Meghna Gulzar: Expecting Soon!

By Fuad Omar.

Respected lyricist and noted writer-director Gulzarsaab's daughter is all set to deliver her first baby. Filhaal (For the Moment) is Meghna Gulzar's directorial debut that takes the viewer on a journey into the world of four friends, the unpredictable nature of life and how important it is to treasure the moments. Her maiden venture has been conceived, nurtured and perfected by her and she's just about ready to unleash it onto the world in a week's time on February 1st 2002.

The canvas of the film is painted in soft pastel and white colours and judging from the first glimpse of the simple feel and vibrant quality that jumps from the project, it seems her debut is going to be one not easily passed by. My first experience of Filhaal was in January 2001 when I visited Chembur Hospital and Sushmita Sen was carefully listening to her director explaining how she wanted her to enact a scene. The sequence almost moved me to tears and after the shot when the beautiful actress who has a pivotal role in the movie saw the result, even she was touched by the scene. Nine months after my first experience of the glow that emanates from Filhaal and the film is ready, still radiating the same ethereal feel that has slowly captured the hearts of music listeners everywhere and those who've seen the promos.

When I meet the film's young director she greets me with a warm smile and it is clear to see where the soul of Filhaal has come from. She exhibits as much warmth as her movie and is as passionate about her pet project like a young lover who's just discovered romance. Despite it being clear to see where the Filhaal came from, I still ask her how it was conceived.
"This is not my first script, it's my second so I don't remember when exactly the idea for it came to mind, but it was a few years ago," she tells me as we drive to her office from the dubbing studio. "I had written the story as a synopsis and put it away in my computer somewhere. I had been working on another script and reached the stage after the complete screenplay, with dialogue and everything up until the climax, and maybe I had lived with it too long or something, but my mind started wandering. I didn't feel as excited as I should have been about my first script, and then I found this older story and was reminded of it and thought it was really interesting. There was so much potential in it to explore and so many levels of relationships in it that my mind immediately started buzzing. I started writing it in October 1998, the first draft was complete by around February 1999 and by February 2000 it was completely ready and bound."

Of my discussions with the young director and writer in passing or on the phone, one thing I have constantly told her that I like about Filhaal (and something which seems to have captured many people's attention) is the feeling it gives off. It's not quite feel-good or over-familiar but has a sense of déjà vu with an ethereal or spiritual quality to it. I tell her how when the first few bars of the title track begin - you instantly know what you 're listening to and that you'll love it. Most films that fail today - although well made and may have top artistes, but what they lack is a soul. Filhaal has already shown it has a soul and an essence through it's haunting music, leaving the film to allow you to discover just how far it stretches. I ask her where this soul and unbound free feel comes from that she seems to have allowed to pass through her onto the film.
"I've always believed that the audience is hungry for something new with different content and subject matter and it's always been the makers or the financiers who have not been willing to move away from the tried and tested formulae and take risks; well that's changing now," she says enthusiastically. "There's a whole new breed of people coming now and I really feel your films reflect you. I am an emotional person and my emotions run to extremes. If I'm sad, I can be miserable and if I'm happy, I can be ecstatic and that at some level reflects in my work. Yes, I know my film has some very deep-rooted emotions and that somehow spills into the shots that you see in the promos of the music. Another important factor is that everyone involved in the film was just as passionate about the project as I was, so it shows in every department be it the music, lyrics, costumes, sets or performances. So when so many creative energies are directed towards one goal so positively it's bound to resonate."

The lyrics of the songs penned by her father and renowned lyricist Gulzar epitomise the essence she has attempted to capture. Be it the title track which asks life to let you live in the moment you're in now or the wedding song which promises to sweep the bride away in a doli while echoing her name across the wind, each song is a complete sonata of a feelings and encapsulates easy listening. I ask how involved she was in the music and what she thinks is the secret of the music that everyone seems to be humming nowadays.
"I've been involved in it 200 percent! It's my first film and I had never done a music sitting before in my life, so I was there for literally everything including the recording of the tracks. Anu (Malik) and I would sit and he'd keep humming a song to me and by the end of it he could read my reactions and tell if something was working with me or not. Filhaal's music is very much the kind of music I'd like to listen to. It's very mellow and melodious. I don't like music that starts hurting your ears after a while. The songs of the film never actually make a statement, in that there's no item song or one to add extra melodrama or anything, I think the beauty of the music is its simplicity."

As the music of the film is so different from the regular soundtracks it was a gamble that has certainly paid off, and sales of the music are increasing by the day as the ever important release date of the film draws close. How does it feel to have the first step accomplished in acceptance for the music, given it's on everyone's lips at the moment?
"The magnitude of the reaction and the buzz of the music has not hit me. Maybe my defences are up because I don't want to be over excited or confident, so right now I'm just comfortable with the response. When someone comes up to me and says how much they like the music or how big the reaction is I just say 'Thanks'. It really has not hit me yet."

The promos of the film are eye-catching and attract the viewers' attention as in a medium known as the peacock screen Meghna has chosen to present her teaser trailer with everyone simply in white with a plain background. The effect glows from the screen and stands out amongst the noise and other loud coloured promos it is sandwiched in between, and the first promo has each character step out onto the centre stage as if introducing themselves with a smile. I ask what made her decide to shoot the promo like this, to which she smiles and tells me:
"The initial teaser with everyone in white is actually the title sequence of the film. What we did was shoot everyone for the title sequence and then decided to make this the teaser trailer for it. What we wanted to do was just introduce these four characters in a very abstract space and give you an idea of the equations that two of them are couples and two of them are friends. So you have an idea of the personalities just by the way they're behaving. The following promo will show you them in their spaces in the film. So you have a sense of already knowing them without being conscious of the location they're in or what they're wearing, so by keeping everything abstract more than anything the characters themselves stand out. This was the desired impact because when you see a promo in between forty other promos, it has to stand out, and I hope we've achieved that."

The second promo shows more scenes and be it the look in her characters' eyes, the reactions to one another or the setting of the rooms they are seen in, one of the first things I noticed and appreciated was the detail in each frame. As a writer I could literally write portions of the script from seeing the images which is to her credit. How did she achieve this and successfully bring across her vision onto celluloid so accurately, I query. She replies:
"I think what has helped me in the making of this film is that I have such a strong base as a writer. My script was detailed to the extreme that every pause, every breath was there to help the artistes and the cinematographer and helped while shooting because everything from every emotion was there on paper. So I don't know if it's because it's my first film and everything is so passionate and perfect, and if it'll be the same next time round."

As we reach her office we talk about the overseas audience and their penchant for softer films that are not action-oriented and how films that have been more about emotions or family have done better at the UK box office, and ask what she hopes for in a reaction from the international audience.
"The one thing I have on my side with the overseas audience is the contemporary sensibility. I'm not harping on traditional Indian values or brow beating the West, and I'm not making a feminist statement either. It's a simple story about four people, four friends and the emotions at their most basic level, whether it's in a love relationship or a marriage or a friendship. It's also about how something that's insignificant can become very complicated because you don't have control of your emotions because you are human and you let your emotions run haywire and things just build up. Filhaal is made up of these moments and sometimes when these moments go wrong you still have to live each one of them, the good ones and the bad ones. There is a simplicity in Filhaal, a certain sensibility and logic and so a certain level of intellect or thinking is required to appreciate this film, and that is one thing I hope I will get from the overseas audience.

Given that the music and promos are already generating a feedback and buzz rarely seen, and that the film already has an ethereal feel to it, deals with life, relationships and moments it has much on its side. I stop the dictaphone before we venture in for a coffee and she shows me some promotional material for the film. On my way back I take a rickshaw and to my surprise the tape playing in it is of Filhaal and the enthusiastic driver hums along with me to the title track. It seems many are looking forward to a simple film flowing from the big screen and into people's hearts. I remember something from Filhaal that goes:
"What unfolds tomorrow, is destiny.
The moment today, is reality.
And life is lived
somewhere in between."

Filhaal is released on February 1st nationwide.