'You Can Never Say Never': Reema Kagti On Sequels And Trends In Indian Cinema

Reema Kagti opens up in an exclusive chat about her creative vision, inspirations and the future of Indian cinema. With successful projects like Dahaad, Superboys of Malegaon and more, Kagti is undoubtedly a bold storyteller, screenwriter and director. In this interview, she shares her thoughts on filmmaking and teases potential sequels to her beloved films Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Dil Dhadakne Do.

One year of Superboys of Malegaon . How does it feel and what have been the learnings ever since?

It's been one year of the Toronto screening. The response has been tremendous. Learnings have been many. The world is changing – there is so much competition from different screens and now there is AI so I'm trying to grapple with that stuff and see how I can best equip myself for the future.

From Mira Nair and Kiran Rao to Guneet Monga and Kartiki Gonsalves, women have been at the forefront of taking Indian cinema to the world, with recent wins by Payal Kapadia at Cannes and Anupama Roy at Venice. With the global acclaim Superboys of Malegaon has received, do you see it positioning itself as one of India's strongest Oscar contenders?

No filmmaker wouldn't aspire to that! But having said that I always felt that winning an Oscar for a foreign film category is like winning a lottery so I hope to win that lottery. But I don't know if it's going to strengthen or weaken my belief in my film. That still remains.

Fans are eagerly waiting to know about Dahaad 2 and we hear it's in the making. Is it true? Are you producing it? Will it be the same cast?

Dahaad 2 will be the same cast but another criminal case. Through the serial killer, we will explore Indian society.

Will Sonakshi Sinha be part of the show?

I really hope so.

Regarding your recent project, In Transit, how did the story come about and how do you think such stories can help in bringing about a change of mindset in the society?

The seed of In Transit actually came up when Zoya and I were researching for Made in Heaven 2. We were researching for Trinetra's character. We spoke to a lot of people. We spoke to some wonderful people who were very brave, went through all kinds of challenges. Then Zoya said,“this is a series in itself.” We decided that a documentary would be better where real people will talk about lived experiences. This couldn't be matched with fiction and will be far more effective. Then we got Ayesha Sood who eventually put it together and directed it wonderfully.

The movies you make are relatable, relevant and rooted in culture. What draws you to different genres and what's the creative process like?

It usually comes with a germ of an idea. Something inspires or some real-life incident. Most of the time, my thoughts are rooted in Indian culture. I am inspired by the world around me. Newspapers, people, trends of the country – it's 50 per cent news, 50 per cent lived experience.

You have a good bonding with Zoya - you both make a great team. What are some factors that click for the both of you as story tellers?

Writing can be a very lonely process. Zoya and I started as assistant directors and we started talking about writing together. We have written few scenes in each other's films - Zoya has written few scenes in Honeymoon Travels and I have written some scenes for Luck by Chance. Then we realised we had good partnership and we helped each other put our thoughts to paper and decipher what we wanted to do, which is the most difficult part of filmmaking - to bring an idea down to paper.

To have a partner-in-crime is good. We do have similarities but at the same time we are two completely different people so what we bring to the table is very different. Our differences are as much a part of a successful partnership as our similarities. If two people are exact carbon copies then what's the point? Ours is a great combination that fuels the partnership. When I look around me there are director friends who are struggling to write things alone and at that moment we always say to each other:“Thank god I found you to write.” It totally makes things easier.

With multiple platforms, including OTT, Friday releases are becoming a thing of the past. How can the industry bounce back?

We've had a pretty good year actually. We have had a blockbuster hit which is a love story breaking record of several films in the past. So theatres are not dying. Filmmakers need to come up with subjects that people will engage in the theatre. Also, things are cyclical. Friday release has more meaning on OTT but has all the more meaning when a film is releasing in theatre. Fact is that people's viewing behaviour has changed. When I was growing up, people could only go to theatre to watch a movie. Then came TV, then came video. There are so many competing screens and we will need the dust to settle. But I also believe that watching a movie in a theatre – nothing beats that. It's a time-tested thing that human beings have been enjoying.

With so much content overload, Will OTT saturate ever?

OTT, across the board, initially were trying to compete with feature films. They were going for scale and now these many years later, when evaluations and checks and balances are being looked at; they're seeing that instead of trying to emulate feature films they should be doing more TV + shows, one step higher than TV. Then eventually people also will go back to theatre to watch films.

Tell us about your upcoming projects the audience can look forward to?

We have Dahaad 2 and Turtle Walker - a documentary about a man who walked the western coast of India and saved the turtles. Zoya and I are currently writing feature film scripts and we are developing a bunch of films for other directors to produce.

Aren't you looking at sequels for iconic movies like Dil Dhadakne Do and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara ?

I can't let it out but maybe. You can never say never!

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