Imtiaz Ali, 41, knows that while he is perceived as a sorted and intelligent person, he is socially awkward and grapples with his complexities and immaturities. He is extremely proud of his upbringing and has no confusion in his mind that he would not be here today, if not for the kindness of Sunny Deol, who gave him his first break as a director. TOI caught up with him while he was shooting for Sajid Nadiadwala’s upcoming film Highway that, coincidentally, was the first film he had ever written. He talks to us about his complexed childhood, his special relationship with Ranbir Kapoor and how he has been made due to accidents and failures. Excerpts:
Let’s talk about your childhood…
I was born in Jamshedpur. My father did irrigation jobs and I would sometimes accompany him and that gave me a taste of what was going on in the innards of India. Since he was in a transferable job, we stayed in Patna for many years and that became an influential factor in my life. I was extremely introverted, nervous and largely an underachiever. I was good at neither studies nor sports and would lie a lot. I was complexed and awkward that I was good for nothing and was always lying. I would lie to my school friends that I was a stud in my colony and to my colony friends that I was a stud in the school cricket and football teams, though I was in no team. I was trying to show myself as a bigger person than what I actually was. In class IX, I came back to Jamshedpur to a co-ed for the first time and was blown away by it. My parents were still in Patna but I, along with my brother Arif, joined mid-term and stayed with my aunt at Karim Mansion (an old well-known building in Jamshedpur, where they had three cinema theatres, two of which were attached to the house). Even when I went to sleep, I had the sound of cinema in the background and since we lived there, I could go there whenever I wanted even though I was not allowed to. I had made friends with the projectionist and would see him changing reels and call him from his bidi break if the reel stopped in between. I was not studying and I failed. I was so self-conscious after that and for the first three days, I could just not go back to school. This whole embarrassment of failing and craning my neck down and avoiding my friends who had become my seniors, was difficult. Even though I had failed, my father never made me feel worse and was only there to always encourage me. It’s after that, that I started applying myself and excelled in studies and sports and started doing theatre. I can’t think of better parent. I made difficult choices, but he knew that his strength would make me bloom. I then moved to Hindu college in Delhi and got to do theatre galore and even founded a theatre society called IBTIDA, was a part of ACT 1 and started directing plays.
How did you get into films?
I was interested in theatre and media and came to Mumbai to get a job. I imagined that the film industry would be a white building with producers sitting in different rooms and you could walk in and meet them and they would interview you and select you. That’s how far I was from reality. I was always interested in writing and did a course in advertising and marketing in the hope of becoming a copywriter. Even though I was the best copywriter in my batch, I could not get into any advertising agency. I have been made by accidents and failures. Anything I wanted to do and achieve has not been influential in my life, but my failures have. Kunal Kohli hired me at Zee TV at a salary of Rs 1,500 per month as a glorified tape boy and my job was to label tapes. I then joined Crest communications, which was into TV production and my job was to feed this army of TV programmers, as a writer. For 17 hours a day, I would be sitting at a computer and just writing. I would be so tired that I would roll down on the floor and fall asleep. From there, I got into directing TV for Anupam Kher. I had written Socha Na Tha and came to know that Sunny Deol was looking for a script to launch Abhay Deol. Given his image, I was discouraged thinking that he would not understand but during the narration, he told me even before the interval that he was producing it and said to me, ‘Tell me what happens after this.’
How was Sunny Deol?
He was extremely kind to me. Even if he knows someone is fooling him, he will not have the courage to tell him, ‘I know your game.’ He has life assuring qualities of friendship and brotherhood and parenting, He is the good son, good elder brother, who is everyone’s bhaiya. I have not met anyone as shy and inhibited as Sunny. I feel he feels shy even in his own house. He trusts and is tender. Apart from me, he gave breaks to Raj Kumar Santoshi and Rahul Rawail and there is no confusion in my mind that if there was no Sunny, I would not be here.
Let’s talk about Ranbir Kapoor and his friendship with you?
Ranbir is a person who I can do anything for. He is vulnerable and is honest about his weaknesses with me and is protective about me. There are things for which he will take advice from me, and somewhere he will give. So, for instance, he will tell me, ‘Sir, you should stay in a better house. I will look for a better house for you. Don’t tell me you can’t afford it. How much money are you charging?’ He will tell me, ‘I will research and tell you how much you should charge.’ He feels that if he asks me for advice, I will ultimately tell him what he wanted to do. So, he seeks the reassurance from me to stick to his stance and help him make a choice that is true. He knows that even if a film is not a sure-shot commercially successful film, he wants to do it as it touches his heart. That’s his value and interest and what he wants to do and I guess I was the only person who encouraged him to do that. He discusses things to feel better about his choices. Also, he would get stuck and seek advice on his relationships. Likewise, he knows exactly what is happening in my life and will support me in the same way I support him. He is a true well-wisher.
You are also friends with Deepika. Is it difficult to be friends with two ex-lovers?
I know that when people break up, there is a lot of surface tension, but there is a certain understanding and fondness that never goes away and that remains between them. It will be immature of me to take sides as I am fond of both of them and they are fond of me. They also know that they are fond of each other.
Do you still lie?
No, that habit has gone and in fact now I enjoy speaking the truth, even if it is an embarrassing fact about myself. For instance, travelling economy had become a challenge for me as I felt I should not be travelling economy since people know me. Once I was travelling business and another film person was travelling economy and I realised how embarrassed he must be feeling, just as I would have. Post that flight, I travelled economy to conquer that and can now travel economy when I want to. Also, no matter how much money I may make, I am still a middle-class person who was not born into luxury. I don’t want to carry extra baggage in my life and become a victim of my needs.
Do you still have shades of complexity in you?
Totally. Sometimes I think I don’t know how to talk and am awkward in social conversations. Yesterday, I went to a mall and for 45 minutes I could not even shop. The feeling of self-doubt and inferiority has remained. I know that I am a director who people admire, but my insecurity is to do with me as a person. People may think I am sorted and intelligent, but I am aware of my stupidities and immaturities and I’m constantly riddled by that.
