'I promise you, you've never seen her do anything like this.'
'It is a complete reinvention of Janhvi Kapoor.'
Few directors have carved a distinctive journey as Sudhanshu Saria.
After working in the US for 13 years, he made his debut with the queer drama, Loev in 2015.
The Darjeeling-born film-maker has always been fascinated with cinema and credits Bollywood as his fodder during his formative years.
He continued to make self-funded shorts and features that won him a National Film Award in 2021 for his short film, Knock Knock Knock.
Saria may have marked a new phase in his career with Ulajh, headlined by Janhvi Kapoor.
"For me, getting a chance to make a film is a rare privilege," Sudhanshu Saria tells Mayur Sanap/Rediff.com.
At Uljah's song launch event, you said you were against the idea of putting out any promotional material for the film, even the trailer. Why so?
We care deeply about the audience's experience.
Once I decide to watch a certain film, I don't see anything (related to that). But it takes a little bit of work for the person to decide that I want to see this film.
Sometime that happens because of a teaser.
Sometime that happens because of a poster.
Sometime that happens because of an interview.
Sometime that happens months after a film has released.
So marketing and getting the film out there is very important because you want more and more people to try and sample the film. I understand the value of it.
But I am trying to protect the audience experience where I know they will have the most fun if they go in with no preconceived notions.
As an audience, I get very disappointed when I see a trailer where I feel like I have seen everything.
Nobody can say that about our film.
When the first poster of Ulajh came out, it had Sachin Khedekar as a part of the main cast. I don't see his name in the cast list anymore.
Yaar, it's my loss only.
We were very excited about Sachin. We were doing the prep and I was so excited that he said yes.
When we came back from the London shoot, we were supposed to shoot Sachin's bits.
I don't know if you remember last year there were torrential rainfalls and floods in Delhi. It was impossible to shoot anywhere.
Our schedule shifted and we were not able to get Sachin's dates as he had other commitments.
I really tried but when it didn't happen, we had to accommodate, adjust and move on.
I'll work with him again, I'm very sure of it.
You like to write your material. How did you conceptualise this story?
The script was written by Parveez Shaikh. He is one of our best writers in our industry, whether it comes to Bajrangi Bhaijaan or Queen or Darlings.
I received a very engaging page-turner. I had certain things I wanted to do to it, to make it a film that I was interested in directing.
Not just Parvez and me, but I also brought in Atika Chohan (Chhapaak, Margarita With A Straw) on board to do the dialogues.
I felt it was very important to have a female perspective in the creation process.
Did you have any actor in mind by this time?
By the time we started casting, this world was real to me.
For me, Suhana Bhatia was a real person and the idea of someone playing her would alter her. So initially, I was struggling with that.
I don't keep anyone in mind when I am writing.
We decided to re-write the second version by the casting decision.
What made you think that Janhvi Kapoor would pull off this role?
That decision was taken by Janhvi.
Once she knew this film was in the making, she just charged at it. She came after us with great passion that she wanted to do this.
What I found in her was a very intelligent, insightful, passionate, confident and clear headed partner.
You know, making any film is like going to war.
You want to embark on that journey with a partner, someone who's not going to back off when things get tough. That quality of hers was very exciting to me.
Beyond that, I feel like she has crafted a very interesting career for herself at such a young age. The fact that she was willing to put everything on the line and go after Ulajh also says something about who she is.
She has the option of doing all kinds of films but Ulajh is what she comes for. These kinds of choices reveal a lot about the person.
I was very keen and excited that if we are going to work together, as I am with any actor, we are going to deliver for the audience a completely different version of that actor.
I promise you, you've never seen her do anything like this. It is a complete reinvention of Janhvi Kapoor and it's going to take everybody by surprise.
Ulajh marks your transition from small indie features to mainstream cinema. How difficult was to land such an opportunity?
For me, getting a chance to make a film is a rare privilege.
I have been working in the industry for 22 years in different capacities.
My first film Loev went into production 10 years ago. That was a huge critical success, and traveled round the world.
It was one of the first films acquired by Netflix for a global release. This is before Netflix India even had an office.
From there, I had access to many opportunities but I chose to make a film called Knock Knock Knock, which won me my National Award.
Again, it was celebrated critically, went to a bunch of festivals, and released internationally.
In these past few years, I've tried to pick different things that challenge who I am and shape my voice.
I made Sanaa with Radhikka Madan, Pooja Bhatt and Shikha Talsania We will work on the release right after Ulajh.
Big Girls Don't Cry is a show for Amazon Prime that we put out earlier in the year. It has a phenomenal star cast, as we launched nine girls. But it also had actors like Raima Sen and Pooja Bhatt.
I'm on a journey of reinvention. As long as I'm not repeating myself, I'm good.
When you sign a film, you don't know what the budget or cast is. With Ulajh, we took the script, worked on it and got it here.
The ambition of casting and budget was driven by the material.
Once this film is done, I'm not sure which way I'm going to go, what kind of project I'll pick.
I might do something in LA or make a short or an independent film or even sign up with a studio feature with a traditional setup.
For me, the only thing that matters is if the material will make a difference. If there is potential in this material for me to do something unique with that no other filmmaker can do.
If those two boxes are being checked, maybe the third box is, do I know how to make the film?
If the answer is no, I don't know how to make this film, that makes it very exciting for me.
Before Ulajh, you produced your films. Was it because of a lack of backing?
No. It is about where the material is generated from.
Ulajh was a script that Junglee Pictures had, so I was signed on to direct and write it.
When the material comes from me, I would like to produce it because it gives me greater control over the process.
There is no doubt that the backing of Junglee Pictures has made a hundred things easy.
The way that the film is being released.
The way it is being put out.
The kind of media partners it has.
The kind of scale it has.
Even for an actor like Janhvi, I might be good for her, the material might be good for her, but if there is the backing of a certain kind of production house, she would perhaps feel comfortable saying, let's do this film.
How did you develop your passion for cinema and film-making?
Growing up in Darjeeling, I was a big film buff.
I remember watching Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Gupt, Baazigar, in single screen theatres.
I was the kid sitting on a train station platform reading Filmfare and other movie magazines. But never did I imagine I would be making films.
That happened when I went to the US for college.
I encountered some kids studying cinema and I understood that you can study this.
That kick-started my education into the field and my career into the business.
I worked in New York and LA for about 13 years. Then I transitioned to making my own films, which began with Loev.
Was mainstream Bollywood always the ambition?
The agenda never has been I need to penetrate mainstream Hindi cinema. I don't think like that.
The audiences have really transformed this idea of mainstream Hindi cinema into a much more accommodating, diverse space.
Nowadays, it is an asset to do something which is not traditional Hindi cinema.
It has become more difficult to get audiences back to movie theatres. How do you look at this challenge?
It's a healthy pressure.
It should exist so that we can put our best foot forward.
The reason why it's tough to get audiences back to theatres is because we have largely disappointed them when they have come to theatres.
When we make things that are average, we over-market it and fool people into sampling it. They get disappointed and will be more reluctant.
There has been a market correction in the last two three years for the better, where people have become more cautious, more careful. That's a good thing.
