BackAyan Mukerji | Cocktail shaker
Mukerji on getting romances right and unlearning things from his film family
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After assisting Ashutosh Gowariker and Karan Johar, Ayan Mukerji made his debut behind the camera directing best friend Ranbir Kapoor in Wake Up Sid (2009). In 2013, Kapoor is Bunny in Mukerji’s sophomore work, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. Both films have another thing in common—they are coming-of-age romances. Twenty-nine-year-old Mukerji talks about what else connects his two films and what goes into making a “youth movie". Edited excerpts:
How best does one write and direct a romantic comedy?
I don’t think of my film as a comedy or a romance or a romantic-comedy. I guess it falls into the latter heading only because our genre headings are limited. I think my film is actually a romantic drama, romance being the biggest element of the story.
What is ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’ then?
It’s meant to be a cocktail of what everyone deals with in their 20s—friendship, love, career, ambition, family, fears, etc. and a kind of maturity that creeps in over time. I have tried to capture that feeling. It’s much like Wake Up Sid was, but I think this film is the next floor up. In some way, this is the film I wanted to make but didn’t have the attention or skills then. It is a much fuller expression of what I wanted to say with Wake Up Sid.
Have you drawn on your own experiences or the experiences of people around you?
I keep denying it, but I guess Wake Up Sid had that feeling of being autobiographical. I suppose I am drawing on the personal. I want to make films on things that move me. I am fairly narcissistic so I think I would draw from my own life, not as an observer.
Isn’t there a formula that you have to check off when writing a film in this space?
Not consciously. I generally follow my desire to do something fun. When you are setting up a film, it’s a world you are attracted to and I wanted to capture those moments of hanging out with friends, a special evening when you start falling in love on a beach, a party, being high on life. I walked away from Wake Up Sid knowing there was something more I wanted to express. But now I do feel I won’t make another film in this zone. This film is my exorcism of the youth film.
What was it like growing up in the Mukerji household and then making an entry into films?
Our family was born on the outskirts of Bollywood. We worked in films but it didn’t open doors for me like being Rishi Kapoor’s son would.
I come from a family where no one was overarchingly successful. We were not a prosperous film family. I think my grandfather (Sashadhar Mukherjee) saw success, but not the generation after that. I was too shy and embarrassed to even watch the movies my father (Deb Mukherjee) acted in and I felt very shy if anyone spotted my dad in a movie.
Working in this industry is a lot about luck and knowing the right people, which is why many talented people don’t get the right opportunity. I was obsessed with making it because I knew that the chance of not making it was very high.
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani releases in theatres on Friday.
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