Meghna Gulzar: I was scared to make ‘Talvar’

Filmmaker Meghna Gulzar, who brought the hard-hitting and gripping real life drama of the Arushi Talwar-Hemraj murder case alive on the silver screen with ‘Talvar’, says she was scared to make the movie as it was out of her “comfort zone”.

Meghna — daughter of cinema veterans Gulzar and Raakhee — was part of a discussion at FICCI Frames 2016 where she discussed her journey and the hurdles that she faced to put ‘Talvar’ into shape.

She said: “I have done films in the past which were more about women and more soft… So for me, ‘Talvar’ was completely out of my comfort zone. I was actually scared to do this as I had to step out of my comfort zone.

“There was a completely all-male (factor) in the film and it was so masculine — be it the treatment, genre… Everything.”

Written by Vishal Bhardwaj, ‘Talvar’ stars Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma and Tabu among others. The film was a retelling of three investigation theories behind the 2008 double murder case, in which a teenage girl and her family servant were found murdered, and her parents were convicted for the crime.

Asked if she was expecting anything to change post the film’s release, she said: “I was hoping so, but the tragedy is we debate and react on social platforms, but on an actual level, nothing changes. People tweeted and questioned…”

Meghna recalled how her father Gulzar had reacted upon reading the film’s script.

“After my father read the script, he said there is too much of technique and investigation, where is the emotion? But that’s what we wanted — to keep it objective and let the emotions come from the audience.”

Inputs from IANS

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Amod Pandit

Quiet, resonant, and creative, he can be seen immersed in his own world, and puts in his heart and soul into the one passion that he has, Bollywood. His line for survival? Feel happy to be a part of it.