Director Rensil D’Silva, who started his career as an advertising creative director two decades back, has co-written screenplay for movies like Aks and the critically-acclaimed, Rang De Basanti, Thambi, and Ungli (which was his solo outing as a writer).
In 2009, Rensil forayed into direction with Dharma Production’s Kurbaan, starring Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan. He is also the name behind writing Karan Johar’s 2012 directorial, Student of the Year (2012) and Anil Kapoor’s television series, 24. And now, with his recent release, Dial 100, Rensil is earning appreciation for the screenplay as well as the direction. Starring Neena Gupta, Manoj Bajpayee and Sakshi Tanvar in lead roles, Dial 100 was released on August 6 on Zee5.
Dial 100 covers issues like parenting, delinquency, money power, police corruption, and most importantly, depression leading to suicides, which apparently was the initial idea behind the script. “This idea has been with me for many years. One evening, I got a call from an unknown drunken man who said he wanted to burn all his poetry and commit suicide. I couldn’t meet that man, but the moment stayed with me. There are a lot of such cases these days, so I decided to write this film,” Rensil shares, and adds that thriller comes naturally to him. “I am actually good at it.”
We had to agree with the director observing his background of working with filmmakers like Mani Ratnam, David Dhawan, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, and actor Aamir Khan. “Working with them was the greatest reward for me. Every time I collaborated with them it helped me better my craft,” enthuses the director, who has several awards to his credit for best screenplay, story, and direction. “Awards mean a lot to me. I never work expecting any award, but when I get one, it feels great,” he shares, and adds that his greatest award is when the audience connects with his stories.
In his illustrious career as a writer, Rensil has churned out some spectacular stories far from the ready-made formula of real-life incidents and biopics. It is no doubt that Indian Cinema, for the last couple of years, has been playing safe, however, this isn’t the case with Rensil. And when we asked if there is a dearth of imagination and creativity, the writer, instead, says that this is the best time for writers.
“Look at OTT content. Writers are now getting recognition for their stories. But at times, not everything they write comes on the screen the way it is on the paper. And I do feel that writers are not given enough credit for creating good content,” he explains. But are they paid well? “It is a big problem in this country that writers are not paid well either. The money they get is not worth the work they do,” he states.
Rensil will next be directing Dongri to Dubai, a film based on the book of the same name, and a couple of other projects including a movie on 1971 Hijack.
