Suresh Triveni, who earlier helmed Tumhari Sulu, a slice of life film, is back with Jalsa. His latest directorial venture stars Vidya Balan and Shefali Shah and is an emotional thriller currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video. The Free Press Journal caught up with him for an exclusive conversation.
Talking about the transition, Suresh shares, “We are constantly transitioning. I get bored very easily with one genre, so for me, after Tumhari Sulu, there were many similar offers that came my way. It may sound cliché as a filmmaker, but I genuinely want to explore different genres. Plus, I didn’t want to do a similar kind of film with Vidya. You should be insecure about going to the sets and get jitters whether you will pull out or not. I was luckily able to crack up the script and convince people to come on board.”
Suresh is all praise for Vidya with whom he had first collaborated in Tumhari Sulu. “The thought which convinced Vidya to play Maya Menon was Tumhari Sulu was a feeling and Jalsa is a plot. As the film differs, so does your equation with your actors. I am a huge fan of Vidya, all I wanted was to work with her, and I ticked in the first attempt with Tumhari Sulu. I thought about how to push myself and write something that could excite her. Both the films had different moods on the sets. I feel the change in genre brings in a newer experience,” he explains.
Suresh Triveni during Jalsa's script reading session | PIC: Instagram/vbinspired
Shefali plays the role of a maid in the film. With a two heroine narrative, Suresh has kept equal prominence for both characters. “They both are veterans and know their craft. People who have nothing to prove to anyone work from a place of extreme security. I am not sugarcoating, but they both compliment each other. Though they intersect each other, I wanted their acting prowesses in different ways,” he states.
Suresh is a filmmaker who has a knack for telling strong women-driven stories like Tumhari Sulu had Vidya, Neha Dhupia and Jalsa too is about two women. “There are multiple realities to make a film. I don’t wake up and decide that I have to make women-centric films. We don’t say men oriented film for a two-hero film. My protagonists are women with great qualities and calibre. Actors are not gender bound. However, decision making can come from a gender space. Shefali says that it is not a women-centric film; it is a human-centric film. I look at subjects as subjects,” he concludes.
