Jasmeet Ke Rein as producer has managed to put together a dream cast for her debut feature film Darlings with Shah Rukh Khan and Alia Bhatt. Alia also headlined the film, which was released on the streaming giant like Netflix. Darlings, post its release on OTT, has been garnering immense critical acclaim and appreciation from the audience. For a debutant director, it is nothing less than a miracle.
The world television premiere of Darlings is now set to air on Zee Cinema on 29th January at 12 noon. Jasmeet is looking forward to see how the TV audience reacts to the film now. In an exclusive chat with News18, she elaborated on how she managed to put together the film and its team, especially Shah Rukh Khan’s reaction when she narrated the script to him. Excerpts:
After the success on OTT, are you excited to find new audiences through television premieres?
I am curious to know how the television audience will perceive it. That’s why I’m so excited. Everyone sees your film differently – some feel it’s a comic thriller, some feel it’s a story of a mother-daughter relationship, some feel it’s a story of a toxic marriage . Although in the film it is all part of a larger story, each unfolds in a different way.
How has the success of Darlings changed things for you?
That is my life. I’m back to writing. When you make your first film, it is important that your voice connects with people. Now that we have received so much love, it motivates me to do better, and write something that can engage and entertain the audience in the same way.
How did you manage to get Red Chillies and Alia Bhatt to make their feature film debut, and release it on a major platform like Netflix?
I took the script to Red Chillies, they liked it, I narrated it to Shah sir. They liked it, and then we took it to Alia, she instinctively liked it as an actor and then she wanted to produce it. Once that happened, it was a dream cast for me. After Alia came on board, we started casting the rest of the cast. Credit goes to Alia and Shah sir, they let me cast people I wanted and respected. Along with Vijay Varma, Shefali Shah and Roshan Mathew, he is a wonderful actor. When we approached Shefali, I was meeting her for the first time. We had a long conversation and I thought he was Shamsu. Vijay was an intriguing character, I wanted him to look different from Gully Boy. It was a brave choice for him. We then cast Roshan. I met him on zoom, it was a bit weird because the pandemic had arrived.
It’s an intriguing genre, a dark comedy, and you need actors who are on the same page. And that’s your job as a director as well. I do a lot of character work. I love complex characters, it excites me. But the credit goes to the directors for giving me this cast. I’m really screwed.
When you narrated the story to Shah Rukh Khan, what was his reaction?
I think he liked it, so he decided to return the film. Meeting Shah sir is always a learning experience. You will learn about film, art or life. Because he has so much to give. When he heard the script, he had some really good suggestions. We worked on them and then we took it to Alia. He only strengthened our vision. Whatever we needed, he supported us.
What kind of reaction and response did you get from the audience regarding the humor and twist in the script?
It was a talented group of actors, but the way they approached it, it was very real. Which was necessary to connect people to the film. When Zulfi says, ‘Mujhe toh khal pyara lagta hai’, I told Roshan that Zulfi never in his life thought he would tell Shamshu that he liked him. He was thrown into the situation, he just bled it out of sheer fear. So, we all knew that the actors just had to speak the line, comedy would come out of the situation. Mother-daughter are mostly speaking in fear and tension.
When it became such a huge success on OTT, did you wish you would have released it in theatres?
As a filmmaker, you want as many people as possible to watch the film. This is what we have already deduced from Darlings. And now that it’s coming on Zee Cinema, it’s a world television premiere, so obviously, more people are going to watch it. A lot of people said that, I think it’s a compliment. I just made the film as a story that I wanted to tell, then it is the makers’ decision how they want to release it. And we have received so much love, I am just grateful for that.
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