Shoojit Sircar on choosing the lead of October: 'I did not cast him as Varun Dhawan. For me, it's his debut film'

There is a reason Delhi is a recurring character in Shoojit Sircar’s films. Having spent almost two decades there, the Kolkata-born director-producer, who now calls Mumbai home, has a deep affection for the capital city. Just like with his earlier films, Vicky Donor, Piku and Pink, he has captured another element of Delhi and made it an intrinsic part of his latest film October . [caption id=“attachment_4425265” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Varun Dhawan and Shoojit Sircar on the sets of October[/caption] A football player, a theatre man, Sircar believes strongly in the importance of teamwork. He has followed that tenet through in his filmmaking too. Take a look at his filmography and you notice an enduring collaboration with writer Juhi Chaturvedi, producer Ronnie Lahiri and the repetition of certain crew members and actors, such as Amitabh Bachchan and Dolly Ahluwalia. Sitting in his Mumbai office on a muggy April afternoon, Sircar talks about the significance of October, the collaborative process and working with Varun Dhawan. You have said that the idea of ‘October’ came from your own real life experience. What does the title signify and what is it supposed to evoke? Yes. The story has been with me since 2004. I would say it’s not a love story but a story about love. The film does not unfold in October exactly but of course, the month has relevance to the film. Juhi characterised the season in the story of love. The season is also part of the engagement between these two characters. The film should evoke simple, true human behaviour. No heavy stuff. It’s about the simple things that make you feel lovable or are a demonstration of love. The film should steer your mind to think of all relationships. Love means love. What made you cast comic, action and dancing hero Varun Dhawan in a seemingly simple and quiet film? Firstly, he is not Varun Dhawan in my film. I didn’t cast him as Varun. For me, it’s his debut film. I have not seen any of his films. I have only seen glimpses and clips. Our planets are like north pole and south pole. In fact I was finalising a fresh cast when Varun came to see me and I saw my character of Dan in him. I saw an innocence in him, and I saw that he is not a “bad Bandra boy”, you know the type who knows everything but he’s a little clumsy and I was looking for that. I think he had a hunger to work with me and he submitted to the process from day one. When he started working on the film, he realised he had jumped into a different world that was far away from anything he was accustomed to. And he adapted very well. He had to unlearn a lot of things and he was ready to do so, which is why I am saying it’s his debut. [caption id=“attachment_4419345” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Varun Dhawan in October/Image from Twitter.[/caption] Does having a star headlining the cast help to make the film more commercially viable? I am fearless and do not feel any market pressure. That is how films should be made. Mainstream is evaluated based on box office. Box office cannot decide whether a film is commercial or art house. People have described Piku and Vicky Donor as unconventional but I think they are very normal and simple stories from everyday life, like October. For me, blowing up a car is unconventional. It makes me ask why are you blowing up a car? If you look at the works of Satyajit Ray or Tapan Sinha — a small incident or behaviour sets things off. Piku was about a father and daughter. There is no other story really, maybe that father is suffering from constipation. With October, we wanted to talk to 19-20 year olds who have new age fundas about unconditional love. The definition of love has gone to some other level but what is the one thing that binds any relationship? Even if you shout out ‘I love you’ like crazy, it doesn’t prove you love someone. That is what we have explored. The lensing of ‘October’ seems softer. Yes. Delhi is a character in my films. In Pink, I thought I got a dark Delhi; in Piku, the fun part of Delhi — the family; in Vicky Donor, it was old Delhi – with its rough and raw humour. In October, we thought we would show a poetic Delhi. I lived there for 20 years and I know how beautiful Delhi is. The cinematographer, Avik Mukhopadhayay, really knows modern cinema visuals. We just told him everything should be poetic and he brought poetry to the frame. What is your process like when it comes to working with your partners? Being a football player, the most important thing is a team. If 11 players coordinate well, you can score a goal. So the team is very, very important for me. I do collaborate with near and dear ones, and like-minded people who I understand and whose philosophy in life is as simple as mine. Like Ronnie, he is one of the funniest producers who does not bother about his money. Juhi is not in a hurry to write. She is very selective. Shantanu Moitra (music composer) is my college friend from Delhi. We are a very close knit team which also includes the assistant directors and actors. The process makes me feel more comfortable. Everyone is endeavouring to create without inhibition and pressure. Do you believe it is important for actors to be cinema literate?  Yes. It is very important. Moreover, an overall understanding of language, politics, people is needed otherwise how can an actor be in that world if he/she is not aware of it? Kids these days have not seen the brilliance of Tapan Sinha, Sai Paranjpye, Utpal Dutt, Satyajit Ray, Hrishikesh Mukherjee. I ask actors if they have watched Ray. If you have not watched Ray then you have not watched anything. I made Varun and Bandita Sandhu watch Ray, some Iranian cinema and last year’s Oscar films. My workshop for this film was not on the script. It was purely spiritual. I made them meditate. I taught them breathing exercises. When I asked him about his day, Varun said the first thing he does in the morning is to look at his phone. I said not on my film. I told him to stare at a plant for 10 minutes every morning. I gave them classical, meditation and zen music to listen to. Music also teaches you and takes out an emotion from you. The actors asked me what does this have to do with the film? I said don’t worry about it, just feel it. With so many remakes and remixes around, do you think that we are in a creative drought? I don’t know. It’s difficult to answer this. I have seen a couple of Marathi films and some South Indian films which were very good. I really liked Sairat, Masaan and Thithi, for instance. Piku was original. I don’t think there’s a dearth of ideas. India is so diverse and we have such a wealth of literature. When film students, aspiring assistant directors and writers ask me what process they should be, I tell them pack a bag, take very little money, travel around India and you will come back with thousands of stories. (Also read — October: Varun Dhawan, Banita Sandhu-starrer set for world premier in Dubai, two days before global release)