Monsoon Shootout explores the complications that arise out of the dilemma of choice and its repercussions. Is that what hooked you?

In life, you sometimes have to make the biggest decisions in a few seconds and which way you choose to go could affect not only your life but also of those connected to you. I liked the way Monsoon Shootout talks about the complications of split-second decision making. Amit (Kumar, the director) is a friend and he was an assistant on my film Shadows of Time. When he wrote the second or third draft of Monsoon Shootout, he shared it with me like a friend and I really liked it. It seemed very fresh and unique. He was a little shy about offering me the film because it’s not a very big role. It’s small, but a very specific role. I did it because I really believe in the script. 

We went to Cannes for the premiere a few years ago and it’s one of the few Indian films that was chosen for the festival’s official selection section. We’ve had many films in sections like Directors’ Fortnight and Un Certain Regard, but nothing in the main Cannes selection… Monsoon Shootout was chosen for that. It was very well reviewed there. Amit is a meticulous director… nothing of what happens in the film is an accident, it’s all well thought out. 

The film had been waiting for release for some years. That must have been quite disappointing…

I think Monsoon Shootout was a little ahead of its time. After it, a lot of films like Masaan were made and released immediately. Some of these films have done well and I feel that this is the best time to release this film. More than the actors, for the director it’s been a very big wait. The actors in the film have moved on to other projects… I’ve had so many other releases in the last few years. But for a director to wait that long, especially a debut director, must be very tedious. 

From an average of one film a year, you’ve had close to a dozen releases in the last few years. What’s changed?

We now have a good set of new and vibrant filmmakers who are buzzing with all kinds of fresh and out-of-the box ideas. Technology has made it easier for films to be made on all kinds of budgets. I think that’s what’s made me pick up more films than I did in the past. But then, one does get demoralised as an artiste when you have a film like Sexy Durga, that despite a high court order, was not allowed to be screened at IFFI (International Film Festival of India). It’s appalling to see this kind of stuff. As artistes, it’s very depressing and I have to say that as an industry, we haven’t protested enough. If we remain quiet like this, the situation is only going to get worse. 

Does this air of forced censorship affect the choices you are now making?

For me, it doesn’t, but I know that many filmmakers are now worried about including prickly stuff in their scripts. They keep thinking, ‘Yeh dikhayenge, toh yeh problem ho sakta hai’. Self-censoring has crept in and that’s a horrible thing. Not allowing films to release — one which even had a court order saying it could release — is the worst scenario. 

What can we expect from you in 2018?
 
I shot a children’s film this year that will come out in 2018. Then there is Doctor Rakhmabai (based on the life of one of the first practising women doctors in India). Next week, I am beginning a new film which deals with an episode on the life of writer Ismat Chughtai. I am also doing a film with Onir and then there are two international projects.