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#DareToLove: Mirzya stars tell us how

There was a time when Bollywood was almost synonymous with tragic love stories - and classics like Heer-Ranjha, Laila-Majnu, Ek Duuje Ke Liye and Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak continue to rank as some of the most memorable films ever made, still wielding the power to make even a modern audience teary-eyed.
Is it the dark element, of death, of mortality, that have set these films aside from others and ingrained them in our memory for years to come? Is love more potent when combined with suffering?
Director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra seems to tackle these questions in Mirzya, inspired by the epic folkloric love story of Mirza and Sahiban. The visually stunning trailer revealed two interwoven stories set in different times, with both leads playing double roles, a delightful innovation that is a far cry from standard Bollywood fare.
The lead actors of the film Harshvardhan Kapoor (actor Anil Kapoor's son who is making his debut with this epic romance) and Saiyami Kher dropped into the Khaleej Times office yesterday along with Omprakash Mehra to talk up their 'Un-Bollywood' film.
RAKEYSH OMPRAKASH MEHRA
In contrast to having an established cast, what was the most appealing part of working with newcomers?
You need to be driven by the script, and here the requirement was to go for fresh talent. We needed 22-23 year olds. And our whole approach was so new age I would call it 'Un Bollywood.'

How is the film 'Un Bollywood'?
What you'll find intriguing is the non-linear narrative style. On the face of it all our films have songs and dances but they are very situational, here the music is the spine of the film and the narration and is written into the script by the great Gulzar himself.

Will this darker depiction of love find a parallel in society?
The story is inspired by the epic love story of Mirza and Sahiban, that can be likened to epic tragedies like Romeo and Juliet and Laila-Majnu, Heer-Ranjha. For me, when I first saw the play almost 35 years ago I was fascinated by the character of Sahiban.. The play ended with a question. At the end of the story she breaks Mirza's arrows due to which he is not able to defend himself against her brothers.
He's shot dead and he bleeds to death and there is a question in his eyes for Sahiban - why did you break my arrows? I was taken in by Mirza's spiritual love for her, they were more like soul mates than just a boy girl thing. The longest unanswered question that continued to haunt me was - why do we hurt the most the people we love the most? It's not about being dark or bright, it's about narrating a story you feel strongly about.

Can the audience expect an answer to that question?
It's not a plot oriented film. It's not as if when you discover why she did that to the arrows you discover a key to something. Whatever part of the world we're from, whatever background or culture we're from, this deep emotion of love touches us at some point in our lives and continues to do so. While this is a parable - why she broke the arrows - the story is actually an exposition of how these two have portrayed love.
What I experienced is that this one moment of love spent in love is greater than your entire lifetime. And that's what maybe the climax of the film is. The last twenty minutes of the film is actually about sharing that moment of love which was denied to them eternally. The story is shot in Rajasthan, in today's India, and somewhere there is a juxtaposition of the folklore. So you'll find two strains running in the same story. When they cross each other there is a spark and something very beautiful that happens - emotionally and cinematically. It's Harshvardhan and Saiyami's debut and they have taken on the challenge of playing two roles each - dramatically different. It requires immensely different physicality and mindsets because one is set in eternity and one is set in real time.

So is the idea of eternal love in today's time possible?
I would like to leave the audience with that question. Go find out for yourself. We might choose to pass it by, but if we pause a little it's there.

As a director, how do you define success?
Success as a word is always about a parameter, a number, about running the mile under four minutes.
For me it's this - have I grown as a storyteller? Did I raise the bar for myself? I don't believe in steps - I have to take a leap. I have to reinvent myself again and that reinvention is a success for me. You cannot replicate success in the art of cinema. Change is a constant. That box office follows passion, is such a great satisfaction.
What are your thoughts on the current debate about banning stars from across the border?
I see it going on for centuries. I can understand emotions and sentiments - of soldiers who are guarding the border, of people who lose their lives when there is cross border terrorism.
Whenever we fail to live in the peace and the political dialogue breaks down, obviously there is a fallout, economically culturally and socially. We need to build those bridges. Whether artists come and perform, well that can only happen once they get a visa! Rhetoric can always go crazy, but first we need to feel very very deeply for who is getting affected by this and the families who are losing their sons for no reason.
 
HARSHVARDHAN KAPOOR
Have you redefined love after working in this movie?
My ideas of love were pretty similar to what is seen in the movie, to be honest. It's very hard to articulate. Some people in life are lucky enough to have it and some people can go through their entire lives without finding that person. But there are different kinds of love - parental, sibling - it's not just romance. It's something that everyone in the world experiences in some way.

From your dual characters in the film, did one appeal more than the other?
The visual impact of the period character is tremendous but I think emotionally the contemporary character was more challenging and dynamic. It's very hard to choose.

What's it like being a 'star kid'?
Maybe there's something wrong with me but I really don't feel any pressure. Maybe there are people who do, but not me. And I'm the kind of person I would have admitted it to you right away if I did. Maybe it's because of my individuality and through the work that I'm doing it's going to kind of come through and I'm pretty confident of that. There are a lot of things in this world that I'm not sure about but this is something I'm very sure about.
As for when I wanted to become an actor, there was no one moment. I did a little bit of auditioning in Los Angeles. I had a BA in screenwriting and did a year of acting in that programme. Then I came back and saw the kind of movies that are being made in India. Things are really evolving; we have an audience that's ready for alternative films so I kind of saw myself being able to do the kind of films that I believe in.

Does that count you out of traditonal box office successes?
I think anything that becomes a box office success then ceases to be traditional. As soon as something connects with people it starts redefining things. Then people start trying to replicate that. Mirzya's narrative is extremely different, it might be a little jarring at first, but once it kind of seeps in it's incredible - it's so new and that's what is so exciting about it. Maybe if people take to that you'll see it in a lot more films. Trends change.
 
SAIYAMI KHER
Your thoughts on love post Mirzya.
This has been a three-year journey and because of the age I'm in it's kind of helped me understand the little things about this very complex emotion, but I do know that there is no ending in love. This is what I've gotten out of this film. It definitely is eternal and the fact that you hurt people you love the most - all these discoveries have happened through the film.

How did you feel playing the iconic character of Sahiban?
I didn't feel the pressure but definitely a lot of excitement. It's apparently the first time in the Hindi film industry that the female debutante has a double role. So that for me was very exciting - very rarely does one get a chance to play two characters - Mehra has actually made two films in one film.

Would you choose the contemporary or the timeless character from the film?
I agree with Harsh because visually I couldn't have imagined looking the way I did - thanks to the hair and make-up team! What also stood out for me a lot was the purity in love that Sahiban has. Having said that I found the contemporary character way more challenging, because the turmoil she goes through is of a very high degree.
(enid@khaleejtimes.com)