In Your Debut Film Yahaan, Did You Visit Kashmir During Its Troubled Times?

I’m happy and proud of my film. This is my first film, and I love every moment that I’ve spent in that film. And of course, the visual element of Yahaan, especially by my cinematographer Jakob Ihre, was absolutely incredible. He presented Kashmir in an absolutely organic and realistic way. So, that made it really look like poetry, the way Kashmir is. I think he brought out in his cinematography that there’s a kind of a little lyrical quality to the visuals of Yahaan. But there was more.

Which Is?

For the first time I got to work with Gulzar Saab and Shantanu Moitra. They created some of the most evocative music and lyrics. I was really fortunate to work with them in my first film, especially with Gulzar Saab.

There Were As Many As Six Writers Onboard For Yahaan?

Yes, I had a whole lot of writers in this. Of course, it started with Sabapati and Mahesh. Uday Mahesh is a famous, I think, he plays Chellum sir in ‘The Family Man.’ So, we hung out; we were hanging around together in the 90s. And then he and Sabapati came up with this initial idea of this film, and then came Somnath Dey, and then came Piyush Mishra, helping me in writing and post-production and editing and all that. So, they became collaborators with me.

Did The Plot Contain A Lot Of Thought-Provoking Ideas?

Yes, there was, and also the fact that this Kashmiri girl is questioning a lot of things. And then her brother is also entangled in the process. And she’s also in love with an army personnel, which is almost impossible there. I wanted to pick up the broken Kashmir of that time, the Kashmiriyat, and there were locals who were against whatever happened there since 1989. I wanted to make a very hopeful film where there’s an army guy, a personnel, there is an army personnel, there is a Kashmiri girl who is Kashmiri and a Hindu girl also, who is a Kashmiri Hindu and who’s been adopted by this family. So, I just wanted to put all of them together and introspect.

Was It Risky For You?

Those constant visits to Kashmir and places like Charar-e-Sharif, Hazratbal. I remember I visited Charar-e-Sharif just a few days after the Charar-e-Sharif massacre or whatever confrontation happened there between some militants and the army. I remember I’ve been to Hazratbal, where I’ve seen from a very long distance how it was destroyed and broken also in some places. ‘Yahaan’ was not an easy film to make.