Konkona Sensharma in Wake Up Sid: “In retrospect, perhaps, Aisha is not fully fleshed out, as Sid is”

He calls himself “vaguely connected” with the film industry. How vague? His grandfather S. Mukherjee was a famous film producer, his father Debu Mukherjee is an actor (he played the elder Bengali mafia brother in Kaminey) and his cousins happen to be Rani Mukerji and Kajol. “My family wasn’t at the heart of Bollywood... it wasn’t like being Rishi Kapoor’s son” — Ayan Mukerji says it like it is. Just like Sid. Here’s catching up with the 26-year-old (“I wrote Wake Up Sid at 24, so the misconception that I’m 24”) filmmaker...

So you grew up on movie sets?

Not really! I wasn’t actively involved at all. I was a pretty academically inclined student. I had even enrolled in engineering at one point of time. I dropped out and then started working as an assistant director. First to Ashutosh Gowariker on Swades. Then to Karan Johar on Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. That’s how the journey started.

Why a director, why not an actor?

I was completely mesmerised by the movies. I loved cinema. I always knew I wanted to be involved with it. Some people grow up completely smitten by actors. For some reason, I just thought it would be really cool to be the director of a film. It was the last credit that showed up before a movie actually started. He seemed to be the most important person on the film sets. That was it!

How much of Sid is you?

In a conscious autobiographical kind of way, it’s not my story. But it was definitely always going to be a story I can understand. That’s what I told myself. Wake Up Sid was not born out of other films, it was born out of life. Cinema was just a means to express it. So there are events from my life and objects from my room that are there. Like the Annie Hall poster on Aisha’s wall. You get so involved in the film that bits of yourself find their way in. It’s difficult to break it down and say this bit of Sid is me and this bit of Sid isn’t me.

You wrote a film at 24, you made it at 26. You do not sound as carefree as Sid does in the initial part of the film. Where did you get that basic premise from?

That is the person I was when I had just come out of school. When I was 17. For me that was the time of my life before responsibility kicked in. That was a time when happiness was very easy to stumble upon. When I wrote the film, the angst of moving up in life was taking over. The angst of the 20s. And I really missed the years when I was totally carefree and tension-free. Wake Up Sid was nostalgic for me.

While you have created Sid with a lot of care, you haven’t done enough backgrounding on Aisha. Why does she read Tagore in English? Why does she speak Bangla with the hint of an accent? Did you find it difficult writing a girl’s character?

I totally hear you! In retrospect, perhaps, Aisha is not fully fleshed out, as Sid is. On paper, at least. I think primarily this story was about Sid. And why I didn’t find Aisha difficult to write is because her function in the film was to be the anti-thesis of Sid. For me, it wasn’t really about two characters when I wrote the film. For me it was always about Sid and how the other characters float in and out of his world. Independently, Aisha’s background could have interested me but it doesn’t serve the purpose of Sid’s story.

But Konkona comes and makes it as much her movie as it is Ranbir’s. Were they both your first choices for Aisha and Sid?

They were totally my first choices. But Ranbir happened before Konkona happened. If the boy would have been different maybe the girl would have been different. But when we got Ranbir to play Sid, Konkona seemed to be the most obvious choice to play Aisha.

Were you ever concerned that you were making a film for Dharma Productions and you had to make a Karan Johar kind of a film?

Honestly, no! The Ranbir-Koko casting might have worried me a little bit but not this. It never bothered me. I don’t know why. Maybe it was the first-film abandon. Or maybe I just chose not to think about it. Also, Karan had read the script and he knew what the film was going to be. He was willingly ready to produce it. I thought it was cool Dharma was going to make a different kind of film.

Ayan Mukerji with his sid, Ranbir Kapoor

Was anything changed at all from your original draft?

Nothing. When I took the script to Karan, it was just the first draft. I worked on it myself after that. In fact, there were many, many days when I would be writing scenes two hours before we actually shot them. I was still working on the final draft of it. The script only changed when I wanted it to change.

Which is your favourite scene in the film?

The scene that is closest to my heart is the one where Ranbir is taking pictures of the mother and son. The scene I am very proud of is the one where Konkona comes back home from a date with her boss and realises that she is in love with Sid, when he is being very irrational. The one in which they splash water on each other. I am very happy with that scene.

Your film does have a huge Dil Chahta Hai hangover...

I will take it completely as a compliment. I cannot explain to you what Dil Chahta Hai was in my life. But I wasn’t consciously trying to make the kind of first movie that Dil Chahta Hai was. Honestly, I don’t think it is, as well. I adore that film. I love Farhan Akhtar. I have immense respect for him. I like his off-screen persona as well. So I have no issues. I love it if you compare me to Farhan. Wake Up Sid doesn’t have that same zing that Dil Chahta Hai had. Wake Up Sid is actually a different film.

What about your producer’s first film?

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, for me, is like magic at the movies. I watched it when I was 15 and I was allowed to go to the theatre by myself. And I went and watched that movie every single day. There is an abandon with which you can love a movie at 15. It’s right up there with my favourite films.

You could have taken your script to Farhan’s Excel Entertainment, too...

Oh there was no question of taking the script to someone else. I have worked with Karan. So, I already had a little bit of a relationship. Before I had even started writing my film, Karan had very categorically told me that if I ever wrote a script, he would be happy to read it. That one comment, I owe Karan a lot for that. He didn’t think there was anything wrong in me attempting to make a film at a very young age. That really pushed me. I have a lot of warmth and affection for Karan. I really wanted him to produce my first film.

Are you going to now quickly make another film or take your time?

I don’t know what’s next, yaar. There will certainly be another film at some point. But you know, some self-nourishing is required before I find another film within me. A little bit of travel, reading, movies, hanging out, catching up with my family, just getting back to life a little bit. Then another film.

Pratim D. Gupta
Who would you have cast as Sid and Aisha?
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