He has written certain things the way he sees them… there is a comma, or a full stop, because of a reason. And he wants it a certain way. We have had to change some scenes, because he didn't think they were true to what he wanted. And I am okay with that - at the end of the day, it's his vision." Imtiaz gets it, but says that as showrunner, he was responsible for the final product, unlike a project where he may have just written a script and handed it off. We remind him of the time when we pointed out discrepancies in Homi Adajania's Cocktail, which he wrote. The film didn't share his vision. "Yes, but with Arif I can say anything, and know that I am not being judged. I can't impress him, and I can't fool him. He knows it all. So when I am signing off on something, it has to be absolutely right. A scene, a moment, a dialogue… is all there for a reason. Or else let's chop it off completely." Arif laughs when we ask if he wants to give his elder brother some "feedback" on his process. "There are times where what he may have written, could be different. He spent two hours on one scene, I spent many on the recce, and the preparation. I thought that maybe this could be different. But sometimes, he is obstinate about it. And it [the scene] eventually got cut on the editing table!"

But the brothers show no signs of discontent or disagreement. They talk about spending a lot of time together growing up. "We were the constants in each other's lives. He got married first, so he had a TV and a home, and we used to spend evenings watching movies. We have similar likes and dislikes," says Arif, who is the natural extrovert between the two. "Oh, he is very popular and genial, and gets along with people. He is the one who is interested in people being together. The family is very fond of him - I am the slightly off one. And the ladies love him," says Imtiaz, who we have discovered through interviews over the years is the natural introvert, who talks only because he has to. "I am not popular with the ladies the way he is," Arif interjects.

Is the mutual love of and from women, the reason they could get into the mind of Bhumi, a lower middle class Marathi girl shunned by her husband because he saw her as cold, manly, asexual, who is now grappling with the nuances of her own sexuality? "I don't think we disagreed about any way in which we showed her. We were clear she was coming into herself. But it wasn't to be woke. I am socially responsible in the way that I don't want my movies to make audiences take the wrong steps, but at the end of the day, it's a story." Arif adds, "Yes, I'm glad we are talking about all the issues that are important to women and us, but for us this was a character, and the character will have an organic journey."

Maybe Bhumi is just looking for the "self", a trait common to many of Imtiaz's characters - Dev in Tamasha, Veera in Highway or Aditya in Jab We Met. "Ya, maybe. I am not looking for my ‘self' at all, but my characters seem to be. There has to be some deeper psychological reason for that."

At the end of the day, the brothers can put aside work, hang and talk about other things. "But we do talk about work as well; work is life." Do they care how critics and audiences will react to She? Arif takes this one - "You can never know what audiences want. But we knew what we wanted, and we made that product. Now, it's out of our hands."