‘I’d choose football over films any day’
When I play football, I am not worried about anything; for that oneandahalf hours, I am not thinking about anything else.
SHOOJIT SIRCAR, FILMMAKER
He may be one of the most sought-after film-makers in Bollywood right now, but Shoojit Sircar has no qualms in admitting that football is his “first love”. In fact, the October director’s Twitter bio reads, “First footballer then filmmaker. I make films when I am playing football (sic).”
When asked about his unique Twitter bio, he says, “When I play football, I am not worried about anything; for that one-and-a-half hours, I am not thinking about anything else. So, your mind is absolutely clear, as your focus is only on the game. That’s absolute leisure, and then your mind works in complete peace. I feel it becomes easy to think when your mind is clear and there is no baggage. You can’t think clearly when you are under pressure.”
Interestingly, Shoojit says he would “never think twice” about quitting film-making to take up his favourite sport. “I am an accidental filmmaker,” he says with a laugh, adding that given the option, he would choose football over films any day. “Not many know that I wanted to play for the national [football] team, but I did not have the required talent to get in. But I can give up anything — a lot of things — for football (laughs),” says the Piku (2015) film-maker, who recently returned from Singapore, where he represented a Bollywood celebrity football team at a charity match against Singapore’s Celebrities Sports Club.
Work-wise, the filmmaker’s latest release, October (starring Varun Dhawan and newcomer Banita Sandhu), has impressed audiences as well as critics. Ask him how challenging the film was and he says: “Every film is emotionally challenging but October has impacted me way more. Every time I watch it, it brings a smile to my face and also a lot of happiness. When I watch it, I feel that life can be so simple, so I don’t have to complicate myself. That’s why my simple idea is, ‘Let’s not try not to complicate my life and keep it simple and straight’,” says Sircar, whose next film will likely be based on Indian freedom fighter, Udham Singh.