‘Talvar’ is Important for Our Cinema and Society: Meghna Gulzar

Director Meghna Gulzar talks about her experience of making Talvar, a film based on the Aarushi Talwar murder case

Director Meghna Gulzar talks about her experience of making Talvar, why her father couldn’t speak for 20 minutes after watching it, and why Irrfan Khan was her first choice for the film, in this interview. The film is based on the Aarushi Talwar murder case and hits theatres this Friday.

Watch this behind-the-scenes video of Talvar for more insights on the film’s journey from research till release. 

Q. This is the not the first film that is based on the controversial Aarushi murder case. Manish Gupta, the director of Rahasya, which was also based on the true story alleges that your team has paid the Talwar family for this film. What’s your response to that?
Meghna Gulzar: Is that film based on the case? Because that story keeps changing its stance from time to time. Sometimes it says is fictional, sometimes it says it’s based on the case, so there is no clarity on that. The last time I heard it was fictional. So it’s fictional, correct? So it’s not based on the case, correct? Has the director accessed our accounts? Has he seen our film? Is he part of our production? This is what I say about the media, it’s very nice to make headlines but one should try and delve into the details a little bit and see whether these statements hold any water or not. What is the basis of these statements? And that’s all I’ll say about this matter.

Q. Was Irrfan Khan your first choice for Talvar?
Meghna Gulzar: When we hadn’t even fully locked the first draft of the script, Vishal ji and I, throughout the course of our research, discussion and writing, Irrfan was the only name that came up, unanimously. Once the script was complete, again we thought of him. Fortunately, when we went to meet Irrfan, he said yes. It’s another thing that between him saying yes and us actually going to the floor it took a year. But he stayed. So that actually has been a big big blessing.

Q. What was the most difficult part about making this film?
Meghna Gulzar: The most difficult part was reaching the point where you knew that yes this film will actually get made, in pre-production. The shoot had its own stumbling blocks, but a film like this is not easy to make because not only is it a real story as the case is still alive, it may be in between courts, but it’s still alive, and the opinion on it is very divided. So you have to be very clear that you are not becoming an opinion maker, but you are just trying to kind of clear out the clutter. Getting the backing of a producer or a production house, that had the conviction in someone like me, who has not made a film for the last seven years, and in the subject, the people behind the film, whether it’s me or Vishal ji, to believe that we would do justice to it sensibly despite the legal issues and everything, is a big deal. The reason it took that long is if we had all our so called  permission and all the money and all we wouldn’t have to change the name of the film we are doing, we wouldn’t have to take a year to take the film on floor

Q: What was your father, Gulzar saab’s reaction when he saw the film?
Meghna Gulzar: He actually didn’t react for a while. He said he didn’t feel like speaking. For about 15 to 20 minutes he didn’t talk after watching it. It moved him tremendously and he feels that it’s a very very important film, not only for our cinema, but also for our society. And that’s not because I have made it. I think it’s more to do with the subject.