‘There's a thairaav in Metro…in the words and performances.'

India Today

22-06-2025

Q. How did you end up in the Basu da romantic universe?He messaged; we have been in touch for some time, not for this. I am a bit shy in trying to tell the person I want to work with. But he is perceptive, so I guess he kept me in mind.Q. It's been nearly two decades since Life in aMetro. Its songs and scenes continue to pop up on social media every now and then. What do you most recall about it?advertisementIt was very cool. At the time the only kind of films like it were Crash and Babel, which were very serious. In the Indian context, with the love stories intertwining and the musical approach, this was refreshing. Recently, my wife [Richa Chadha] and I were watching songs from the first Metro and it felt like some things are just perfectly etched in time. Time just goes still. You see Nafisa Ali, Dharmendra and Irrfan; you can't get your eyes off Nafisa ma'am.
Now the songs we do and the way we showcase the narrative overall, it is a little more paced. You can see in Metro there's thairaav (gravitas). Perhaps it's in this one, too, in the words and performances.Q. Romance too has evolved from then [2007] to now? Does the film capture that change?advertisementYes. Anurag Basu is a perceptive filmmaker; you see the pace of a metro in his film. Earlier people from other cities used to lose themselves in Mumbai. I remember sitting and dreaming on Marine Drive that I would do this and do that. There were no reels to get distracted by. Now there are other outlets for venting. But the core issues are similar and the emotions are the same. Everybody is going through some form of trauma, that has come from somewhere–generational, daddy issues, triggers in relationship, extramarital affairs, situationship These are new labels. There are the nine rasas in the different permutations and combinations.Q. Tell us about your track with Fatima Sana Shaikh.It's a more elevated track emotionally. The fun banter is there, but it's limited as opposed to Sara [Ali Khan] and Adi's [Aditya Roy Kapur]. There's a bit of gloom. It hits you like a train, then it is all downhill. It's a lot of ups and downs. It's the real life, coming to Mumbai to realise your dreams, paying rent while you are in love That's the brutal truth, he has shown how you fight through that. Ek zidd hai (there is a stubbornness).advertisementQ. And the stories are intertwining?But very subtly. I think Basu da is playing on something else that none of the actors know about. Pankaj [Tripathi] ji told me the other day that there was a car that comes and I stop and it almost hits me. Now he is sitting in the car.Q. Basu is one of the last of the Mohicans in how he sees and treats romances. What was it like working with him?He leaves you hungry for more. I really hope my paths cross with him in a more expanded way.He is a certified genius, who works differently and has everything calculated, but he leaves room for actors to bring in their game. There's a lot of unsaid stuff that went on between us which I will cherish. He will give you a clue to see it, then it is you making a choice. It's beautiful to have a director championing you.Q. You donned the producer's hat last year with Girls Will Be Girls, which won a lot of critical acclaim and accolades to go with it. What's brewing with your production banner, Pushing Buttons?It's so nice to be able to make cinema that we wanted to watch. Richa and I want to do that again and again. Some of the studios have been good with us. The Amazon Prime release for the film helped in a big way. The idea is good films be made, we desperately need that.We are in pre-production for two films and one show for which we await the greenlight. Richa is acting in one, I am doing one. That's because of the director's choices rather than us being producers.advertisementQ. You have also done Lahore 1947 with Sunny Deol and Shabana Azmi.Aamir (Khan) sir was very instrumental in convincing me to step in. Raj ji [Kumar Santoshi, director] was gung-ho about narrating me this track, which has its own thing going on. The powers that be will decide when it comes out. I have two to three days of patchwork shoot left.Subscribe to India Today Magazine