On Is Shakun Batra’s series Ma Anand Sheela shelved? Here’s what he says

There was buzz around director Shakun Batra’s web series on the life of controversial Godman Osho and his disciple, Ma Anand Sheela. Actors Alia Bhatt and Aamir Khan were rumoured to be headlining the project, but the buzz fizzled out soon.

Ask Batra about it, and he says, “The story is very close to my heart. Of late, I didn’t have the time, as I was finishing Gehraiyaan. It’s something I do want to venture back into. I don’t know the timing of it, I don’t know if it’s next or after that, but it’s close to me.”

Like this web series, the 39-year-old’s choice of film subjects has always been offbeat — Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu (2012), Kapoor & Sons (2016) and Gehraiyaan, for instance. Does he ever get advised to make more mainstream films? “The idea is to never make mainstream [films], it’s always about what’s playing on my mind, what I feel, the story

I am keen to tell... I am fortunate to have people who support me. Whether a film becomes mainstream or not, that’s something you can never know. A film gets accepted [by the audience] all of a sudden and that makes it mainstream,” says the director.

He cites the example of Kapoor & Sons, which dealt with a subject like LGBTQI+ and infidelity themes. “It was considered extremely independent, but did much better than some films considered mainstream. So, I think we have to tell interesting stories. The films I make will never be massy or entirely independent. I exist somewhere in between. With every film, I get surprised, which side the audience will put it on,” he ends.

The story is very close to my heart. It’s something I do want to venture back into. I don’t know the timing of it, I don’t know if it’s next or after that, but it’s close to me.

SHAKUN BATRA,

PHOTO: FOTOCORP Shakun Batra