Marriage makes you mediocre: Imtiaz Ali

comments

Share More

Imtiaz Ali talks about life after divorce and explains his role as a mentor.

The Jab We Met director was busy with pre-production work but looked relaxed when Mirror caught up with him. Excerpts from a conversation:

You look like a different person after splitting from your wife Preety? 

Yes, I am. I had become very formal in my approach to everybody. Marriage is so artificial; it comes with so many dos and don'ts that not only make you claustrophobic but also mediocre. It reduces you to a ch***a version of yourself, you play roles to meet someone else's expectations. Today, I say things as they are. I'm not hypocritical. I am as open-minded as when I was in school and college. 

Would you say you are happier now? 

(After a pause) I'd say I'm angrier and sadder as well. It's a mixed bag of emotions. 

Do you hate the institution? 

Actually, the men who stay married hate the institution of marriage more (smiles). 

Will you marry again? 

I don't know. Who can predict the future? Right now, I'm focussed on my next film, Tamasha. Ranbir (Kapoor) and I had been talking about it for ages. It takes off in July. 

What is Tamasha about? 

It's a personal story which will be played out in an effervescent manner. 

Is it your signature theme again--boy and girl unsure about whether they are friends or lovers? 

Not exactly, but yeah, it'll definitely have something in common with my earlier films. 

Which film is closest to your heart? 

Highway. 

Not Rockstar? Ranbir was flawless... 

Yes, Ranbir was terrific, but Rockstar was a defective film. There were many jumps in the story and things which no longer make sense to me. And I faced so much criticism for casting Nargis Fakhri. 

Do you regret the decision? 

No, the film may not have worked for her, but working with another heroine who knew Hindi better would have fostered mediocrity. The challenge to work with Nargis raised the film's intensity. 

Highway did wonders for Alia. How did you zero down on her? 

Ranbir used to tell me that Alia is very talented and I should meet her. I had met her when she was five years old. And I still thought of her as a kid. Then, one day, I bumped into her at a screening. One look and I knew I had to make Highway with her. 

Recently, you collaborated with Vinay Mishra to mentor directors on short films... 

Vinay is a school friend and I like being associated with short films. Today, with technology taking giant strides, wouldn't you like to watch interesting content on your phone? Vikramaditya Motwane, Vikas Bahl, Anand Gandhi and I are on board. I've mentored young talents like Krishna Hooda, Atanu Mukherjee, Ankit Yadav, Shikher Kalyan, Amrit Raj Gupta, Ankit Tripathi, Palash Vaswani, Premendra Sawant, Rukhsana Tabassum, Shikher Kalyan and Priyank Vyas. I gave them some suggestions but I have yet to see the final scripts. 

And did you mentor your brother Arif Ali who is making his directorial debut with Lekar Hum Deewana Dil? 

I was involved with the story when it was being written. But later, when I got busy with Highway, Arif handled things on his own. He was the one who messaged (A R) Rahman sir who instantly replied with a 'yes'. 

It's being said that Rahman has become repetitive and should focus on Indian films rather than Hollywood... 

I disagree; every composition of his brings a smile to people's faces. When he puts a composition like Jai Ho on the world map, India gains from it.