Lalit Mohan in Conversation with TellyTadka on IPK and more !

Passionate about directing ever since he can remember director Lalit Mohan has come a long way. Right from Family drama to thriller to horror to romance he has done it all…. But the abrupt ending of Star Plus popular star crossed love story Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam doon was not only a blow to its viewers but also to Lalit Mohan along with his entire cast and crew.

Apart from talking about his shows, actors, the industry and much more catch Lalit open up to TellyTadka on IPK and post IPK.

12.12.12 sure was a memorable day…..but here is TellyTadka making 13.12.12 special for our readers . Yes TellyTadka brings an exclusive 2 part Interview of the ace director Lalit Mohan as promised making the day all the more special….

1) What is your philosophy on the profession of directing/scripting?

Haa…. Yaar it’s very tough actually, because Philosophy changes at times.

…..and when it comes to IPK?

It’s like being the head of a family; you get together, work, teach, educate and entertain. As a director I do everything for the audience, the actors, producers et all but at the end of the day when your show shuts down, it hurts a lot because you are the head of that family. One fine day each and every member of that family goes their own way. Same happened with IPK….Hum log mile aur phir bichad gaye……And me being the director, the head of the family my show, I can’t cry…can’t show my tears to them. It is one of the worst aspects of being a director.

2) Experience with Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon?

My experience with Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon was very different. Something I experienced for the first time and one of a kind. IPK was like a dream for me, the most beautiful dream of my life and now that it’s axed I am back to reality.

3) How long have you been in the TV industry….?

It’s been 8 years.

4) Over the years what are the negative and positive changes that you have seen?

The best thing about the industry is that the people here are very Passionate about their work. Most of them including myself believe in giving our 1000%. So I guess it’s a positive aspect that you are ready to put your best foot forward in order to keep your passion for this craft alive no matter what the circumstances are.

…and the Negative aspect?

People who don the garb of being passionate, when in reality they are not. When you put your best foot forward and others don’t its very disappointing…coz it disrupts everything. There are many who talk very highly of doing things but the moment you ask them to stay back for the betterment of the show, or when you want to get a particular scene done right so the audience can relate better etc…they fail to put up and as a director that disturbs me a lot. Sometimes my creative’s, actors, producer or even the channel are not on the same level as I am which is quite sad, because initially we are there. I am approached saying that I’ll do well for the show but once I am on board everything changes jo bohat ghalat hai!

5) As a director what according to you is the most important part of making TV Soap?

VISION. I am a director. Shuru shuru mein mere paas kuch nahi hota. I don’t have a story in my hand, no concept, screenplays, dialogues in short nothing…..Then a rough idea is given to me, I am filled in with the details which is when I start to visualize the story in my mind. I envision how a particular scene should be. What the character should so, what should be portrayed, how much should be portrayed, the amount of emotion it should hold etc. Like for instance “Khushi falling into Arnav’s arms”….Sunne mein aasan hai, but there are a lot of things to take into consideration so that the scene leaves an impact. How will he hold the girl, for how long will he hold the girl, how will the girl react at that particular instance, to his touch, what feelings would be racing through her heart, what expressions the two should give etc. So Vision is very important for a director, ki totality mein aapko kya chahiye from a particular scene/sequence or track. So I guess it has to be Vision because if there no Vision there is no story telling.

6) Which genre is easier to direct? Do u prefer sticking on to a particular genre or do u believe in challenging yourself by working out of your comfort zone?

No I believe in challenging myself. As a director I should be able to do shows irrespective of their genres….and I am fortunate that I have been able to do so….I have done almost every genre right from Thriller (Arjun), Horror (Shhh…Phir Ko Hai), Hardcore emotional drama (12/24 Karol Bagh), Romantic Melodrama (Bidaai, IPK), Love story (Kis Des Mein Hai Mera Dil) to name a few… Aur comedy ka aisa hai ki aap koi bhi genre lo uske andar ek comedy chahe woh black humor bolo, just humor bolo woh aap ko mil jaata hai. As a director I do not want to be type casted…..and touchwood I am not…I know people believe that I tell love stories better (Laughs) but for me its very important that I challenge myself not just with genres but even within the story and the scenes.

7) What are the factors that you take into consideration before taking up a project? Back then what made (IPK) particularly appealing?

After I quit Navya (Starplus) on the very next day I went on the set of IPK. I was there for 2-3 hrs, discussing thing with Nissar and Gul, they gave me a rough idea about the show and its characters. Then when i got the papers in my hand, jab mujhe initial ke 7-8 episodes diye gaye to go through… I said OK, I’ll do it kyunki wahan pe main kaafi kuch connect kar paa raha tha. And i also felt that down the lane the show was definitely going to be a Hit which i believe it became. IPK was different and it had quite a range of emotions to display, a quality with which connect instantly. And that’s how i decided to take up IPK.

8) Talking of IPK tell us who your personal favorite is, Khushi or Arnav?

Both yaar, it’s hard for me to choose between the two.

Still if you had to pick one who would that be?

I think Khushi Kumari Gupta.

9) Which is the one scene/sequence/track in IPK that when you look back, makes you proud….one that you would term is your best work in the entire series. Why?

There are a lot of scenes yaar, it’s not very easy to pick one….

Phir bhi there might be something which is on the top of your head….?

I think the first time Arnav smiles ya smirks actually, when his Di talks about Pyar… the saase ruk jaayegi wala lines to be precise. That was one defining moment. Phir…jab Arnav ne cheekha, when he howled in the middle of the road to vent out his pain and anger after seeing Shyaam-Khushi hug on knowing that the woman he loved turned out to be the other woman in Shyaam’s life… Aur jo howl ab recently hua tha during the marriage track when Arnav comes face to face with his past, the entire Khushi waiting for Arnav at the Mandap Sequence…..Sanaya and Barun were simply brilliant in those sequences. But aise bohat se scenes hai…and I love all ArShi scenes, because of the way they were done.

10) Everybody comes across challenges. Describe a time when you faced such a challenging situation while directing IPK and how you handled it.

The last day of shoot when 4 days work had to be done in a couple of hours. 70 shots liye the humne Barun ke saath us din…. The entire work was to be completed in a span of 4 day, but we shot it in i guess 6-7 hours. I reached the sets at 7:30, Barun reached at 8:30 and we shot till 5:00 PM getting all the shots, closeup etc we wanted because that was Barun’s last day of shoot (23rd Nov). It was not only hectic, but as a director it was hard for me to do 4 days work in just hours because things were rushed and done to get over with. Another one would be the Arnav-Khushi Consummation Sequence, jise karene ke baad i cried. I had asked for 8 hours to do that sequence, to get exactly what i wanted but when time came I was given just 1 hour. After wrapping the shoot, everybody was congratulating me on how well the scene had shaped up but i cried that day because that is not how I had visualized the most beautiful moment between Arnav and Khushi. Sanaya and Barun were sad too because as a team things did not happen the way we wanted it to be, like planned. Woh bohat hi challenging aur depressing tha. I was not happy because it could have been much better.

11) Khushi who happens to be one of the most selfless woman chatacter on TV was highlighted in a more comic light in the last few months? She was far from resembling the “SankaDevi” that viewers fell in love with….Was that a deliberate move?

Look except for a handful of viewers who thought Khushi was being OTT, that it was character assassination etc the feedback we got was just the opposite. According to our research team viewers were actually enjoying the OTT Comedy and that Khushi was loved in those scenes…..In the more rural areas viewers liked this side of hers. Since the feedback we received were in favor of Khushi being OTT and that’s the reason we continued with it. Dekho aap logic ke saath kuch bhi karo toh theek hai……Par ghalat situation mein comedy karna that’s illogical. Yes towards the end there were times when Khushi’s Comedy became slightly OTT; actually there was some mess up in the writing department. Maine unse kahan tha ki koi bhi scene karo, chahe Khushi ko super woman bana do but logic hona chahiye ki without logic everything would look distasteful.

Example Cited:Khushi can slap Arnav, woh usko maar sakti hai but there has to be logic behind that slap. If Khushi found out that Arnav had slept with another woman and then lied about it she can slap him, he deserves that slap and it’s the right thing to do. But if she slaps him because he comes home late due to some office work, or that he couldn’t attend the Pooja coz of a meeting when she was waiting for him etc that would be illogical and stupid.

12) How do you handle performances? Do you personally enact scenes?

Yes, sometimes enact karke batana padta hai, but otherwise most of the time brief se hi kaam ho jaata hai.

13) How much of a Director’s actor should one be?

Look….. Director’s actor is always good, but if an actor has the intelligence, and potential to put their points across in front of the director it always helps enhances the show, because two people are giving their inputs, everything can be viewed from two different angles, pros and cons can be measured more accurately. In case of a director’s actor the problem is they don’t have an opinion of their own, or any views regarding the scene. They come on the set, they director tells them what to do and they do exactly that….it limits scope for improvisation if any. Any actor when doing a particular scene should know what and why they are doing it, in short they should be fully versed.

14) So how much of a Director’s actor are Sanaya and Barun?

At times they are director’s actor. When they don’t understand things they leave it to us…Ki OK, Lalit i am not getting this and then I tell them what I want. And at times Barun and Sanaya pehle se plan karke aate hai which majority of the times would be much better than what I envisioned and so we stick on with their plan. I think the reason IPK became this beautiful show that it is because of these connections between the technicians and the actors. We always try to understand each others perspectives and opt for the best one.

15) Does a personal rapport with the actors help in extracting better performances from them?

Yes Of course, bohat zyada.

16) Time for a tricky questions whom do u enjoy directing more Sanaya or Barun?

Sanaya…. Sanaya is a very intelligent actress; she is very professional and dedicated. If I reach the set at 6:30 AM and her shift starts at 7 then she would be there sharp at 7. By chance if she was running late even if it’s by 10 mins, she would inform us. Sanaya is one of the best actresses we have in the Industry today. Dekho Khushi ke liye koi grand scene nahi tha, na uske liye chopper aaya na uske liye ASR jaisa ek buildup tha but still she managed to leave her signature in each and every scene and that was pure Sanaya. She did it all…..Sanaya has really worked hard and she used to give her 1000% to it.

With that we come to end of part one…….Stay tuned as Lalit Mohan talks more about IPK, gives an insight into behind the scenes, Abrupt end of IPK Braun decision to quit and more……Only here at TellyTadka.

To be contd……..

(As told to Vijitha Rajan)

Edited By: Vijitha Rajan

TellyTadka