The students at Whistling Woods International were thrilled to have a master class with Sudhir Mishra, renowned director, scriptwriter and well known for his critically acclaimed movies like ‘Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi’, ‘Khoya Khoya Chand’ and his latest, ‘Yeh Saali Zindagi’. He not only spoke about his experiences, but, also answered the student queries.
Sudhir started the master class by quoting one of Steven Spielberg’s famous lines, “If I don’t get nervous every time I walk to my set, I might as well quit film making.” He explained that every time he looked back at films; he saw an unexpected factor to it.
When asked about how conscious he is in structuring his movies, he replied that he often rewrites his scripts and there are a lot of changes during the editing of the film as well. He fondly remembers Ms.Renu Saluja as one of his best editors.
On being asked about his perception on his own movies, he commented, “People who did not like the movie ‘Khoya Khoya Chand’, I assume, are dumb. Soha Ali Khan was not playing Meena Kumari. I wanted to project the Bollywood of the 50’s. I was breaking the stereo types.”
In the Q&A session with the students, he spoke about his journey as a film maker which began at the tender age of four. From watching a Dara Singh movie, to the movies of the Lucknowi Film Society, he fondly remembers every experience and he credits those movies for his foresight. He advised the students of Whistling Woods International that they must have a workshop with Irrfan Khan, since he is one of the finest actors in Bollywood today.
He talked about the funding of his films and how marketing movies has become very expensive. When asked about distribution, he said, “If you insist on doing what you want, it’s never easy.”
At the end of the session, Sudhir Mishra’s parting advice to the students of Whistling Woods International was, “When you’re acting, be yourself and do not be a mimic. You become different from others when you play yourself. You have to make films which are more imaginative. It’s about the scriptand the idea.”
Sudhir Mishra signed off by saying, “Maintain your creative innocence while making a film.”
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