"Ek Vivaah...Aisa Bhi" by Rajshri Production

Interview of Director - KAUSHIK GHATAK

Transformation from serial to films?
When I came to Mumbai 1st, I came here with a drea to become a director only. I had to struggle for some time before I met Anuragji who gave me a break, he told me to assist him. He's a godfather for me. This is how I started with serials. He sent me to Balaji one day and that’s how I started directing 'Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki'.

I was quite nervous about my shift television to films. I was told television is like writing a newspaper column while film making is like writing an entire book. But thanks to all my senior technicians and Rajshri's support that the process was smooth.

How did you choose this subject?
The film that I wanted to do is something that I have believed in my life and its something that Rajshri has also believed in it was family values, morals. Its like the life that I have lived. 'Ek Vivaah… Aisa Bhi' is not just a story, its something that I have gone through, something that I have seen in life. It is story of those lanes in which I have lived and grown up. It was like the same environment that I had grown up it. Like it was a small town where there is a tulsi plant in the compound and I’ve seen my grand mother lighting an oil lamp which then my mother used to do; now my wife does it, so I was not new to it. The story was something that I was very familiar with in real life. It was a surrounding that I have grown up in. The characters in the script are the ones I have seen in real life.

Why the title Ek Vivaah… Aisa Bhi?
When we got this story, we could not think of a better title than "Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi". We wanted a title that would suit the story. We wanted a title that would justify the story. Its not a story about Vivaah but the ups and downs in life, responsibilities and how they sacrificed their love.

How was the journey from a small script developing into a full fledged film?
It was great. It's been very interesting. I mean when we 1st sat in front of Sooraj Barjatya, for the 1st two days I didn’t know what to say? But he made us very comfortable. The discussions started and slowly we started developing it, then the dialogues came - which character would say which dialogue. So slowly and steadily we got a full fledged script.

Which scene you thought was really challenging to shoot?
As a director every scene is challenging to shoot. There were many scenes like that, but there was this one particular scene where these two characters Prem and Chandini meet after a very long time and how she had to rest her head on Prem's shoulder. Her expressions had to show a kind of intensity. It was a challenging thing. Usually what happens is that the director and the cameraman and the assistants discuss all the shots, accordingly the lighting and all is done. But for this particular shot where the shoot had to start at 7 pm, we called Sonu and Eesha at 5pm. We told them to rehearse first. In this way the whole scene was completed.