‘FOR A CHANGE, IT'S TIME TO SMILE' Director Hansal Mehta

‘After 23 years of making films, you feel vindicated that you stuck to your guns and continued to try different things.’

- 

“Whatever I make, the day I deliver it, I know I have done my best and I move on to other things,”

It’s certainly true.

The day his latest film Chhalaang releases, Hansal is on his way to picturesque Ranikhet in Uttarakhand.

This interview is done while he is passing through a forest in Almora, so we keep it brief and restrict it to the 10 Essential Questions Hansal Mehta needs to answer.

The light-hearted Chhalaang is very different from the kinds of films you have made with Rajkummar Rao.

I have troubled people enough with serious films.

I have forced people to think about their lives, I have told them so much about what is wrong with the world.

For a change, it’s time to smile as well.

It has been seven years since you first worked with Rajkummar in Shahid. How has the bond changed in all these years?

It is difficult to describe the bond because we are so close.

We mean a lot to each other in our lives.

The only thing that has changed over the years is that it is much easier to raise money in the films that he does.

You have made your best films with him. Which is the closest to your heart?

It will always be Shahid.

Omerta is a close second.

They come from a place of emotions. They were made without any kind of expectations, especially commercial.