Dibakar Banerjee is one of the four directors who are putting together their short films to make Bombay Talkies, and he says that his part of the film could not have happened without Ranbir Kapoor. “Ranbir is totally associated with the film and is in every frame of it. He is like a shadow of God to this average man. Without him, I couldn’t have made the film,” he said.
His film has Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the lead role, and to that the director said that he wanted to work with Nawazuddin since Black Friday. “It was a lovely, spiritual experience for both of us,” he added.
He also spoke about Aamir Khan in the promotional song for the film, and said that it his presence will do the film good, since the film is a tribute to 100 years of Hindi Cinema and Aamir is definitely an important asset to the film fraternity. “Aamir is not in my movie or anyone’s movie, but in the promotional song. He has supported this project and we are thankful to him,” he said.
The Khosla Ka Ghosla director said that he has always been a loner, but a project like this has made him step out of that and work with other directors. However, Dibakar says that he is not paying tribute but has tried to capture the current filmmaking ways for the future’s aid. “I have made a film that I wanted to do so that when people watch it 10 years down the line, they will know how cinema is today. I am focussing on cinema today, and I think that is the best way of paying tribute,” he said.
Clearing the air about his film being a tearjerker, he said that it is an emotional film, but it is about success and failure. “It is a man who has one chance to succeed, and when he succeeds, you are surprised,” he said.
Dibakar went on to say that his films have succeeded because he has done exactly what he believed in. “My films succeed because I am being myself. I want to reach out to the audience and talk about our culture, problems and traditions,” he pointed out.
Talking about his segment in Bombay Talkies, Dibakar said that he was not competing with anyone. “Zoya, Karan and Anurag are fabulous at their work. Why would any of us compete with each other? Our short films are our own ideas and projects and nothing has influenced them, no competition. Eventually, Bombay Talkies is our project so it equally important to all of us,” he said.
Bombay Talkies will hit the theatres on May 3rd. It has also recently been selected as the Indian entry for the Cannes Film Festival.
