Eternally confused and looking forward to the premiere of Love, director Rahul Nair and co-producers Farhan Akhtar, Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar tell us about Mumbai’s dating scene and the mind of the 24-year-old.
Ahead of forever confused and longing for loveAt the premiere, director Rahul Nair and co-producers Farhan Akhtar, Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar take us into the Mumbai dating scene and the mind of a 24-year-old.
The best love stories on film are usually self-aware, sometimes even radical – whether it’s Richard Linklater First Trilogy or threadbare romantic drama of François Truffaut and Raj Kapoor. Netflix’s new romantic drama, Forever confused and yearning for love, Helmed by writer-director Rahul Nair, is expected to achieve a similar position. The story follows the many tribulations of 24-year-old Ray, portrayed by Vihaan Samat, as he messes up, learns, learns and messes up again.
Farhan Akhtar, one of the series’ backers, along with sister Zoya Akhtar and director Reema Kagti, says he can relate to “once in my life”. He explored it in the character of Saif Ali Khan in his 2001 directorial debut, heart wants, Saif’s character [Sameer] He was also a man who wants a lot, but is constantly doubting what he really wants, whether he is making the right decisions … [grappling with] Insecurity whether he will actually be accepted. But they are part of the growing pains, I guess,” he adds.
Nair elaborated on the subject, saying that he also wanted to showcase the urban dating scene in Mumbai, which has not been explored enough. They say we need our own equivalent of American sitcoms that dramatize the clumsiness of the dating world. “Ray is not necessarily the most confident person and I wanted to know how he was. Also, except people sitting on this stage, people are a lot more awkward,” Nair said with actors Jim Sarbh, Farhan, Zoya and Kagti. jokingly referring to those who are part of the conversation.
no mind games here
The idea of an awkward, introverted man traversing the labyrinthine alleys of dating is nothing new. But Nair tries to add some humor and freshness to it by highlighting what is going on in the protagonist’s mind. He gives a constant, hoarse voice in the head of Ray, who has his own character – Viz, voiced by Sarabh. “I have met people who are arrogant and insecure at the same time; It’s bizarre,” Sarbh said, as I wondered whether he found resonance in Viz’s character with his own inner chaos. Too much, he says. ,[Wiz represents] We all have that chaos inside us – inappropriate jokes you don’t say, or inappropriate jokes you say and the inner voice that keeps telling you ‘don’t do it, don’t’.
Incidentally, the ‘relationship’ between Ray and Viz is Zoya’s favorite bit, which she describes as a love story in itself. She laughs, “I love coming-of-age stories and there’s a ‘coming of age’ in everything I do.” “The show is an extension of that same idea: How does that internal dialogue work and how do you become your own friend? I reacted the most to that relationship.”
She recalls a scene where Ray’s character gets cold feet when she learns that her date is ‘fat’, only to be reprimanded by Viz when he struggled with self-esteem issues throughout his life. So it’s ironic to be so superficial. , “So, Rahul” [Nair] Did a good job of channeling our inner insecurities and then bringing it back to the ground. ,
a different love language
For a show that gives us a ringside view into an introvert’s mind, the female characters are refreshingly not cardboard figures. Kagti says that Nair has “managed to write women really well”, which is a pleasant departure from fiction oriented to the male gaze, and is in service to her. “Usually in movies and shows, female characters lose their identity and start doing what the male character needs to do,” she says. “It’s not compatible [to the female experience],
Yes to ‘Self-Aware’
How commercially viable is it to flag off self-aware shows that side with new sensibilities but don’t always cater to a large crowd? Farhan says that he does not see them as experiments. “It’s all about instinct. You read 50 scripts a day and maybe a story gets clicked. Also, we see a lot of stories about women having trouble with boys, but always we get a man’s. The point of view doesn’t match. The amount of conversation that goes on in our minds – should that, should that, shouldn’t I – I rarely see it in my shows and movies.”
Kagti and Zoya in Amazon Prime Video series made in heaven, we are shown a range of female characters – flawed, overly ambitious and yet individualistic. Similarly, Alankrita Srivastava’s Netflix series Dolly Kitty and those shining stars He didn’t shy away from advocating the case that women’s aspirations could indeed be front and center in popular cinema.
Kagti’s debut film, 2007 hit Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.., also had subplots that explored the many faces of love, different age groups and sexualities, and the far from ideal conclusions many love stories usually grapple with. “A space like this isn’t enough in movies and when it does, it’s usually toxic. The idea that you can be a self-confident and even a good-looking person, and yet you have There’s a lot of baggage, it’s a reality that this show beautifully presents,” she concluded.
forever confused and longing for love Streams on Netflix from March 18.