Aleya Sen: Taapsee Pannu is a director's baby, she just surrenders herself

Dil Juunglee director Aleya SenA young energetic debutante filmmaker Aleya Sen is all set to taste the waters of Bollywood with Dil Juunglee The film is Aleyas perspective of seeing love and relationships in the current scenario The director with a background of television commercials is sure to strike a chord with the youngsters with this lighthearted and coming of age film Aleya also makes some revelations of how she began this journey and why this film is special in an interactive chat session with midday onlineHere are the excerpts from the interviewWhat inspired you to make a feature filmI think it was a natural progression that was meant to happen as I have been into direction for quite a time Its not like suddenly one day a feeling came that I want to make a film of that sortWhat is the difference between directing an ad film and a fulllength feature filmTechnically there are very few aspects that are different other than the time span that you spent In advertising what happens is you shoot for about 23 days at a stretch and then you move on But here you get to experience a wonderful journey of days where you create a number of bonds and also to have people convinced and work as passionately for your story or your filmWhat is Dil Juunglee all about What was your inspiration behind this filmFor me Dil Juunglee is not like people standing in the middle of the roads screaming shouting and stuffs like that Dil Juunglee is when you are in love and you come out of your comfort zone to do stuff which is out of your character that makes your heart wild Probably one and only time when your heart is really wild is when you are in love The most important aspect is my perspective of love and relationships Someone could agree and someone could completely disagree but this is how I look at relationships When you are younger you are much influenced by your peer groups books that you read movies that you watch but as you grow there is much more dynamic understanding about what love is There is compatibility maturity friendship and lot of other aspects which are there To be honest this is my understanding that any creative work reflects you or your environment At least in my case it is a reflection of lsquoME in somewhere Like I said how I look at love relationships and feelings Things change as you grow Also characters in the film are from my real life So of course the story is a fragment of my imaginationWere Saqib Saleem and Taapsee Pannu your first choice for the filmYes absolutely We did a music video and had gone for a recce At the same time we were also looking for a lead pair In the meantime it just happened that I did a music video which was Tum ho toh lagta hai I saw them together on the set and I actually thought that they were friends for a long time only to realise later that theyve just met on the sets They have an amazing natural chemistry and it just looked perfect for me Taapsee has been seen in a very different light before this the kind of other films that she has done For me this has been a high to show something to audience little beyond their imagination I will also like to add that apart from Saqib and Taapsee because I have a lot of importance to other aspects to make a complete frame and story So all my characters in the film they are very much handpicked and chosenAfter directing Bollywood stalwarts like Amitabh Bachchan Aamir Khan and many other prominent faces How was it directing these youngsters Is there any difference in itJust to clarify I did not direct Aamir Khan Yes obviously it was an honour to work with legends like Amitabh sir Shah Rukh Khan Akshay Kumar to name a few It was a great experience of learning during the course of my direction The major difference here lies that I have worked with them in ad films and yes I am working with Saqib and Taapsee in a feature for the first time And it was really fun and exciting directing them as I have already worked with Saqib and Taapsee in a music video as I said earlierWhat kind of a rapport do you share with Taapsee and SaqibSaqib for me is a kind of guy who would be friends with everybody and Taapsee is a directors baby she just surrenders herself My first schedule of the film was in London so we were all out of our own houses and were working long hours So by default you just become a part of each others life But there was a very good bonding between everybody I am basically from a corporate world and not an overfriendly person but its been a good feeling that I have feltHow was the ambience of the setsI would say that all my actors are full of very high energy it just happened coincidentally to be like that For a couple of them it was their first film The weather of London is quite odd difficult and unpredictable Even at times of any such production issue there are these actors who were very supportive Talking of ambience I feel they all were so naturally good together and bonded pretty wellWhat kind of responses are you receiving for the filmI think I am getting a very good feedback as of now All that I was expecting people to understand from the trailer and songs is coming through as it is The first trailer is more about comedy and the second trailer has the dimension into it where the first half is completely different than the second half of the film The first half of it portrays a very young chirpynatured and second half is kind of a mature indepth of a space The first trailer was about young people getting attracted and in the second trailer people know that its for a universal age group This film probably caters to 16 ndash 60 age groupHow do you see the celebration of womens day and its importanceBeing a filmmaker its irrelevant what my gender is Its as much hard work passion knowledge and sacrifice required On my sets if there is any inhibition regarding my gender in anyones head then they need to change their mind Because I cant change my gender and I wont stop making films Gender discrimination exists for sure and its not limited to just India I shoot a lot abroad I have got compliments shooting in Europe and Africa they are in awe of a woman controlling the sets of 200 men I started working at a very young age that too in Delhi where the infrastructure of a film industry was very weak I learned on the job and one of the most important things was learning how to be heardAlso ReadDil Juunglee Makers Deepshikha Deshmukh And Aleya Sen All ExcitedCatch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates