Why Meghna can’t afford to have a ‘relaxed shooting atmosphere’

Prashant Singh

She started her directorial journey with films such as Filhaal (2002) and Just Married, followed by the anthology feature, Dus Kahaniyaan (both in 2007). But when Meghna Gulzar returned to the director’s chair after a gap of eight years, she turned her attention towards gritty cinema such as Talvar (2015), Raazi (2018), and the upcoming Deepika Padukone-starrer Chhapaak.

Ask Meghna about her penchant for hard-hitting films, and she says that a subject’s difficulty “makes me bring out my craft better”. She explains: “Somehow, since Talvar, I feel that’s what has happened. In Talvar, for the first time, I was doing a nonfiction, gritty, murder, investigative thriller.”

On one hand, the [film’s] world was “completely different” for her, and on top of that, she was “making a comeback to films after a long time”. She says: “That’s why even the filmmaking process was different. Technology had changed and the team was also new. So, all the odds that could be stacked up against me were there. And I think that made me work harder, which, I feel, showed in the film as well.”

The director feels it all “helped the film and made it better”. She says: “That’s when I realised that the secret is that I need to work hard. I just can’t afford to have a luxurious, relaxed shooting atmosphere says Meghna, adding that since she has a “great team”, it helps her a lot. “I have had the same set of professionals for the past three films. And we are in absolute sync with one another. Be it Talvar, Raazi or Chhapaak, these films require tough shoots. But somehow, that intensity translates to magic on screen,” she says.

Coming to her next, Chhapaak, Meghna feels roping in a big star such as Deepika can go a long way. “Every film has its own destiny. But casting Deepika was significant since the amplification of how horrific this [acid attack] is becomes that much more when you see a face like Deepika’s get disfigured. And hats off to

Deepika for taking it head on! In this film, she has shed everything that she is known for — the way she looks, the glamour, opulence and the set-up, the hair, makeup, costume or the jewellery. She is just with her craft,” she says.

And without any doubt, the presence of a top name also widens the reach of a film. Meghna, too, agrees. “At the end of the day, why are we making this film? Because this is something that we want people to know about. And if her being a star widens the reach, it’s great,” she says.

Meghna Gulzar’s next is Chhapaak starring Deepika Padukone