After an impassioned midnight narration of the Saala Khadoos script by R. Madhavan, Rajkumar Hirani decided to produce the film. At the helm of this bilingual sports drama is Sudha Kongara Prasad, who used to assist Mani Ratnam. Over tulsi chai in his trailer van at Mehboob Studio in Mumbai, Hirani chatted with t2.

When Madhavan came to you with his script, what caught your attention?
When Abhijat (Joshi) and I write films, we have little guidelines for ourselves. One of them is that we’ll always look for a unique script. Apart from this being a very moving story, I thought that a film on women’s boxing was unique. This was before Mary Kom was made. I had never seen a relationship like this between a coach and a boxer. This is also an emotional story. By the time he finished the narration, I was choked. My ultimate yardstick for a good script is that it should engage and this ticked all the boxes for me. 

But you still didn’t agree immediately... what then convinced you to produce this?
It took me about three-four months after Maddy’s midnight narration to actually get on board. In the meantime, Maddy had already started working on his physique. When I saw how motivated both Maddy and Sudha were, I knew they would make a good film.

Madhavan told t2 that he didn’t expect a film on boxing from a woman director....
I feel that women are better professionals. At my office, you will find more girls than boys. They are more focused and honest to the work that they do. Sudha was so committed to this film that you could wake her up in the middle of the night and ask her something obscure about the film and she would have the answer. All her conversations are only about the film. Sometimes I wonder if she and I will have anything to talk about once the film releases! (Laughs)
As for Maddy, I guess he must have thought because Sudha was Mani Ratnam’s assistant for so many years, she must have a love story to direct. I don’t think he meant it as a gender thing.

This is your first film as a producer that you have not written or directed. What are you like as a producer?
For PK, I looked at everything from making the film to marketing it. Here I had to do less. I didn’t go on the set at all. I went for the edits and when the songs were being made. I quite enjoyed working with Sudha because she was very open to ideas and suggestions. Many first-time directors tend to be averse to ideas from others. They feel like they have to prove that they can make a film or that no one knows the script as well as they do. 

Would you want to just produce more films?
It all depends on the story. If someone brings me a good story that has to be made into a film, I would be open to the idea. Right now, we have a few stories that we want to make, so let’s see. My only worry is that if you collaborate with the wrong person, this journey can be a disaster. There are some people in my team who I think can make their own films now. But again, I am not in any rush. 

You are anyway never in a rush to make a film!
(Laughs) Exactly! So unlike others who might want to produce two-three films every year, I don’t have deadlines and deliverables.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra has produced all your films until PK. What have you learnt from him as a producer?
Vinod’s been the saala khadoos of my life! (Laughs) In the film, we’ve said that saala khadoos is someone who mentors and inspires you and at the same time kicks you. Vinod’s been like that for me. From the first film, he kept me involved in every aspect of the film. Whether it was meeting a distributor or posters were being designed, I was always involved. I got to learn the role of the producer from him. All those learnings have come in handy. 

You must be itching to get back in the director’s chair for the Sanjay Dutt biopic...
Ya. After Saala Khadoos releases, I am going to lock myself in for a month. We have a good draft ready, but I want to polish it some more and do the dialogues. I think we should start shooting towards the end of the year. 

Is there any prep that you have asked Ranbir Kapoor to do before he starts the film?
Ranbir is going to be playing Sanjay from the age of 18 to 55, so there is going to be a lot that he could have to do to look like him. Unfortunately, we haven’t had the time to meet a lot because we have both been busy. We have had a couple of meetings about the basic script but once I am done with Saala Khadoos, I will start spending time with him.

Sanjay Dutt is going to be released from jail at the end of February. There’s been a lot of negativity, specially online, about this... 
Social media has given people a platform to give out their opinions on everything and anything. The negative comments are the ones that get shared the most. I remember even during PK there was so much negativity.... I don’t think anyone has done any special favours to Sanjay. He has gone through his prison terms and whatever remissions were allowed, he’s taken them. I just want to tell his story truthfully now. 

This would be a perfect time for another Munna Bhai film. Are you and Abhijat (Joshi) any closer to cracking a script?
We are working on one. I have five incomplete Munna Bhai scripts lying with me. They have all gotten stuck at different points and we haven’t had any breakthroughs. Unless we can better the Munna Bhai films we have already made, we are not interested in making another one. Like I have said before, we are not interested in making a film to make money. But right now, I think we have found a subject that might work.

Karishma Upadhyay
If I had to give Rajkumar Hirani an idea for the next Munna Bhai film, it would be....
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