Imtiaz Ali UNFILTERED Interview: On SRK’s Fandom, Box Office Failures & the Ranbir-Alia Nepo Debate

0:00- Introduction
1:35 - Imtiaz: Back in the day, it was very difficult for a young kid from Jamsedhpur to convince himself that he could be a film director
1:50 - Imtiaz opens up about his journey to becoming a film director in Bollywood
4:00 - Imtiaz on how he dealt with rejections , struggles, and still decided to stay in the industry
5:50 Imtiaz reacts to people saying that he has stayed uncorrupted by the film industry
6:30 - Imtiaz tells us an anecdote about Amitabh Bachchan ‘s professionalism and dedication
7:50-Imtiaz: You should observe how successful people like Shah Rukh Khan behave with other people - with humility and love . He loves what he is doing
8:40- Imtiaz: In the film industry, rejection is always happening. You keep going because what else do you do ?
10:00- Imtiaz: I cannot imagine my films without A R Rahman’s music . If he wouldn’t have been their for ‘Rockstar’ /‘Tamasha’/‘Chamkila’ - I don’t know what those films would have turned out to be
11:15 - Imtiaz on why he keeps collaborating with Rahman and Irshad for his films
2:15- Imtiaz: Rahman and Irshad don’t inspire me in a way that is comfortable . It’s not a safe space
13:00- Imtiaz shares a story about the making of the song ‘Agar Tum Saath Ho’
14:30-Imtiaz: There is a ‘Socha Na Tha’ kind of innocence in ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga’
14:55- Imtiaz analyses the characters of his debut film ‘Socha Na Tha’
16:00- Imtiaz: Ofcourse Art can heal . It has to heal because it has no other option
17:00- Imtiaz opens up about how the video that comes at the end of his film ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga’ is very emotional and relevant
18:00- Imtiaz on why his film ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga’ is a very personal to him and based on real stories told by partition victims
18:15-Imtiaz: The victims of partition don’t want to talk about hatred but about love
21:10 - Imtiaz opens up about whether the biggest artist is the one who has endured heartbreak or pain like in ‘Rockstar’
21:20- Imtiaz: The insecurity of Ranbir’s character in ‘Rockstar’ is reflection of what I used to think as a kid. Maine toh adopted bhi nahin hu , mera toh Kuch trauma nahin hai, will I become a big artist?
24:15- Imtiaz analyses his character Ved from ‘Tamasha’
25:45- Imtiaz opens up about his organic bond that he has with Ranbir
26:15-Imtiaz: Ranbir and I like talking about other films and other people. We are like groupies - where we sit in a huddle and say very truthful things, knowing that you won’t be judged
27:15- Imtiaz: Ranbir can be Jordan, he can be Barfi and he can be Bhagwan Ram and you will feel that you are not seeing Ranbir
27:55- Imtiaz responds to people questioning Ranbir’s casting as Lord Ram
28:10- Imtiaz I am very interested to see Ranbir as a Lord Ram from a human point of view
28:50 - Imtiaz talks about fighting to cast Deepika in his films when a lot of people felt she wasn’t a good actor
29:30 - Imtiaz opens up about casting Deepika in ‘Tamasha’
30:30-Imtiaz: In my heart i knew that Deepika will never doubt me . I only put that story out so that everybody feels better about what i said
31:15 - Imtiaz explains what he meant when he said that Deepika was caught in that ‘good girl’ image
31:50- Imtiaz: Deepika has so beautifully broken that image
33:00- Imtiaz responds to people’s opinions about Alia getting opportunities easier due to nepotism
34:30- Imtiaz Ali responds to how people felt that Alia didn’t deserve to get that part in ‘Highway’ because she wasn’t ready for it as an actor
35:20- Imtiaz: Alia today is still pretty much the same person when i met her during ‘Highway’
36:40-Imtiaz responds to the problematic love-story of ‘Highhway’
39:00- Imtiaz: Even for ‘Chamkila’, who am i to judge? Do I know any better?
39:30- Imtiaz: So many characters we love are flawed - starting from Shah Rukh Khan in ‘Darr’
40:35- Imtiaz talks about casting Vedang and Sharvari in ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga’
44:25- Imtiaz: I have struggled to remain free of the trappings or the enslavement in this industry
45:00- Imtiaz Ali reacts to his box office failures like Harry Met Sejal, Love Aaj Kal 2
46:32-Imtiaz: I didn’t want to make ‘Cocktail’ because I felt like it was a little like Jab We Met. But Love Aaj Kal wasn’t
48:19- Imtiaz : ‘Tamasha’ was a very different kind of film. Was it the formula for commercial success? No. But I have learned so much
49:30- Imtiaz on dealing with the expectations of SRK’s fandom and the box office failure of Harry Met Sejal
50:30- Imtiaz: I might work with SRK again and maybe that will be a very successful film
51:25- Imtiaz: I would change the ending of ‘Tamasha’
52:00- Imtiaz on why he didn’t follow the ‘happy ending’ formula for this film
55:00 - Imtiaz on how empathised and he created a safe space for Shahid and Kareena on the sets of ‘Jab We Met’ post their breakup
58:4 - Imtiaz: Often, people in the industry feel that ‘Dhurandhar’ did very well , so let’s make films like ‘Dhurandhar,’ but you can’t

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