Director Imtiaz Ali is known for transcending viewers into a different world, be it with his relatable characters like Highway‘s Veera, Cocktail‘s Veronica or intricate storylines like Tamasha. In a recent interview with TOI, the filmmaker talked about his fear of being typecast as a ‘meaningful’ director and why Jab Harry Met Sejal didn’t do well at the Box Office.
While talking about Jab Harry Met Sejal, here’s what he said:
‘JHMS’ took me back to un-heavy cinema. I didn’t want to become a victim of the so-called ‘meaningful’ cinema. I wanted to make a film which is light. Maybe, that was disappointing for people.
We tend to become victims of our own expectations, don’t we? Imtiaz addressed why Jab we met, another light movie, fared so well when compared to JHMS, which tanked at the box office. Here’s what he had to say:
It was appreciated, but I made four films after that and the last three — ‘Rockstar’, ‘Highway’ and ‘Tamasha’ — had a certain gravitas. After those films, people saw me in a certain way.
Touche, Imtiaz. Every filmmaker has a right to express his thoughts via his art and discover his calling! No director wants to be repetitive, and cinema is a pretty dynamic art. Typecasting actors or directors in certain genres is the worst thing we, the audience, can do to an artist. We take away their artistic liberties, their freedom to express themselves the way they want. Imtiaz says he will make films that people might not expect from him, and he has the right to make the films that he wants to!
Here’s to the multifaceted director who gave us Rockstar and Jab We Met, keep revolutionising Indian cinema!
