Three years after Piku touched hearts and changed lives, Shoojit Sircar is back this April with October. Starring Varun Dhawan and newcomer Banita Sandhu, Shoojit describes October as a “simple love story”, but the trailer that released last week to positive response has a lot of layers. t2 chatted with Shoojit on the film, casting Varun Dhawan as Dan and why October will add a new dimension to romantic films in Bollywood.  

Just in terms of look and feel, October doesn’t look like anything that we have seen recently…

The response to the trailer has been tremendous… much beyond my imagination. The positive reactions have cut across all ages. The response has been heightened by the fact that Varun and I belong to worlds of cinema that are poles apart. A lot of people are confused by the trailer… in a good way, they still want to watch the film! (Laughs) An equal number are intrigued. 

I have also got radical reactions, where some have said they can’t understand the trailer and can’t relate to the film. I’m okay with that because I have a very clear idea in my mind about what my audience is. This is a film that’s very deep in terms of thought and execution, so this kind of a reaction is expected. 

The trailer has many layers. Was it a deliberate move to leave things a little cryptic?

Yes, it was absolutely deliberate. The function of a trailer is to build intrigue and curiosity and that’s what I have done. I did the same for Piku. October’s story is there in the trailer itself, it’s for the person watching it to find it (smiles).  

How did the idea of October originate?

The basic idea of the film has been with me since 2004. After release, I will tell you specifically where the inspiration of the film came from. It comes from a deeply personal experience in my life that I will talk about once the film comes out. While working on Piku, I had narrated the basic thought to Ronnie (Lahiri, co-producer on all of Shoojit’s films) and Juhi (Chaturvedi, writer, who’s also penned Shoojit’s Vicky Donor and Piku). Both had liked it at that time. Work started… we struggled a lot on how to tell the story. All my films touch upon an insight or emotion and I hold on to that emotion to tell my story. Most of these emotions stem from real-life experiences. Juhi’s writing has a lot of purity and she understands human emotions better than anyone else. Both of us wanted to bring in a little poetry to this film. We all have our own definitions of love and I think ‘love’ is a much-abused word. We’ve tried to explore a new dimension of love in October.

I really can’t articulate the story of October… it’s a single thread around which the whole film revolves. That’s the case for all my films. If you ask me to describe Piku, I will say it’s about a father and daughter who fight all the time! (Laughs) When one watches October, one has to go deep into the moods and moments and discover what the film’s about. Juhi has penned a beautiful story and I would also express my gratitude to Avik Mukhopadhyay, my cinematographer, as well as Shantanu Moitra, the film’s original composer, who understood the poetry in the film and delivered accordingly. I can tell you that October is one of my most personal films.  

What made you think Varun Dhawan could be your Dan? It’s a very interesting choice and I believe you waited for him for close to a year to come on board?

We were planning to shoot this film before Judwaa 2. Varun and I had been speaking all through 2016 about meeting up, but somehow it never happened. Honestly, the world of cinema that Varun comes from doesn’t exist in my mind space. And I had kind of made up my mind to cast debutants in October. 

By chance, Varun called me one day saying he wanted to meet. I was just leaving my Bombay office to take a flight to Calcutta and I told him to drop in immediately. He was like, ‘I’ve just woken up and I’m not even dressed properly’. I told him, ‘Don’t worry, we all are very casual around here’ (laughs). 

The moment he came in and sat opposite me, there was something in his eyes that really struck me. I haven’t watched any of Varun’s films and so I had no image of his in mind… but right at that moment, I saw so much honesty and integrity in his eyes. He isn’t the person that he shows to the world. He kept talking, but I was silent and kept looking at him. I clicked a few photographs of him sitting there and sent them to Ronnie and Juhi saying, ‘I think this is the boy… this is Dan’. When you see the film, you will not been able to think of anyone else but Varun as Dan. I never thought I would work with him, but here we are! 

Did you have to work on him a lot, given that he comes from a completely different kind of cinema?

Yes, we worked a lot for many months. My approach to work is very unconventional and unorthodox. I just gave Varun a one-line narration… I didn’t give him the script. Aami ektu meditation kori and I asked Varun whether first, he would do meditation and second, would he surrender to me completely. He was ready. Like most people, the first thing that Varun does when he wakes up is look at his mobile phone. I stopped him from doing that for a year. I also told him, ‘Baarir shaamne kono gaachh achhe? Just sit and stare at that tree for 10 minutes every day!’ (Laughs)

Post-October, have you seen a change in Varun?

Oh, completely… he’s a changed man! A lot of confusion that was in his mind has cleared up. He told me that when he got back to Bombay from the shoot in Himachal (Pradesh), his mother told him that he had changed, that he was even speaking differently. His thinking process has changed. Films have the power to do that. For those people who love my kind of cinema, watching October will change something in their lives. 
  
 

At a time when you could have signed on any established heroine, what made you pick Banita Sandhu as the female lead?

I had met her in May 2016 for a Doublemint commercial that I directed and I decided then to sign her for October. She looks like the quintessential girl-next-door and her eyes are very expressive. She has a kind of appeal that makes you want to keep looking at her. That’s something even Deepika (Padukone) has. In Piku, she had that teep, simple make-up and salwar suits… and people just wanted to keep looking at her. She looked so real, just like a daughter. I saw the same thing in Banita. 

What made you name her character Shiuli? And what’s the significance of that flower in the film, with even the name ‘October’ on the poster featuring a shiuli flower?

(Laughs) Bangali film banachhe toh ektu Bangla touch toh thakbei! Who doesn’t like shiuli phool, tell me? A lot of growing-up memories for Bengalis revolve around shiuli phool. A lot of people don’t know that shiuli is Durga thakurer main flower. My films have a lot of hidden meanings. So once you experience October, you will be able to understand why this flower has importance in the film.  

How have you shown Delhi in the film, as compared to Vicky Donor, Pink and Piku?

When Juhi was writing the film, she had suggested Bombay, but I know Delhi much better. I try to show Delhi through a different kind of emotion in every film. In Pink, we showed a very dark Delhi… in Piku, it was the humorous and fun Bong side of Delhi, while in Vicky Donor, it was again humorous, but we also showed a lot of old Delhi. In October, aami ektu poetic side of Delhi dhorechhi. That’s evident even in the trailer.
  
When you talk about the film coming from a personal space, I believe you worked in a hotel many years ago, just like Dan and Shiuli do in October...

Yes, for over a year I worked with Hotel Le Meridien in Delhi. From the outside, people look at hotel life as a glossy world, but it’s a lot of hard work. Sometimes, they don’t sit for eight to 10 hours. They work for 16 to 18 hours a day, go back home and crash for a couple of hours and are back at work again! They have no other life. I have seen that life and I have used that experience in October. 

Which department did you work in?

Accounts! I would give out people’s salaries! (Laughs out loud) And I got the job because of football. Hotel Le Meridien wanted to play a match and so they hired me. I was in third year of college and when they asked if I would join as a trainee, I was ecstatic… kichhu na korei chakri?! (Laughs) 

 What works for the successful combination of Shoojit Sircar and Juhi Chaturvedi?

It’s purely our integrity towards our work. We don’t have any commercial interests. When we zero in on a story, we try and explore it to the fullest. We argue a lot on what should go into the film and what shouldn’t. A lot of research goes into our work. Her pen perfectly understands the visual palette I want for my films. Juhi’s understanding of the milieu of a film as well as her understanding of characters is very good. She’s one of the finest writers we have. I always go into the shoot with a bound script… I never try and ‘figure out’ stuff on set and her fluid and flawless writing helps me. Also, Juhi’s writing is derived from real-life experiences which really work for the kind of films I make.   

You’ve described October as a “simple love story”. Given the kind of spin that you’ve given to your last few films, do you think the viewer expects you to do something groundbreaking with even a simple love story?

Simple things are far deeper (laughs). Yes, there are a lot of expectations from October, but I don’t make films according to expectations. I make a film based on whether I like the film or not and whether I want to sit and watch it… does it move me enough to change me as a person… does it make me a better human being. 

For example, I still get letters from people saying that Piku improved their relationship with their parents. That film has had such a deep impact because it was so relatable. But I am under no pressure whatsoever. Sorry to say this, but I make films only for myself, my family and some close friends. If they like it, I am happy. They are my audience (smiles). But I am thankful to the audience that likes my films and also thank you to the people who don’t… I will keep trying (smiles).

Do you think October will add a new dimension to the romance genre in Hindi cinema?

Undoubtedly, it will. It’s a simple story, but the emotions are very deep. It may change the idea of what films have described as ‘unconditional love’. Nobody can show what unconditional love is. I’m not an expert, but I’ve tried.  

You’ve produced films in Bengali. Any plans of directing a film here?

For now, I will only be producing. I am still looking for scripts… I haven’t found a good one after Open Tee Bioscope. I’m talking to a few people. But yes, one day I hope to direct a film in Bangla.   

Has football taken a backseat to filmmaking now?

Not at all! (Laughs) Football is always my first love. I leave my edit and go and play. I schedule my shoots according to my matches (laughs). While we were shooting October in Delhi, I actually gave the crew an unexpected day off because I wanted to attend a match in Bombay!  

So it’s time to make a film on football… 

For sure! Bhalo subject khunje pachhina. The day I do, I will be on! 

Priyanka Roy
From the trailer of October, how do you think the love story between Dan and Shiuli will turn out? Tell t2@abp.in