“Often scriptwriters don’t have a decision after they give their script to a director or a producer. They're forced to helplessly see it getting changed in whatever way the director or producer wants it to be. I needed to fight with Aamir (Aamir Khan) to give protection to my script, but thankfully, I got it made the way in which I NEEDED to,” Rao, who's married to the superstar, told IANS on the ongoing Osian’s Cine-fan Film Festival.
“Aamir kept suggesting that ‘this’ may well be added ‘that’ will also be added. I needed to fight with him to offer protection to my script,” she added.
But collectively she feels when changes are made, scripts both lose and gain.
“The changes might grow to be better than the best way the scriptwriter may need thought while penning it down.
“You take an imaginary scenario and also you give it a physical form – at a place, with an actor, at a specific time of day, mood etc. There's a certain touch that a scene gets that wouldn’t necessarily be what you had written,” she added.
Rao, who not just directed but additionally scripted “Dhobi Ghat” – that Aamir produced – expanded in this by pointing to her own learning experience.
“All filmmakers feel that their film gets a distinct life. After I was filming, I felt I USED TO BE aiming for something, but I wasn’t quite getting what I had in mind. That’s where I struggled. But I got used to it and started to enjoy it too,” she said.
Another pitfall was an actor surpassing a writer’s imagination. How does one take care of this?
“You struggle to give protection to what you're writing, relating to the texture of the script.”
Currently penning another story, she is unsure if she would ever be capable to direct someone else’s script.
“‘Dhobi Ghat’ was my first film; before that I wasn’t even sure if I MIGHT be capable to write something like this… I benefit from the means of writing, but I MUST say I avoid it,” Rao said.
“Unless anyone writes something wonderful, I don’t see myself making something that somebody else has written,” she added.
She could also be into production with Aamir and so they have told beautiful stories in “Peepli Live” and adult comedy “Delhi Belly”. Their next is “Talaash”.
One is not going to attempt to experiment only for the sake of being different and waste a producer’s money, Kiran said.
“I think it’s important to make a movie that one feels honest about. If it breaks the rules, no problem, so long as you don’t do it with the only intention of breaking the rules.
“If you've got that intention, then don’t put anybody’s a whole lot money to it and expect everybody to play with your experiment. It is very important challenge yourself, but try to be aware,” she added.
Aamir Khan Productions has carved a distinct segment for itself by introducing new concepts and concepts through its ventures.
Asked how run-of-the-mill concepts are avoided, Rao said: “We genuinely take scripts that we love and so they happen to be different. I ASSUME we get taken with something new. We only make films that we enjoy and that’s why I ASSUME it seems to be different.” – IANS
