Im quite thrilled for Zoya: Farhan Akhtar

Farhan Akhtar

Unlike Zoya Akhtar's previous films, her latest, Dil Dhadakne Do, has her brother Farhan Akhtar playing a cameo. That came as quite a surprise for the viewers. For those trying to sniff out a controversy in this, there's none. Farhan clarifies, "I am not part of the Mehra family in the film. I am the outsider and so I make my entry mid-way. From the start we were very clear that my role was to be pitched to the audience as a cameo." But even in his brief appearance the actor managed to make quite an impact in the role of a conscientious journalist.

The sequence that has been much talked about was the one where he snubs Rahul Bose's character for showing off his patriarchal side. "We did not want to hammer in any statement on gender equations. But at the same time the scene where I put Rahul in his place was essential to the plot. I think it flowed rather smoothly in the narrative, maybe because I've a certain affiliation to gender-related issues in real life," Farhan says. He adds that when the cameras went off, he and Rahul bonded big time. "As a producer I had to be all there for every member of the cast. Besides Priyanka, with whom I've worked twice as a director, I didn't really know anyone well before the shooting. With Rahul there was a special bonding. I've known him from the time I was doing Rock On and he was directing Everybody Says I'm Fine. And this time we really got to know each other well. We got off the cruise in Barcelona and other places for some serious sightseeing."

Working with PC was smooth sailing for him. "Most of my scenes were with her and it helped that we knew each other well from before," he says. His other role in the film was that of a dialogue writer and the film has been particularly appreciated by many for the way it has been written. "In every film, the characters should speak the way they are meant to. What works here is the conversational quality of the dialogues. The characters seem to be having actual conversations and not indulging in rhetoric," Farhan says.

The actor-producer, however, is surprised at the way critics have labeled the film as elitist. "Surprisingly, the critics spoke of how posh the characters are, as if that aspect would cut them off from the masses. Ironically, the audience had no problem. When has affluence been a problem for the audience? Some of the biggest hits of the Indian cinema have been stories of rich families. And the Indian soaps have women wearing diamonds to the kitchen. Perhaps when critics comment on the our film being too posh they meant it was a kind of affluence that was relatable and real and not out of a fairytale."

As of now, Farhan and the rest of the team is basking in the film's success. "I am quite thrilled for Zoya and of course for myself. Why shouldn't I be? Don't forget I am a producer on this one." Ask him the inevitable, if he is planning to direct again, and he says with a laugh, "I get asked this so often that I might just go back to directing only to stop this question. But jokes apart, at the moment my hands are full with acting assignments. There is Bejoy Nambiar's Wazir and then we start Rock On 2 by the end of the year. I'd rather focus on one interest at a time."

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