In a couple of days from now, Jasmine D’Souza’s debut directorial affair, One Night Stand would hit the screens. It has been one eventful journey for the filmmaker, right from deciding the subject she wanted to explore for her debut film, to getting the casting right, to ensuring that there was right kind of sensitivity in her story telling to delivering a classy product and above all, making sure that as a mother and a wife, she was there for her family right through. Now that the Sunny Leone starrer is counting hours before it begins to play in theatres, Jasmine is going through mixed a mixed bunch of emotions.
How do you look at the year gone by?
(Laughs) Tired. Aaraam se zindagi guzar rahi thi and then I thought of making this film. That said, there is immense sense of pride and fulfilment when I see the film taking its current shape. I think it is equivalent to giving birth to a child. You wait for so long, things begin to happen and then they start taking shape. Finally you are ready to give it to the audience.
Though you have been familiar with the process of filmmaking, you took a while before jumping into the world of direction.
Dekho, jo jis waqt par hona hota hai, tabhi hota hai. Isse pehle I have been assisting my husband (Tony D’Souza). I was actively involved in the making of Blue as a creative director. However, post that I didn’t want to neglect my home. While you are living in a nuclear family, you have to try and strike a balance. Neither your work nor your personal life should suffer. Iss pehle I hadn’t thought about directing since my son Ethan was young and he needed me to hold his hand and be there for him. There was a decision I took for the moment as I didn’t wish to work back then.
So things are better today?
Yes. Ethan is 11 today, and almost a teenager. He has a set routine of things that he does during the day. He doesn’t need me that much now and I don’t need to be around him all the time. He is big enough to take care of himself. Also, thankfully I have a mature child. I don’t have to be worried about what he is doing or not. When everything fell in place together, I decided to make One Night Stand.
Meanwhile, Tony too started getting busy with making Azhar. How have the two of you been balancing time?
When I started work on One Night Stand, Tony was in between his films. I could step out and he could be there at home and take care of Ethan. If that would not have been possible, I probably wouldn’t have done that role. You need to have that kind of understanding with your partner. So when Tony had to step out, I used to be at home and so on. We managed to find that balance between the two of us. This is the reason why both of us could do our respective films.
Coming to One Night Stand while Sunny was a quick choice for you as the leading lady, how did you pencil in on your leading man Tanuj Virwani?
Yes, we had to get the right guy. When Tanuj came for audition, he was just perfect and that’s the reason why he is in the film. He has also worked very hard. He had to change a lot for the film now as he is just not the character that he is playing in the film. He had to change a lot of mannerisms so as to be the character that he is playing in the film. There was certain maturity that was needed for that, and he adapted it all quite well.
A title like One Night Stand comes with preconceived notions. How have you taken care of that with the film?
Honestly, I wanted to have a certain message as well to the film, though without being preachy or on-your-face gyaan. We wanted to be sure that we deliver a commercially viable film for everyone to enjoy. The flow of the film has been kept in such a way that none of the elements in there stick like sore thumb. It all blended in perfectly well. Yes, we have Sunny Leone in there but we haven’t done anything to sensationalize this whole image of hers. We are being true to the story.
