Director Shaad Ali, whose Soorma released last Friday, is planning a  film on the life of his grandmother, the legendary Captain Lakshmi Sahgal.

A revolutionary of the Indian Independence movement, Sahgal was an officer of the Indian National Army, and the minister of women’s affairs in the Azad Hind government.

“I have grown up with my grandparents. My grandmom didn’t have time and she used to be very busy with politics but my grandpa, Colonel Prem Kumar Sahgal, used to often regale me with stories of his times,” says Ali.

The filmmaker also recalled the influence of music in his younger days, thanks to his grandparents.

“I have listened to every type of music and used to go for mehfils with my grandparents.  In my growing up years, I spent a lot of time with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and he influenced me a lot. I was introduced to him by  Shekhar Kapur who was doing Bandit Queen at that time. There was a trial of the film and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan had come for it. We met and discussed music. We exchanged numbers. He said he would call me when he visited India again.  The next time he came to India, he did call me. Our bonding grew. Every time he was here, I would run to meet him.”

But Ali, when asked about Soorma’s songs, which are making waves, insists he has little knowledge of music. Soorma’s music has been composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy with Gulzar writing the lyrics. “I am loyal to Gulzar saab. I only do one thing when they make me listen to music. I just shake my head and say yes or no,” he revealed.

Ali, who started off as a child actor in his father Muzaffar Ali’s classic Umrao Jaan (he played Rekha’s younger brother), says he didn’t pursue acting after that. “I did want to take up acting but my hair had turned grey. After a point, I didn’t 
feel like acting. My father was directing and when I went on the sets, I was drawn towards that.”

He assisted director Mani Ratnam in Dil Se. “I didn’t come from an affluent family and I had to earn money, so I got involved in filmmaking. My first meeting with Mani Sir went really bad. The moment he met me, he asked me to go back to where I had come from. He was going through a low phase and not many of his assistants were successful. He thought I was wasting my time. I came to Mumbai and got to know that he had made a film by then. When he was making Dil Se, he asked me to join him.”