I want a culture to my comedy: Abhishek Chaubey

Yoursquove maintained that you did not make Ishqiya with the intention of taking it ahead as a sequel and the decision was nerve wracking When then during the making of Dedh Ishqiya did you feel that you had a fine film at handI think it happened sometime in the scripting stage I remember working on it with Vishal Bhardwaj and having a moment when it hit me I thought lsquoHey so I am not simply making a sequel I have something original in hand nowrsquoThis epiphany had something to do with the fact we were creating an alternate world of Mahmoodabad in Dedh Ishqiya For a director there is nothing more exhilarating than having the liberty to create an alternate reality craft new characters and explore a lost culture a time warpDirector Abhishek Chaubey with Madhuri Dixit on the sets of Dedh IshqiyaTell us about creating the alternate world of Mahmoodabad its codes and its attitudeI was really charmed by the location and the decrepit palace we were shooting at Ishqiya was a more intimate film There were these obtuse references to the jungle and a war but the film was shot in a house with mainly three characters We went all out in Dedh Ishqiya and at the end of it all making this film was more wholesomeThe world of Mahmoodabad stands on the chaste Urdu we decided to use in the film The credit for that goes entirely to Vishal He has grown up with that language and culture and he loved that kind of poetry A few years ago he introduced me to Dr Bashir Badr whose poetry has been used in Dedh Ishqiya and I was hookedDedh Ishqiya is our way of paying homage to his workWhen you create an alternate world I think the most exciting part is to create its code its dos and donrsquots I knew I wanted the world of Mahmoodabad to be entertaining but not vacuous Before being anything else Dedh Ishqiya is a comedy and I knew exactly the attitude I wanted the actors to carry mdash quick wit careadamnattitude and willing to make light of the most serious things For instance when Babban Arshad Warsi is chasing Khalu Naseeruddin Shah after the latter swindles him and finally catches up with him he first greets him with all the tehzeeb Khalu too who knows he is going to be questioned returns the greeting Thatrsquos the spirit of Dedh Ishqiya tongueincheek thatrsquos how the characters see the world As compared to the slapstick comedies which go on to make it to the R100200 crore clubsLaughs Sab ke sau crore sab ko mubarak honDid you think Naseeruddin Shah was best suited for the role because he has experimented with a similar culture in his plays And what about Madhuri DixitDedh Ishqiya is my fourth film with Naseer and I think we are at a stage where we understand each other without even trying He thrived on the sets because he was playing these two different kinds of characters mdash Khalujaan the rogue and Iftekhaar the nawab He was simply having a ball and I have never seen him this focussed and excitedAs far as Madhuri goes I so desperately wanted her to agree to do this film because she was the only person I could see essaying Begum Pararsquos role I observed that she is a very relaxed actor In spite of the work she has behind her she is still the sort of actor who wants a director to step in and fill her in on the characterrsquos shades However shersquos also very instinctive mdash so if you tell her to do something that she thinks might look fake on screen shersquoll tell you that I think what amazes me the most about Madhuri is that she does not theorise and is very subtle at her craft Many a time Irsquod think she was being too subtle and might miss the point but later when I saw it on screen I realised she knew just what she was doing by putting in just the perfect amount of emphasis on her expression or style I donrsquot think too many actors can boast of thatThe supporting cast in Dedh Ishqiya mdash Vijay Raaz Manoj Pahwa and Salim Shahid mdash were equally welletched irrespective of the screen time they may have hadI am glad that came across then smiles I think the writing did it again They donrsquot have three hours to tell their stories and their motivations but the writer must at all cost You donrsquot want to fall flat when a supporting actor looks at you and doesnrsquot understand why he is doing something in the film He must know it in his head even if he doesnrsquot spell it outon screenWhatrsquos next for youI am working on another script but it would be too premature to discuss what it is about But it will be entirely different from Ishqiya and Dedh Ishqiya in every way possibleWhat do you want to do better thenImprove my strike rate for one