Filmmaker Fridays with Priyanka Sinha Jha

"I am always happy to steal people's lives and put them in a movie." Ritesh Batra. In this edition of Priyanka Sinha Jha, the director Friday, catches up with one of the most sensitive filmmakers that India has produced lately; Ritesh Batra. The director who made his debut in The Lunchbox continued to be celebrated for films of international quality, carefully shot and produced sensitively, such as Sense of an Ending and Our Souls At Night. Now, he returns home, to Mumbai, with his latest film-photograph. Accompanied by her main actor, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Batra engages in a frank conversation about her new film offering and shares some charming anecdotes about the film, which is just an unusual love story about "two people spending time together" . About the movie, Batra says, "I'm always happy to steal people's lives and put them in a movie."
Siddiqui, because of the kindness he brings, says that Batra was absolutely the first choice of the film. "There is an innate goodness about Nawaz. That's how I see it, so it's natural. There are many parallels between the main protagonist of Photograph, Rafi and Siddiqui, Batra points out. The actor and the director joined after The Lunchbox and so had the added benefit of their comfort after working together. Batra confessed to generously borrowing stories that Siddiqui had told her over the years, particularly the scene where a hardened taxi driver in Mumbai asked Rafi (Siddiqui) if the main protagonist of the movie, Miloni (Sanya Malhotra) , was actually a couple. !
Siddiqui, from larger-than-life biophanic groups, like Thackeray and Manto, still plays another role of ordinary man, but this time he plays almost himself. He admits that it was the hardest thing to do for him. "Normally, the main characters play the karta hoon unme ghus jaata hoon, magar is the movie mein khud ko main plays karne ke liye apne side ideas by rah kar Ritesh ke directions by trust karne laga" His interpretation in Photograph has elicited flattering comments – Hollywood nicknamed him "subtle but dynamic as Rafi", but his favorite was that of paparazzi Indians of the small town who had seen the trailer of the film online!
"Sir, take a picture of the film you filmed at Lucknow Airport.
Batra explains, "The film is designed after the Hindi movies of the 80s, where there is a love story between a poor and a rich girl. This poor guy is usually a car mechanic. make a film about a poor guy and a girl a little rich and make it believable. There is something in them that makes them spend time together. A kind of nostalgia. The film talks about the corners of our heart, we do not know it exists. "
Given the sweet and bitter truths that Batra discovered during her explorations of love and yearning, it seems that we are ready for a memorable movie experience.