Discussing the relevance of Indian films in the time they have been produced and their national narratives, Sudhir Mishra, Imtiaz Ali and Rachel Dwyer shared their experiences and understanding of Hindi cinema, at the final day of Jaipur Literature Festival.

Having immense love in my heart for the films Imtiaz Ali makes, I was waiting for the last day since the festival began. And yes, just after his session I got to meet, talk, click a picture (*boasting much*) and interview the man himself!

With a big wide smile and awestruck eyes, I initiated the conversation rather nervously.

Me: You mentioned in your session that Bollywood has taught you how to treat women. What have the women in your real life taught you?

Imtiaz Ali: Well, I think the women in my life are those who are reflected and amplified in the movies that I make. What they have taught me is about being strong and knowing what’s going in the mind and the world. Also, I feel any true progress for me has happened at the hands of a woman or is inspired by a woman. I have learned so many things that I can’t even mention.

Me: In your films, your protagonists don’t shy away to cry their hearts out. What is going on in your mind while writing such characters?

Imtiaz Ali: It’s not like I am writing these characters, I am just following them in a way. I feel that ‘he’ would do a certain thing because he emotionally feels like and that’s why he does it. And as far as crying is concerned, I personally feel I have a difficulty to cry and it has nothing to do with being male. I feel numb or I feel strange at the time when I am supposed to cry. After this phase, I feel I am choking up for no reason.

So yeah, for me it’s very aspirational to see somebody in pain going to a woman and crying his heart out.

Me: Are you planning to make a woman oriented film?

Imtiaz Ali: I am not going to worry about making a woman oriented film; I am going to make the film that comes to me but the women in that film will be as interesting as I feel women in real life are.

Soon questions started pouring in from every corner of the press room.

Do you draw your creative process more from your personal life or is it mythical thinking.

Well, for me it’s a mix of both. Like I quoted Ghalib when I said “Aate hai ghaib se ye khayal…,” I meant your thoughts come from a strange place, an unknown one, and you don’t really know consciously where they are coming from. Most of my creative process is drawn not from a conscious state but an impulsive one.

Do you think script writing on women has changed in the last ten years?

Of course. The last time I went to Amritsar I saw women on scooties and lunas with a very different body language as compared to what I had noticed when I visited there first. Amritsar being a case in point, I think women in the world are no more embarrassed. You can’t control or curtail their independence.

How have your female characters evolved in your films?

Ummm, okay talking about Taara (Tamasha), she is a very modern woman, who is extremely articulate and can perceive the depth of her male counterpart’s existence within the trappings of his own body. She’s the kind of girl I’d like to meet.

Damn! Wish you’d known me for a longer time…