I don’t want to run around trees in chiffon sarees: Gul

Now that her movie Turning 30 is ready for release,debutant director Alankrita Srivastava is all nerves. “It was a stray thought that triggered the making of the movie. I was returning from South Mumbai when the idea of a girl turning 30 and all the crisis she might go through,hit me. I was working as an executive producer on Khoya Khoya Chand then,” says Srivastava,who also turned 30 soon after she completed the film. She narrated the story to filmmaker Prakash Jha with whom she has been working since 2003. “He took long to read the script. Eventually,when he did,he decided to produce it,” narrates Srivastava. “It is impossible to make an off-beat film without the backing of a good producer,” she adds. The film is slated to release on January 14.

Ask Srivastava if the story is derived from her personal experiences,and all she says is,“It is influenced by the experiences of my friends and me.” Actor Gul Panag,who plays the lead in the film,interrupts,“I think it is fully autobiographical,” and adds how the role was something she barely needed to be convinced about. “I don’t want to do a boy-meets-girl story and run around trees in chiffon saris. I want to do characters that would represent life at some level,” she says.

While Srivastava says it was Panag’s performance in the film Manorama Six Feet Under that caught her attention,convincing actor Purab Kohli to play the male lead took some time. “It is a women-oriented subject and I wanted an actor who would feel secure to play second fiddle. Purab,after much thought,obliged,” says the director.

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The camaraderie between Srivastava and Panag is palpable in the way they complete each other’s sentences or share a joke. “That’s because we have a lot in common. We are even neighbours now,” smiles Panag. But they really hit it off when they started working together. Also,since the unit was very young,they partied every sixth day of their shoot (of the 40-day shooting schedule). “We spent so much time together that we have become good friends,” says the actor.

Panag,who is currently busy with her film’s promotions,is also waiting for the release of Fatso,which has been on hold for a while. “I am not in a hurry to sign more films because when I do that,Hello Darling happens,” she laughs. Srivastava already has a second script in mind. “But I will only do women-oriented films. That’s my forte. I cannot be a Farah Khan,” she says.