Jeet and Subhashree in Boss

Choreographer-turned-director Baba Yadav, 37, feels that August 9, the release date of his directorial debut, the Jeet-Subhashree starrer Boss, is going to be lucky for him. “Number nine is lucky for me. My date of birth is February 18, my wife’s May 3, and my baby’s June 27,” he smiles.

Boss releases in a few weeks. How are you feeling?

It feels like I have appeared for my exams and I am waiting for the results. The only difference is that the audience will decide the outcome!

What is the crux of the film?

It’s a one-of-a-kind film where a lot of importance has been given to the lead character, Boss (Jeet). The film is about a young man Surya who believes in what he does. This character has a positive attitude and does what he believes is right, even if it’s wrong to others… if he knows it’s right, he has to do it. This is a hardcore, stylised, action-packed film, and it has a nice story.

What do Jeet and Subhashree play?

Jeet’s character wants to legalise the mafia. Everything is a business now. So why not mafia? Surya is a guy from Calcutta who goes to Mumbai. He thinks the mafia has to be turned into a business, and the story goes on to show how he does that. He has a plan to legalise the mafia. He wants to be the boss of Mumbai, rule Mumbai, and change the system.... For the first time, Jeet portrays this kind of an attitude. He enjoyed it so much. Also, when it comes to dancing, Jeet is a great performer.... Jeet has done a superb job in the way he has played Boss.

Subhashree plays a supermodel, who’s the daughter of the police commissioner of Mumbai (Chiranjit). We were looking for a tall girl with a very good figure who can carry herself. She is a very good performer, a lovely dancer. She plays a charming, beautiful, soft, good-hearted girl.

The song sequences are all larger-than-life...

The songs are so good, and I had a lot of freedom choreographing them. The canvas is so big. Here you create visuals for songs, which is somehow not happening in Mumbai. Only Karan Johar does it in Mumbai now. These days, people want it to be real. They don’t want to dream… they don’t want to take the audience to a dream zone. For Boss, we wanted the songs to look big, dreamy.... People should feel they are in Turkey for those four minutes. We shot three songs all around Turkey. Amazing locations… so beautiful.

Baba Yadav. Picture: B. Halder

Why are choreographers turning to acting and direction?

It is a step forward for choreographers. Saroj Khan, Raju Khan, Farah Khan, Ganesh Acharya, Remo D’Souza, Prabhudeva have all directed. We were trained differently. We handled the camera, the lenses, the canvas of the entire song. These things are essential for direction also.

Why did you go from dance to choreography to direction?

As a dancer I had worked with Aditya Chopra. In the song Mehndi laga ke rakhna (Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge), I was dancing next to Shah Rukh Khan. Later, I did the choreography for Anubhav Sinha’s Dus. I was in Canada for 25 days watching him shoot. I was drawn to direction. It was so creative… you put a dream on screen for people to see. When I was assisting Saroj Khan in Devdas, I watched Sanjayji (Leela Bhansali) at work. I enjoyed it so much.... I started thinking about direction when I made a music video for the song Nakhra nakhra by the Meet Brothers.

How did Boss happen?

A few years ago Jeet and I were in a car driving around town late at night. Then I told him that I would love to direct a film. And then last year, he dropped the bomb — he said there’s a subject and he felt I could direct the film; I was zapped! Before starting the film, Jeet had said that he had faith in me. And trust me, he was there with me for every shot, from day one. We started in February this year, and finished in April. We shot the songs in May.

What was it like working with Reliance Entertainment, one of the producers (along with Jeet’s Grassroot Entertainment)? It was great. The script was given to them beforehand, they liked it. Jeet had convinced them that I’d do a good job. They took Jeet’s word. Today, Reliance is saying that this is their biggest release in Bengal in terms of look, promotion and marketing. They are confident.