With her film Talvar hitting the screens tomorrow, director Meghna Gulzar is relieved. Says she, "Directing Talvar was a huge challenge in many ways. To begin with, it is based on a true story. Further, it has been scripted by a genius like Vishal Bhardwaj and features actors of high repute. They had all worked with each other before, I was the newcomer. So, it was important for me to win their trust."
About her father's contribution to Talvar, she says, "The movie would not have happened if not for the equation papa (Gulzar Sahab) shares with Vishalji. He is more like a brother to me. We have been wanting to work together for years and had even discussed some scripts. But somehow, nothing worked out till now."
So, how did Gulzar react to the movie? "Papa was so moved, he didn't talk for a long time. I wanted to know if he had liked it, but he remained silent. He now says it's an important film, because it has a story that should be told."
Not just the story, she is also happy with the film's cast. "Vishalji, my casting director Honey Trehan and I would come up with the same names. We have many established actors in this movie and it's good to know that creatively, we are all on the same page. Also, we were lucky that every actor we approached agreed readily."
Meghna says her long gap from Bollywood was a conscious decision. "My son was born and in the past five years, I devoted all my time to him. It's only when he grew up a little and I was sure my returning to work won't affect his upbringing, that I started looking at stories," she sums up.