In a candid conversation with us before the release of their film, the actors speak their hearts out, remarking, among other things, on the experience of working with the legendary actor Naseeruddin Shah.
Q. Ok Jannu is a special film for both of you. It is the remake of the Tamil romantic film O Kadhal Kanmani, which is already a hit down south. How was your experience of working in this film?
Aditya: The whole process was amazing. The film was offered to us. And we were made to watch the film separately. Shaad Ali didn’t have a script ready for us at that time. So we had to decide based on the original movie as to whether we wanted to do the film or not. And I loved it. I thought it was a sweet film as it tackled with interesting issues without being preachy, or being brash about it and still making a point. It was a lovely film.
Shraddha: Normally you get offered scripts or you get a narration, but with Ok Jannu it was different as Shaad Ali had said we did not have a script. Shaad told us that he wanted to make O Kadhal Kanmani into a Hindi film, and we both loved it. And so here we are, a part of it now!
Q. It is a completely different take as it’s not the remake of a Hindi film, so the Bollywood audiences have nothing to compare it to. What was your take on the characters?
Aditya: Screenplay-wise, we stuck to the original. The saying goes “if it isn’t broke don’t fix it”, and there was something which was lovely about the film so we didn’t change the structure much and we set it up pretty much the same way. What Nithya and Dulquer created was magical in their own way. So our job was to capture the essence of what they did and stay true to who we are and try to make it work where our equation lies.
“Working with Naseeruddin sir is of course daunting. You are sitting across the table and are about to do lines and he asks if you want to do a rehearsal.”
Q. For the audiences who aren’t too familiar with the characters, can you give us a quick intro of your characters?
Shraddha: My character’s name is Tara. Actually I get very happy when I speak about her, since I feel that she is amazing, she is extremely ambitious and harbours dreams of becoming a big architect, and she is working currently as an intern at a big firm in Mumbai. She wants to go to Paris and pursue her dreams. So she is fiercely independent, unapologetically herself and extremely clear about what she wants in life and how she has to achieve those things. At the same time she is not very serious, she has a sense of humor as well, and she is very clear that she doesn’t want to get married.
Aditya: So my character’s name is Adi, which is a short form of my name and these are the names from the original. The characters were called Adi and Tara in that film as well. He is a video gamer and he creates video games, he works behind the scenes. He comes to Mumbai as he gets a job here but he harbours dreams of becoming very rich and successful and going to the US, to be where all the action is. He is new to Bombay, discovering the city. He is pretty easy going and not planning too far ahead. Even if he is romantic he is pretty chilled out with that. It was kind of liberating for me to play a character like this as in the last few films I have played very specific characters. That’s why this one was kind of fun. I won’t say easy but a little tricky. Overall it is an easy-going character.
Q. It’s a perfect film for the new generation and people could relate to the characters as there is a fight for women and for men between career and marriage — as to what comes first. Do you think it’s the perfect time to release such a film since modern India is facing the exact problem?
Shraddha: I agree with that completely. I do feel that it is something that modern India is facing and when I watched the film, I observed that some of my friends have actually went through similar situations and to address those topics of conversation and the kind of evolution that happens in society in such an entertaining way is something I really enjoyed about O Kadhal Kanmani. And I do feel that a lot of people are going to relate to our film when they watch it.
Q. How was your experience working with Naseeruddin Shah and Leela Samson in the film? When you work with older actors who have been in the industry for so many years, is it daunting or does it up your game with them?
Aditya: I look at it as an opportunity to learn. We both have learned a lot from both of them and they have added so much to the film and their characters. Working with Naseeruddin sir is of course daunting. You are sitting across the table and are about to do lines and he asks if you want to do a rehearsal.But he is also aware that he has that effect on people and he also realises it if other actors around him are uncomfortable, so then the first thing he tries to do is break the ice and make each one feel like we are all in this together. Apart from observing the way he goes about his job and rehearsal process there is still so much you can learn just by being in his presence.
Q. You are also bringing back the old tune Humma, which is done phenomenally well. So how was it for you getting the choreography right?
Shraddha: I personally enjoy dancing. So I look forward to dancing whenever it’s possible. This song does not have any particular choreography or full-blown dancing but has more of its own style of dancing . While it may look easy, I assure you that it’s not.
Aditya: I think it is one of the faster numbers, so you can kind of get away with anything because it’s all about the energy.
Q. Do you think it always helps the film in its first weekend if it has a good music album which keeps the buzz going on?
Shraddha: I have mixed views on this. I feel in our country, music is very important for our films, from the song and the dance aspect and even from the music aspect. But I do feel that the driving force for the film is the film itself. Music of course helps the film, and if it goes really well with the flavour of the film, it’s great and that’s how it should be, but I feel like there are lots of films which do not focus on the music but purely on the film itself and still have done really well.
Aditya: Some narratives or films don’t need a song and if those films can’t do well just because they don’t have a song, then they are getting the raw deal and that’s how it shouldn’t be.