EXCLUSIVE - Shoojit Sircar: I think October is Varun Dhawan's debut film

It's October in April this year as Shoojit Sircar's film is slated to release this month on April 13, 2018. The film stars Varun Dhawan and debutante Banita Sandhu in the lead roles. The film is touted as a story of love and people are excited to see this unique combination of Shoojit and Varun.

We got a chance to interact with the talented filmmaker where he revealed it all. From casting Varun to the importance of the music to the storyline, Shoojit spoke at length about everything.

Excerpts...

October is not a love story but a story of love; how different are both the concepts?

It is quite different. If you don't want to find a difference, you really can't find one. If you really want to find a difference you will see it with a lot of things we do, lot of actions we do for each other. It's not just for love, it's for anybody actually. The stories that I have told are unusual, taken from real life. This is also a real-life influence, a story from my life. Also, a bit from Juhi's perspective. Love is not just limited to a boy and a girl, it is much beyond that. It can happen to anybody, it's just how pure you are. It shows how innocent and unbiased you are. We have spoken about unconditional. What is unconditional? So, I have explored those. I am not an expert, I have tried with my experience to tell you a story which touches upon these aspects.

When did the idea of October come to your mind?

This came after 2004 after something in my life which I can't talk about now. I can talk once the movie is released. Since then it was there with me. I kept it with me...then thinking and working. Then I got into a film named Shoebite with Amitabh Bachchan then which didn't release. While doing Piku, we started working on this idea, when I narrated my incident also and some of Juhi's personal experiences also came in. Then for a long time, we were wanting to make a love story. We didn't want to make a regular love story. Juhi's writing has got an unusual way of looking at life. Her charm and the way she takes up things from the absolute real life have totally evolved. Especially in this film, what she has given is a poetry in her writing. That's how this gem came out. Since Piku, we started working and I did my first casting of Banita which happened before Pink during its post-production. We wanted to shoot this film in 2016 itself, but Pink happened, that's why we couldn't. Also, I was not getting the artist. This film was supposed to release before Pink with debut artists. Then Pink was supposed to release, that was the plan. As we didn't get our artists, we kept on postponing it. 

Could you explain the casting process?

Varun was not the first choice. Like I said, first I go for fresh casting as I am comfortable working with them. Nonetheless, to say, I think it's Varun's debut film in the kind of films. I always told him 'Yeh Tera debut film hoga.' The entire January 2016, we kept talking after Piku. He wanted to meet, but we weren't able to. He was busy with his films. He had Badrinath Ki Dulhania and other projects. I had started my casting process. I never thought he will work in the film that I work in, so we never met. Then, in September or October 2016, we met, one day he just came to my office. I was leaving so I told him to come the way he was. And he came that way when I saw him, I felt he is a lovely boy and looking like a 21-year-old. He was talking and was having tea; I kept looking at him. I just saw my character there. I was not looking at Varun at all, I was hunting for my character. And then Dan just happened. 

Banita happened much before. Varun was the last to be cast in. Banita did commercials and that's how I saw her. As soon as I saw her, I could see my character. Her eyes, the way she looks, the way she behaves, she is a very intelligent girl. Her casting happened!

You are known to complete the shoot of your film in a very short span of time. How challenging is it for you?

It is not at all challenging. That is the easiest part of my filmmaking process. My pre-production is most challenging, so that's where my time and energy goes. Once we have planned it is just days to shoot. For the planning and writing process, I go through for any film I touched. For this film also, we had to go through a lot of emotional moments. So, that's where the challenges are to put it together. If you have a writer like Juhi, those challenges are covered very smoothly and she brings in a huge amount of contribution. I always say the script is the backbone of any film and Juhi is outstanding. Which reminds, cinematographers, music and editors, these three departments are very key to me and they are all my friends. I only work with my friends. 

You and Juhi Chaturvedi have come a long way from Vicky Donor to October, how has the director-writer relationship evolved over the years?

We have a pure working relationship as we understand each other. She is from a small town in Lucknow and then she lived in Delhi. She understands Delhi very well. Most of the films are based out of Delhi, even October. There is a lot of integrity in her writing and why she wants to write. That connects possibly for us. For me, the commercial is the last process, it is the least actually. I really don't care about box-office results at all. Otherwise, I never thought my earlier films would have worked with the kind of concepts there was. Juhi and I both found that through those ideas, human stories can be told. This is the working relationship that we have in terms of looking at things in a very simple way which we see it every day but we overlook. Those are small nuances we have in common. 

How did you manage to break the ice between Varun and Banita, knowing that they are working for the first time together and she is a debutante?

Banita is a lovely person. The moment you meet her you will fall in love with her. Let me tell you, Varun is a 20-year-old innocent boy who is hunting and looking to find out himself which I realised later. I thought we both are a north pole-south pole. Our nothing matches, our work, I can't relate to that cinema. Anyway, cinema is the last priority for me but football is first. My sets are like a stress buster, you come and just hang around, no force to shoot or yeh scene abhi karna hai. Till then, I just leave them and give them as much comfort zone. I perform scenes also sometimes. All the scenes, I perform or even overperform. Then the actors say Please Dada aap zyaada mat karo. 

Before the first day, we had done workshops. So, I think it was quite easy and the first meeting was lovely.

Was there any time when your approach towards a sequence and Varun's approach was different?

As I said, my scripting and pre-production are so solid and it's so clear in my head and Juhi's head also, so there's no scope for that. We have lived the script for two years. But improvisation did come along. Wherever we had to stop we stopped, wherever we felt that this is not part of the film, we definitely disagreed. Varun is cool and he completely surrendered. That's what an actor should do. 

How important is the music to the storyline of October?

It is another most absolutely important of the film because it drives and pushes the emotions. Shantanu (Moitra) and I go long way, we are college friends. From my first film till here, we have kept working. If you have seen the tracks, it has garnered so much of attention. In my film, music is only background score. This film will have pure background score and it will stay with your emotions.