Film maker Sriram Raghavan recently revealed Saif Ali Khan She was initially unsure about taking part in the 2004 thriller “Ek Hasina Thi” which marked Raghavan’s directorial debut. Urmila Matondkar opposite Saif Ali Khan.The director spoke about casting at the Red Lorry Film Festival Masterclass session. Talking about Saif’s initial reaction, Raghavan said, “For Urmila, it was a self-protected role, and Saif was a bit hesitant as he had just done ‘Dil Chahta Hai’. He was just getting a feel for whether people liked him or not; he hasn’t had many hits in a long time.” He further added, “’Ek Hasina Thi’ was his 44th film. He wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to do. But somehow we got along well; we liked the same movies and books. So he trusted me.”
The director explains how ‘Ek Hasina Thi’ came to him
Raghavan also shared that the opportunity to direct ‘Ek Hasina Thi’ came after missing out on another film. He explained that he was initially working on a project Ram Gopal Varma this later became Ab Tak Chhappan, which was eventually directed by Shimit Amin. Recalling that moment, the filmmaker said, “I was going to do something else with Ramu, which I didn’t do, and that was ‘Ab Tak Chhappan’, which Shimit Amin did. It was the story of an encounter cop, and it was called ‘Daya’ at the time. It wasn’t a biopic.” He added, “We had been working on it for quite some time, and Ramu felt that this was not the right time to do it, so we decided to push it.“Though initially disappointed, the situation led to another story which eventually became ‘Ek Hasina Thi’.
Finding the right story for his debut
After canceling the previous project, Ram Gopal Varma offered Raghavan another script to consider. Sharing his reaction, the director said, “At that moment, my face fell, and he saw it and said there’s one more story, just look.” Raghavan continued, “I went home, and I said, ‘Whatever the story is, I want to do it, so I better like it.’ He also revealed that the script was quite crude and written like a novel. Screenplay is written by Pooja Ladha Surti.
Lessons from Ram Gopal Varma
During the session, Raghavan also spoke about the valuable advice he received from Ram Gopal Varma after completing his debut film. According to him, the filmmaker encouraged him not to repeat the same formula in future projects. He recalled Varma’s words, saying, “We finished the final cut, and Ramu saw it. He said, “You have made a good film. Now that you’ve made a good movie, don’t try to repeat it, and you have to decide if you’re going to enjoy the movie, or think about your next movie, where’s your enjoyment.”“Raghavan added, “So I had to choose, and I chose well.” The advice helped shape his approach to filmmaking for years to come.Meanwhile, Raghavan’s latest release is the war drama ‘Ikkis’ starring Agastya Nanda and the film received decent reviews.
