Shakun Batra’s upcoming directorial venture Gehraiyaan will release digitally on February 11. The film stars Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday and Dhairya Karwa in pivotal roles. Free Press Journal caught up with the filmmaker for an exclusive tête-à-tête.
Talking about his forte of telling complex stories, Shakun shares, “It is not a conscious decision to break out of the norm, but these are the things that make me curious, and honestly, I am just following my curiosity. Infidelity is something that I saw around me when I was a teenager and when I became a filmmaker; it was still with me. I just had to find my way of addressing it. Films, for me, in some way have the power to change you. When I came out of my first film Kapoor & Sons, I felt a part of me was healed. I had made peace with coming of age in my own way. It is genuinely like two to three-year therapy sessions to the weight and conditioning you are carrying around.”
Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, which was helmed by his mentor Karan Johar, also deals with the taboo subject of infidelity. However, Shakun doesn’t feel the films have much in common. “Over these years, we did step into the topic of infidelity, but it was always about finding a soulmate. I had a bit of a crutch to justify that one should go on this journey. I wanted things to be one step messier. It is about finding yourself rather than a soulmate,” he explains.
Siddhant Chaturvedi and Deepika Padukone | Pic: Viral Bhayani
The intimate scenes in the film have become a talking point. “I feel slightly different. People have cooked up more controversy than required by seeing songs and trailer. It’s not about the debate of the pros and cons of monogamy. I would like to believe that things lie in grey. We have tried to be responsible about intimacy, but this film lands more on the questions than the answers. I hope people will come up with their own interpretations after the film. What scares me a bit is that the film drops a question which I am unsure of since people like bow-tied and clean endings,” Shakun avers.
The film has quite a unique cast. Talking about Deepika and Siddhant, he states, “Casting wasn’t such an overthought situation. I wanted Deepika, and that happened. I saw Sid, met him, and that happened too. They both met, and the magic happened. It’s not like I had to work more than usual. Obviously, nervousness is bound to happen when you get to act opposite a star like Deepika, especially so early in your career. However, we all were fortunate enough to spend time together before the shoot began in Goa.”
On a parting note, he reveals his work equation with Karan. “The moment I bring up something, he and I have curiosity in similar things, but there’s never really a long discussion. I say it, and he likes them, and we just move on,” he concludes.
