Promotions for Anurag Basu’s Metro... In Dino are in full swing and ahead of its much-anticipated release on July 4, actors Sara Ali Khan and Aditya Roy Kapoor touched down in Calcutta on Thursday to promote the multi-starrer film that also stars Anupam Kher, Pankaj Tripathi, Konkona Sensharma, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Ali Fazal, Neena Gupta, and Saswata Chatterjee. After an activity-filled Thursday in the City of Joy, Sara and Aditya dropped by at Arsalan for a media meet on the film where they largely spoke about Calcutta, their characters in Metro... In Dino, working with Basu and more. Excerpts.
Playing Chumki and Calcutta...
Sara Ali Khan: I am a Bengali in the film and a large part of our film is actually set in Calcutta. Neenaji’s whole track is set in Calcutta. And I think that it’s Metro... In Dino, and Calcutta, as we know it, is one of the main metros of our country... it’s so warm. You guys are so loving. And it’s been a lovely time here. We’ve tried to show and encapsulate the warmth of the metros and how the love languages are changing nowadays in metros, how modern love has evolved, and Calcutta is one of the cities that we’ve shown.
Working with Aditya Roy Kapoor...
Sara: It’s been amazing! It was a lot of fun and he’s so real and so relaxed that I had a great time working with him.
Working with director Anurag Basu...
Aditya Roy Kapoor: The experience was amazing! I did a film with him before this called Ludo. And I had such a wonderful time working with him that I was looking for the next opportunity to get back onto a movie set with him. So I was really, really excited when he reached out and spoke about Metro... (In Dino). What he had in store for the film and also, for the character, he had a lot of interesting and exciting ideas about what we could do with the character. Working with him is a dream for an actor... he’s a joy to work with and always brings out something different in a performance. So, I’m really really excited to be back on a movie set with Dada.
The experience of Basuda’s film is always going to be unique. He has his own unique way of working. He would definitely give you a detailed outline of your story, of the beats of your story. He would give you a detailed kind of synopsis, speak to you about your character, about the essence of the character. So you know exactly the kind of guy you’re playing. But yes, he doesn’t fully give you a bound script before and that’s his method. And once you have been on a set with him, you get used to it and then you enjoy! It’s a way of removing pressure.... You do not know what you’re shooting the next day, it’s good fun (smiles).
Pritam’s composition and role of music in the film...
Sara: One has grown up listening to Pritamda’s songs and one has grown up watching Basuda’s work. I’m just so honoured and privileged to be able to work with them and to be able to be part of the story that they are telling! And, of course, music is extremely integral to our film and we hope that you like it.
Dealing with stress and insecurity in a multi-starrer film that’s a sequel to Life... In A Metro...
Sara: I don’t think I took any pressure. Like I said, I was just honoured and privileged to get a chance to work with Basuda, to be in a film with Pritamda’s music. This film is its own film, you know. It’s a different film. So I didn’t take any pressure. Basuda is a master filmmaker and he’s done films like this before, whether it’s Metro, whether it’s Ludo and I think he knows how to give his characters and his actors a lot of space, a lot of respect. I think we’re storytellers and we’re part of the story and as long as we keep that in mind, I personally don’t see the room for insecurity.
Much like the first one, I think that there are four different love stories across different ages, across different stages and as long as you find even one story from this... I think you’ll find maybe more than one that you can relate to, that’s all we can do — tell real, relatable, honest stories and give our best and I think we’ve done that.
Aditya: There’s enough pressure anytime you’re making a movie as it is. So you shouldn’t be looking for more reasons to apply pressure on yourself (smiles). You should be looking for things to remove pressure from yourself. So, I don’t think there was any reason to take any baggage because the stories were so unique and new and dada was coming to it with a completely new slate that there was no reason to think of that. Now when we’re promoting we realise “wow it’s such a love film”... not that we didn’t know that but now one feels like yes, people are connecting the two but when we were shooting it we didn’t keep the fact that it’s a sequel in our mind. We just approached it like a fresh piece of work.
On singing in the film...
Aditya: It was wonderful. It all happened in a very impromptu way. We were not planning on, you know... there is a small musical part in the movie where they said come and just sing, maybe it will help you in lip-syncing. And I got into the studio and they seemed to think that my voice was sounding good. They said “yaar achha lag raha hai Adi... keep going”.
I was supposed to sing one or two lines but I ended up singing the whole thing and that’s what’s ended up being in the film! So I’m glad it happened in an impromptu fashion, I didn’t overthink it, I just was in the moment and I sang the song and I’m excited to see what people think of it. It’s a very quirky song to say the least.
Discovering and exploring love in a metro city in this time and age...
Aditya: What’s wonderful about the four love stories is that Basuda has used situations that I think everyone can connect with. You know, situations that you face in a big city. And I think everyone will connect with one story or the other. As far as my experience with modern love, I think the only thing that has probably changed is technology. And the fact that we communicate in new ways.
We have phones in our pocket, we’re hyper-connected. So maybe that has some effect, it plays on relationships in today’s day and age. And that’s also an aspect of a story that sir has explored in Konkona (Sensharma)and Pankaj (Tripathi) sir’s track where the mobile phone can play truant in a relationship.
So that has changed and that probably changes dynamics and for you to adjust to that hyper-connectivity.... I have discovered this and that relationships in the age of social media... a lot has changed.
Sara: Because of phones nowadays, we know where the other person is all the time but when we’re with them are we really with them? I think... at least I’m discovering and it’s not just about love, I think it’s about any interpersonal relationship, it’s about being as honest as you can in the moment, you know... I think that having real conversations, just like being there.
Most memorable moment of shooting Metro... In Dino
Sara: It would probably be my first day on Basuda’s set where one was thrown into the world that he creates and it was just so lovely. It was such a privilege. Adi has worked with him before, so I think he was very comfortable with this way of working but I think once you get used to this way of working it’s very liberating. So, it must be my first day. We did a musical portion of the film and it was a lot of fun!
Aditya: Every day is memorable to you! Something or the other happens that you never knew was gonna happen, it’s always some kind of discovery, the scene goes into a place you never thought it would go or he asks you to do something that you never knew you wanted to be asked to do. The main thing is you should sleep well and come so that you’re ready. You can concentrate and you can do something on the fly.
But yes, we had a fun time in the first three days because that’s when we shot this musical, which was a new kind of way of shooting a song for all of us. Suddenly mid-scene to break into song and then go back into dialogue was something that was challenging but lots of fun as well.