Here are excerpts from the conversation:
Has the response to ‘Brahmastra’ brought you joy or relief? Many people have seen it and many people want to see it…
(smiles) Before the release, my focus was only on completing the film. I hoped it would speak for itself and people would give it a chance. Trust me, it was very difficult to put this film together. I cut off the noise around me and focused all my attention on ‘Brahmastra’. We just finished 2/3 days before the film went out.
I am definitely feeling both happy and relieved. Learning too. But the biggest feeling I am feeling is a great energy about the future.
I’m exhausted, but I’m still full of energy and thinking about the way forward.
Karan Johar You deserve appreciation for supporting such an expensive film. There was talk that you had shot some scenes again…
Yes, I have reshooted some scenes. I also reshot parts of ‘Wake Up Sid’ and ‘Yeh Jawaani Yeh Deewani’. There was a very famous saying of Raj Kapoor ‘Films are not shoots but reshoots’. I give a lot of credit to Karan and Dharma. ‘Brahmastra’ is huge for him and his production house.
Apart from this, we also had the prime focus of Namit Malhotra as the producer of VFX company ‘Brahmastra’.
And, of course, Star Studios who gave us all the money; We must give a lot of credit to Star Studios for taking such financial risk.
And let us tell you that Ranbir did this film practically free. that and Alia Bhatt stood by me emotionally till the end.
Let’s know the love story of RK-Alia…
His personal life, his romance… I am very happy for him. They also exude a positive energy and make people feel good about them. For his emotional support, I cannot fathom completing ‘Brahmastra’ without him. The film got delayed a lot but Ranbir and Alia had a great rapport and they continued to believe in the project; This created a lot of energy in the team. Many a times you know that the lead actors mismatch, which tells on the output.
Many believe that RK and Alia are the best in the existing lot. agree or disagree?
I am not going to give a direct answer to this question. I definitely agree that he ranks above as the best actors of this generation. I would say they have been at the fore. He has given some of the best performances of our generation. But other actors have also given some of the best performances of our generation. And, I don’t want to write that incredible piece of work.
Correct. But let me take it further: A filmmaker (name withheld) said he is lucky to be working in this era because Ranbir is around…
that’s wonderful. You know, Ranbir’s talent has been visible from his early days in B-Town. I agree with that, but in the spirit of humility, it is the particular film and also the director that allows that talent to shine. And I would like to underline here that there are actors of equal talent in our industry.
Would you call ‘Brahmastra’ a hit?
Most definitely.