Basu:2013 will be the year of Ranveer & Arjun

Anurag Basu talks about life post-Barfi! and doing an 'in, pin, safetypin'.

What next after Barfi!?

I don't know as of yet. Not that I have one subject, but I have four. So I don't know which one will I pick. I am confused director, I don't know which one to work on. So at the end, I will do 'in, pin, safety pin'.

Are you planning to shoot Barfi! in any other language?

The film defies language, so there is no need to dub it in any other language.

Calcutta has now become a favourite shooting spot for films. Will we see you coming back to shoot any of your projects here?

I am a bit lazy as a director, and I don't want to research further, don't want to understand other culture. I best portray Kolkata, so I will of course come back here.

After Barfi! Darjeeling has also become a hotspot.

I have just explored 10 % of Darjeeling in the film, the rest 90 % is left to be explored. If I shoot five films there, there also there will be a lot left to see. The best part is a bridge in the town has been named after the film. It's called Barfi! bridge.

Has work begun on the biopic on Kishore Kumar or 'Super 30'?

It is a long way off. Ranbir Kapoor will play Kishore da on screen. He will start this project after shooting two films, while I will come back to it after shooting one. The script is locked, but I will upgrade it with time. The best part is his family has agreed to making the film. Super 30 is about an institute in Patna and the film will mostly be shot there. Nothing else has been finalized.

Which are the upcoming stars you are looking forward to?

2013 will be the year of Ranveer Singh (Ram Leela, Gunday) and Arjun Kapoor (Aurangzeb). In girls, all those who debuted this year are good. My choice would be Alia Bhatt, because I have seen her growing up. I am also looking forward to Ileana in Rajkumar Santoshi's film.

What are the films you are looking forward to?

PK, Kai Po Che, Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Besharam and Midnight's Children. I hope it gets a proper release and doesn't get embroiled in controversies.

Are you planning for any release this year?

Yes, because if you don't have any releases, you are made a jury in award functions and I don't want to do that.

Will we see you directing a Bengali film any time soon?

I will, someday as it was my Dida's last wish. I don't want to lose the Bengali audience, but it's just that when I do a Hindi movie, it has a national reach. I think in Bangali. All the songs of Barfi! were first made in Bengali and then translated in Hindi.

Barfi! did not make it to the Oscars.

I am not very upset because when I started movies that were sent to the Oscars, I realized that Barfi! wouldn't make it. I think they were very good. Amaar kopal dekho, the best world movies have been made this time. But I am happy Barfi! was received well in all the film fests where it has been screened.

I think media has made Oscars to be the Nobel prize of films. Satyajit Ray's films never made it to Oscar. If you look at it, it is a Hollywood awards function, not a world movie awards. Cannes, Berlin, Busan are world cinema events.

You shared a wonderful rapport with Haradhan Bandopadhyay.

It is shocking because he was full of life. Had I came to Kolkata a couple of days ago, I would have met him. This regret will always be there. In the sets of Barfi!, wherever he sat, there would always be 10-15 people there. The experience that I got just by talking to him was phenomenal. I wouldn't have got all of that even after making ten films.