Imtiaz Ali, Vedang Raina, Sharvari Exclusive: Main Vaapas Aaunga, Tamasha, Jab We Met, Diljit; N18V

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]In that way, not love logical. And I'm sure that I'm not even wasting my time to say it's not like love logical. I reached out to him for just a meeting and Okay. And then it so was so worked out and all almost by accident honestly. I feel terribly guilty. Guilty? Why so? So many of them came up to me and told me that they've left their jobs after watching Tamasha.

[00:00:25]Or we would be Rockstar and Jab We Met.

[00:00:28]Yes.

[00:00:29]I think growing up Rockstar was was the film for me. It was my dream role. Which one did you start off as Not a Love Story?

[00:00:38]>> All of them. Really? All of them.

[00:00:39]Really? Yeah, 100%. Even a Jab We Met?

[00:00:42]Yeah, so in Jab We Met >> god. Yeah, I thought that two people are going to meet. One is full of life. One wants to kill himself.

[00:00:51]>> [singing] >> Just like you did Thank you so much.

[00:00:58]>> [music] >> Hello everyone. Welcome to News 18. I am Titash in conversation with Imtiaz Ali, Vedang Raina, and Sharvari. Hi. Hi. How are you doing doing?

[00:01:11]>> Very good. Good? How are you? I'm fine.

[00:01:14]Uh we're discussing the music. Why don't we start with that?

[00:01:19]Have you sung in the film?

[00:01:20]>> [snorts] >> Have you? Yes. Yes, I've heard the >> Would you like to give us a demo? Demo?

[00:01:25][laughter] We'll get to the demo later. So to answer your question, yes. I [laughter] would love to.

[00:01:32]Uh and it's honestly really a privilege. I don't know how it happened. I don't know. I think it was the germ of this idea was in your head. Somewhere I think you'd asked me that you know, do you sing do you sing? Actually, now I remember this. Interesting this came up.

[00:01:47]That he had messaged me once saying, "Do you sing?"

[00:01:51]And Imtiaz sir asking me this and obviously I'm aware that Rahman sir is doing the music for this. I got really excited. I was like, "Let me show everything I've done."

[00:02:00]I started sending my videos saying "I mean Hindi may gaya and I mean English may got to and I was just like selling myself as as much as I could.

[00:02:07]And I should open that chat because he said, "Okay, but I'm not thinking of for you to sing in this film." Oh, no. You remember? You [laughter] probably don't. But he said this. And I was like, "Okay, I don't know. Maybe he just generally wanted to No, after I was going to do the film.

[00:02:21]So, I was fully selling myself and then he said he it's not In this film I have no thought as such.

[00:02:28]So, I said, um, "Okay." So, I don't know. I was just like I guess he just wanted to see some stuff randomly, but then one day I was sitting here in this very room and he called me and he said there's this song and Hiral who's Rahman sir's assistant was sitting here and um, they tried, you know, this there was this track and a rough melody and they asked me to sing it.

[00:02:50]And that day only they said ki achha Rahman sir ki studio pe aaoge 11:30 baje raat ko.

[00:02:55]I said, "I'm there. Of course, I'll come."

[00:02:58]And then I went I think we recorded a bit and I guess they were satisfied.

[00:03:01]Even then Imtiaz sir matlab dekh rahe the ki abhi Rahman sir ke paas jayega phir woh decide karega. So, I was nervous. I remember I think I spoke to you about it [snorts] that I hope fingers crossed that >> [laughter] >> your audition selected.

[00:03:16]But uh, yeah, I got this uh, opportunity and I'm super grateful and it's honestly a dream come true. It was my dream as a child to, you know, be singing and uh, to be doing it for Rahman sir in his film is I mean, imagine. Imtiaz Ali film, check. Singing for Rahman sir, check. Yeah. Through one film.

[00:03:35]>> is like that though. It's yeah, it's amazing. Fantastic. But sir, I'll I'll come to you. You're the captain of the ship.

[00:03:41]Uh, this theme of love, longing, and yearning is more or less a part of almost all your films. I mean, of course, you know, all humans go through this in in different ways, different capacities at different stages of their lives. But, what is this fascination, if I may ask you, with love and longing as a theme?

[00:03:59]Well, I do When I start writing a story, I'm not thinking of making any theme or visiting this particular thing.

[00:04:06]But, then I feel that when I'm in an interview for a film, this question is always asked. So, there must be something that comes through in a state where I'm not aware. It's not I'm not aware of what I'm writing, why I'm writing it. In fact, I am trying my best to never do something that I've done before. But, there is still an accent that comes through in the way that I'm telling the story.

[00:04:31]So, I'm not deliberately doing it at all.

[00:04:34]Mhm.

[00:04:36]I mean, we have seen whatever the little bit that we have seen, you know, about of Me Waapas Aaunga.

[00:04:43]We haven't At least, I do not know the whole story as as yet, but the few things that I've read, there's two different eras or generations, perhaps.

[00:04:55]You have explored that, of course, you know, in Love Aaj Kal before, and the second one, also.

[00:05:00]Is there still more something more that is left unsaid about this cross-cultural romance that's that perhaps you want to say? Well, this is not just a cross-cultural romance. It's not as though there are two love stories that are being compared or talked about. It's not that. It's a different era. There's only >> [sighs] >> Jai and Veeru.

[00:05:21]You know, that is the story over here.

[00:05:23]It's in that way not Love Aaj Kal, and I'm sure that I'm not even wasting my time to say it's not like Love Aaj Kal, because anybody who sees the film Love Aaj Kal is not what they'd be thinking about. However, um a discovery of a past time from the present point of view is a a part of this film. Reminiscence is a big part of this film. Uh this concept of what I have lost with time Mhm. um is a big part of this film. What I remember um al- almost makes my personality the way it is now.

[00:06:02]>> Mhm. And um this is uh quite an im- uh like it's it makes a big impression in a time when migration is so drastic. You know, you put the TV on and you see migrate people migrating from one to the other country across borders, you know, legally, illegally.

[00:06:23]So, the sense of loss is not only material. It's also emotional. Mhm. And um so, this film is a bit about that, you know, about the love that you carry when you cross a border.

[00:06:38]Mhm.

[00:06:40]Interesting. You had written a lovely post about uh working with him. And uh you said that I sort of manifested it, you know, in my own way.

[00:06:50]Uh did you reach out to him first or did he reach out to you? I want to know.

[00:06:54]>> I reached out to sir to for a meeting. I didn't know at that point that he was making uh this particular film. Um I I know that I had said it in a couple interviews much earlier that I have that he was obviously one of the directors that I've always wished to work for with. And and I think uh there was this There was this uh MAMI festival uh thing that was happening.

[00:07:20]No, it was a it was a talk talk that was conducted and it was you were conducting it for Mani Ratnam sir. And I attended that and I was I mean, honestly, I was in awe of obviously both the directors and and just their journeys and the conversation that happened that day. And uh somehow I don't know how I just got inspired to like take a picture and put it up. And because I was really inspired that day by the conversation I had heard. And I and I written a sweet note for money sir and then I in the end also written something for Imtiaz sir and you know I had written that I wish to work with you someday and I never you know I just put it out there honestly and then much later in fact when I met him and I think I sent him something on Instagram which is related to something that we were doing research on and I saw that post that was already there where I had tagged him and then I I went back on it and I read what I had written because it was much earlier a couple years back.

[00:08:12]So yeah I guess in in some ways I felt like I've always manifested this and I kind of also put it out there not knowing that this would really happen one day but I reached out to him for just a meeting and and and and and and and >> Okay okay. And then it so was so worked out and almost by accident honestly because at that point of time I wasn't thinking of the casting. I think I thought that I wasn't looking at casting at that point of time but when I saw her and then later on I realized that oh I that's the person for this part and it was almost a feeling of how do I get her now?

[00:08:48]You know because the circumstance was such at that time and thankfully it worked out. Right. But I want to ask the two of you since you're working with him you know for the very first time uh prior to this you have been his audience uh and I mean us as audiences whenever we watch an Imtiaz Ali romance on on screen it sort of changes your perspective your notion on love at large. Uh while you were working with him this is a love story of course how has has your perspective changed on what really love is?

[00:09:22]You know weirdly I I I feel like when you're actors on set I don't I don't know I personally I feel I don't process it in this way. Okay. The effect of what we are trying to you know do on set is not really understood I think till much later at least for me. Okay. So, we are trying to be truthful to the moment.

[00:09:42]Trying to listen to each other, trying to bring to life his material and his vision. And I think all the effort and your everything is in into that. And the effect of what happens, and I am assuming he might must have felt the same way about his films.

[00:09:56]Sometimes the certain effect that it has had on people, it's not the incentive of writing so, or not the incentive of trying to direct that.

[00:10:05]And I think that's kind of what happens.

[00:10:06]I mean, with his film especially, yes, you you know, your takeaways, you know, you it can completely changes your perception on a lot of things. But, that's the type of writer he is, and that's the credit that goes to him. We are just kind of, you know, vessels of like making this happen in some way. But, I feel like this this feeling of of what you're saying is more so felt when I read the script. Uh because obviously, when you're into making a film, it's a different process altogether. And while you obviously feel those emotions, I think the first time that I read the script, I read it just as an audience. And and that's when I I remember that even when he was talking about the film to me, and I was getting I remember feeling very emotional about it. But, then I read it one more time. And then, the second time that I read it, I don't know, I just found myself just bawling at the end of it. Because I feel like there's so much purity in what he writes. Right. Uh whether it's about love, whether it's about longing, whether it's about any emotion, you know. I think the emotion is really at its simplest form, and it just is equivalent to being so pure. And I think that when you when you feel pure emotions, you really feel deeply.

[00:11:17]So, that's what I felt when I read the script. Right. So, can I ask you something? Since you was talking about this, I thought of something. There are so many people who uh discuss your films so passionately on social media. Like, there are these film pages and all. I met people who said that Imtiaz Ali's films have changed my life. And I remember you telling me once that you had met somebody, you know, in a lift, I think post Rockstar, and you told me about that conversation. I mean, see, you write a story with all your heart. You try to keep it as simple as possible. And then when you get this kind of a reception from people saying that oh, you changed my life and stuff. How do How do you react to that? I feel terribly guilty.

[00:12:00]Guilty? Why so? Yesterday I had gone to Boman Irani's Spiral Bound, which is a writer's convention, and he's done this magnificent job. So, a lot of new writers were there.

[00:12:12]So many of them came up to me and told me that they've left their jobs after watching Tamasha.

[00:12:18]And now they are writers.

[00:12:20]So, the instant thing that comes to my mind is that I hope they succeed because if they they don't, then I'm responsible for the disaster in their >> [laughter] >> lives.

[00:12:32]And many of them that are doing lucrative, you know, work leave them, and then they are trying to be artists, and like all of us are trying to be artists.

[00:12:45]And I feel responsible and guilty not only towards the person, but their whole family, you know, their wives, their suffering children, their parents who had aspirations that mera beta engineer banega.

[00:12:57]Or phir aage America mein kaam karega.

[00:13:00]But woh yahan pe Bombay mein struggle kar raha hai because everybody has to go through that, right?

[00:13:06]So, yeah, so I don't know, I've got mixed feelings about it. But but ultimately, the first thing that hits me is that that I hope they become successful in their lives. So, it's like a dua.

[00:13:20]But the second thing that happens also is that if I were in his position, I'd be happy. Mhm. You know, because I personally have never thought of the these things very methodically or in a very uh money-minded manner or in a practical way.

[00:13:38]>> Mhm. So, ultimately I feel good, but also a sense of responsibility. I feel connected to these people. Right.

[00:13:47]Yeah. So, this is the second time that you are collaborating with Diljit Dosanjh. There was Amar Singh Chamkila before this. And I think with this he also joins the ranks of Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone because you have also worked with them more than once.

[00:14:00]>> Two times, yeah. Two times, right. Uh this need to the fact that you cast them in your films again, of course they fit the part that that goes without saying, but is it also because there's this comfort or there is some maybe unfinished emotional territory you want to explore with them? What is it like? See, of course there is emotional territory that is not explored because when you do a new part, it can't be the same territory that you want to work on again, you know, neither for the actor nor for the director is that interesting. Okay, it has to be something new. Whether and and maybe in experience with the actor, you know that this exists Mhm. uh in this person and it will be quite interesting and fascinating for it to come out because she hasn't or he hasn't walked that path before. I'll give you an example. When um we did a film called Love Aaj Kal uh with Deepika. First time. The first one. And then after that, I was uh I'd written a story called Cocktail and uh they were trying to cast for it and they gave Deepika to read for Meera's part, for the part uh which later Diana played.

[00:15:13]>> And then she called me.

[00:15:16]So, then I asked her to play Veronica. I said, "Why don't you read it for Veronica?" Veronica is so different from what Deepika's image was at that point of time. But since I've been in the room and doing parties with her and I know how crazy and wild she can be.

[00:15:32]And she's otherwise projecting to be such a good girl at that time. Yeah, I tried. Now people have seen through the she thing facade.

[00:15:41]So I thought it this would be quite a new thing for Deepika to be this. I know that this emotional ground exists.

[00:15:49]>> Right. So um so that is exciting. So for instance with Diljit also this is perhaps the first time that I'm working with an actor on a back-to-back two films, you know. Right. But yes, I there is also a certain personal connection that Diljit has with both the parts, with the part of Chamkila and the part of Nirvair Grewal in this film. There's a personal connect that I don't want to spoil by telling what it is, but in the movie and after the movie, just like one says that we couldn't have imagined Chamkila without Diljit. I'm sure that one cannot imagine this film without Diljit either.

[00:16:31]Because there's a huge personal emotional connect.

[00:16:34]>> Right. But the two of you, what's your favorite Imtiaz Ali film? You cannot mention this one.

[00:16:40]>> [laughter] >> You go first.

[00:16:44]Can I give two? Of course you can.

[00:16:46]>> Okay, so I think for me would be Rockstar and Jab We Met.

[00:16:49]Yes.

[00:16:51]I think growing up Rockstar was was the film for me. It was my dream role. It was as musician and the kind of coming of age story of him. So it was always Rockstar, but I think this may be a a unique opinion.

[00:17:04]I'm not sure, but I think Chamkila is his best film and I feel that pretty strongly.

[00:17:09]And that's something I said to him when I met him as well.

[00:17:12]Uh I think that's his best film and I think that's my favorite film of his also. Right. Right. Well, I'll also say what my favorite Yes.

[00:17:19][laughter] Mine is Rockstar and the first love Aaj Kal. These two are my absolute favorite.

[00:17:25]Yeah.

[00:17:25]>> What a filmography to choose from? Yeah, what a filmography? Which one do you choose? It's it's almost like that. I mean, okay, we are we are wrapping this up, but uh I'll I'll ask this to all of you. Do you think uh today love stories on the big screen are a novelty?

[00:17:45]I don't think so.

[00:17:47]I don't think so.

[00:17:48]>> the right person to start this very difficult question.

[00:17:51]>> this is more an audience's question.

[00:17:54]Like I as an audience, do I think that they are rare? As an audience. Novelty.

[00:18:00]I don't think so either actually.

[00:18:01]Because maybe I choose to watch films which have some sort of an emotional content, you know? Um I remember Hamlet for instance, the moment you mentioned it. That is yeah, a wonderful love film and how much heart and love there is.

[00:18:16]And love does need not only exist in the most typical fashion of boy girl wanting to get married. You know, there's so much more that love does in life, you know? So, I think every good film is a love story.

[00:18:30]This is what I feel. Even a very good like Saving Private Ryan is a love story.

[00:18:36]And like all Interstellar in a weird way I've always felt completely a love story. And so I feel that every good film is a love story.

[00:18:48]And if you say that my stories which I didn't start off thinking as love stories are love stories, if you're saying that, then I'm I have to take it as a compliment. I'm sorry.

[00:18:59]Which one did you start off as not a love story?

[00:19:02]>> All of them. Really? All of them.

[00:19:04]Yeah, 100% all of them. Even a Jab We Met? Yeah. So, in Jab We Met I Yeah, I thought that two people are going to meet. One is full of life, one wants to kill himself.

[00:19:14]Ah. And they meet on a train because where else can such two opposite people meet? Right.

[00:19:19]>> And if they are on a train, she has to be going somewhere. So, that's how it started. Ah.

[00:19:24]And it was obviously there was this fascination of girl on the train, which in itself for me personally is a very romantic idea.

[00:19:32]Um but I didn't think it's going to be a love story per se that it's just two people meeting and affecting each other. Hm. Um and somehow becoming each other, like becoming the opposites of who they were who they were. So, that is what it was about. And I think um you know, a lot of stories qualify to be love stories when there is fulfillment in the end.

[00:19:59]Yeah.

[00:20:01]But by that measure, Heer Ranjha, Laila Majnu, and Romeo and Juliet are also not love stories. You know what I mean? I feel maybe when many of these stories were being written, they weren't thinking that they're making a love story.

[00:20:14]Maybe Shakespeare was thinking that he's making a story about the the op- the opposites attracting, you know, that two warring families and what how dramatic it would be if their children liked each other or whatever.

[00:20:27]Hm.

[00:20:29]Okay. Can you sing, please?

[00:20:32]>> [laughter] >> You really don't forget, yeah? No.

[00:20:35]One line if you can.

[00:20:37]>> [laughter] >> Can you sing?

[00:20:40]No, I don't think suddenly because you told me to make him sing. So, now it's on camera. [laughter] Now it's on camera. One line, maybe.

[00:20:48]Okay, I'll sing I'll sing the song that I've sung in this film. It's called Mascara. Ishad.

[00:20:56]Uh it goes Kahan se ho laye aisi shokh Tumhi se bani [singing] hai ye tumhi ko >> [singing] [singing] >> Thank you so much thank you to all of you all the very best for this film I'm really looking forward to it so thank you. Thank you I hope you like it. I'm sure I will.