In conversation with Ashim Samanta

Back after a four year-hiatus, when he last made the comedy venture Don Muthuswami, Ashim Samanta, in his zest to carry on the legacy of his late father Shakti Samanta, is launching son Aditya Samanta in his upcoming film Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai that releases on 3 August (2012). Movie Chakkar cornered the filmmaker who is busy with the film’s release procedures. Excerpts… Why a film after a gap of four years? (pauses) My last film Don Muthuswami that was released in 2008, didn’t fare too well. This emboldened me to make a good film and for that I started looking out for good scripts more so because I wanted to launch Aditya. There was a good script that came my way but after going through deeply rejected the same after 8 months. Meanwhile, in 2009, my father expired. But my quest for good stories remained. By-the-by zeroed in on a good script that was earlier liked by my father but when I showed it to Aditya, he expressed his inability to essay the role because he felt he wouldn’t be do the role since he was just a newcomer. With the rejection of this script too, we kept two scripts on the backburner. Hmm… What happened next? I got this particular story that I liked very much. On his part, Aditya too like it. The story revolves around two families and their ego clash that hampers the love story of the two teenagers (Aditya and Nazia), both from either sides of the clash. This was way back in 2010. Continue… But again there was a roadblock. Aditya had to go away to the US for his Business Management course. But since we were sure of going ahead with the project, we finished the screenplay and recorded the songs while Aditya was away. This we did because we didn’t to lose on time after my son returned. Now, we were all set to launch the film. When did you finally launch the film? As soon as Aditya returned in May last year, we started rolling. Initially, we started with a 40-day stint in Udaipur and after a gap of 10 days, we flew off to Poland for a 20-day schedule. Soon after, we came back to India and finished with the patch work. Then the film was ready, isn’t it? Yes, my film was ready to release in January but was wary to release it then because some big films were scheduled to release then. I wasn’t anyway interested to release the film during the IPL tournament. Then again, there was a queue of big ticket films up for release. Finally, settled for 3 August. Going by the fact that films of newcomers don’t fare too well, what made you cast Aditya and Nazia in the title role? I think your conception is wrong. Didn’t my father not launch Rajesh Khanna when he was still unknown to the world or for the matter didn’t he launch Bengal’s then superstar Uttam Kumar in Amanush and Anand Ashram? Or didn’t a big banner like YRF not launch newcomers in Band Baaja Baarat and Ishaqzaade? On the other hand, didn’t we also see big star cast films also flopping? I followed my father’s line incorporated some good songs and saw both the lead players come out with their best. I selected the best of locations. I can say that the film is a truly good film that will remind elders of the olden days and will also pep up the youngsters. Could you tell us the process you selected Aditya and Nazia Hussain? (smiles) Well, as for Aditya, came to know of his acting talent when he was doing a play when in college. When I and my father entered the auditorium we saw the audience in raptures. After we settled down, my father asked me as to what was going on. I told him that the audience was cheering Aditya for his performance. My father stood up in delight and went and hugged Aditya. That emboldened me to cast him in the lead for my film. As for Nazia, she came into the picture when we were conducting screen test for the leading lady’s role. We zeroed in on her from among the last 50 aspirants. Her role in the film is equally important compared to that of Aditya. She suited the role perfectly as she was innocent looking and reasonably talented. She was, for me, a perfect fit for the role. Tell us of anything that happened on the sets? (pauses) Well, I wanted to have a very emotional climax but the original climax was not suiting me and I told my scriptwriter about this. After a couple of drinks, he came up with a brilliant idea. Though it was good, was a little nervous whether Aditya would pull off the role. To my surprise, he did a stupendous job, I was now certain that the film would work. We recently heard that Rajesh Khanna has asked you to remake Aradhana with Aditya and the original songs? (laughs) Yes. Kaka used to seldom come to our place when dad was around. Six to seven years ago when he had come home he struck the idea of remaking Aradhana with a new boy and a girl with the original songs intact. After he had gulped down a drink he repeated the same thing. Then it so happened that after the insistence of my dad, he was introduced to Aditya. After he gave him some tips on his hairstyling, he jocularly told him to tell all that he had done the hairstyling. This sent us all into splits. Then last November, I happened to meet him again. We then discussed a fabulous subject. Giving his ascent to the subject, he promised to also be part of the script besides overseeing the music part. Alas he is no more now!