A candid chat with 'Gulaab Gang' director Soumik Sen

Despite being a male director you have chosen to debut with a womenoriented project like Gulaab Gang Do you find it remarkableIn most action films the most powerful roles are essayed by men while the women play the girlfriend or the wife Here it is the reverse mdash here it is Madhuri Dixit versus Juhi Chawla And the men play brother and father Somebody said that I am the male Zoya Akhtar because she made the maleoriented Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara which is a huge complimentDirector Soumik Sen on the sets of Gulaab Gang with Madhuri DixitSo is Gulaab Gang about women empowermentThis film is a page beyond that because the women are already empowered It is a story about two successful women one played by Juhi Chawla is a politician and the other played by Madhuri Dixit runs a selfhelp ashram of weavers This is not Mrityudand or an uprising against men It is not an art film it is a clutterbreaking projectDirector Soumik SenDo Madhuri and Juhi have a physical combat in the movieNo they donrsquot have a handtohand combat There is no Uma Thurman vs Daryl Hannah swordfight a la Kill Bill It is a battle of power Action to me is just an extension of dance I didnrsquot want body doubles for any action sequence I had met other actresses who didnrsquot want to do action sequences but fortunately my choices proved rightBut why did you choose Madhuri and Juhi considering their roles sound totally different from their respective images Was it difficult to convince themConvincing Madhuri was not difficult but reaching out to her was I met Madhuri in 2012 and she heard the detailed narration of the script In two meetings she said she would do the film This movie wouldnrsquot have happened if Madhuri had said no I am a debutante director but things became easier when Madhuri Dixit decided to back my projectJuhi was tougher to convince She couldnrsquot believe that she had been offered this role Her role is black therersquos not an iota of goodness in her character Her character completely destroys the image she has And thatrsquos why therersquos buzz about the filmJuhi has refused films with Madhuri earlierJuhi said that she wouldnrsquot do films with Madhuri because then she wouldnrsquot have anything lucrative to do in the project But she is playing the villain in Gulaab Gang and she had a lot of fun playing meanTwenty years ago which diva were you a bigger fan ofThatrsquos an unfair question I have always loved Juhirsquos comic timing and Madhuri is a legend I have grown up watching themWas either actress insecure about the otherNo Their roles were well established neither did Madhuri want to do Juhirsquos role and vice versa In their era both were vying for the same roles I wasnrsquot around then but both maintain that this entire rivalry was created by the press Therersquos huge conjecture that they didnrsquot get along but they didnrsquot know each other at all they had met only socially The ice was broken during the course of this filmDid you have to do a balancing act to keep both happyNo I wasnrsquot trying to give them equal number of scenesIs this film the same as Gulaab which Raveena Tandon and Tabu were supposed to doIt doesnrsquot matter now I wouldnrsquot want to comment on thatJuhi is mouthing some masaledaar dialogue in the trailerShe is not using foul language It is just a play of wordsDid Madhuri and Juhirsquos kids ever drop in on the setsJuhirsquos kids never came in Madhurirsquos two kids sister and father came into the studio when she was singing And her kids once came to the sets too but left almost immediately as they were bored to deathMadhurirsquos recent release Dedh Ishqiya won critical reviews but didnrsquot get a great opening at the box office Has that made you reconsider your release strategyThere are two kinds of films mdash some have a good opening while some niche films start on a low note but pick up later Dedh Ishqiya will gain over time It is a successful cult film with great reviews There have been no changes in my strategyYou have written the Kishore Kumar biopic which Anurag Basu is directing Did you ever consider making your directorial debut with this filmIt is a massive film I didnrsquot want to debut with it because there would have been skepticism Anurag is more experienced than I am I work only for friends