New normal’ is a phrase that’s now definitely getting our goat. But what do you do when the new normal refuses to get old or even go away? You try and innovate within its limited framework. The team of Sardar Ka Grandson did exactly that at the trailer launch of the film — that’s all set to stream on Netflix from May 18 — on Wednesday.

The focus of the film being on family and relationships, in which a young man (played by Arjun Kapoor) promises his grandmother (played by Neena Gupta) that he will take her back for one last look at her ancestral home in Lahore, the trailer launch — which was carried out one-on-one with select media — began with almost every member of the cast and crew — including Arjun Kapoor, Rakul Preet Singh, Neena Gupta, John Abraham, Aditi Rao Hydari, producer Nikkhil Advani and director Kaashvie Nair — digging deep into their childhood and coming up with an ‘album of memories’.

Post the screening of the trailer (that successfully melds comedy with heavy emotions and touches upon themes of displacement and roots), The Telegraph chatted with Arjun and Kaashvie on their film, the importance of family and their tantrums as kids!

Kaashvie, we have all grown up hearing stories about Partition and the subsequent displacement it brought on. Was there a specific incident that made you want to make this film?

Kaashvie Nair: When I started thinking about the idea, it was the 70th year of independence. I watched this documentary of this man from India who went back to Lahore to see his old house. That emotion really struck a chord with me and I kept reading up about Partition stories. The one thing that really resonates with all these stories is just that feeling of wanting to go back. That one-line idea gave rise to a plot organically and we had a film.

Arjun, how much of the grandson-grandmother relationship in the film reflects the relationship that you have shared with your grandparents?

Arjun Kapoor: The reason I did this film is those relationships that mean so much to me. I grew up in a joint family, so between my dadi-dada and my nani-nana, I was a pretty spoilt child! (Laughs) I was very lucky to get the unconditional love of all my grandparents for the first 25 years of my life, till I lost my dada and then my nana just before that. For me, Sardar (Neena Gupta) is exactly how my nani (Sattee Shourie, film producer) was. She was a very feisty woman. Till the day she died, when she was on her hospital bed, she was talking to me about all the work that needs to be done... she used to handle my finances. She was also known as a ferocious woman in the trade (smiles).

I met my dadi (Nirmal Kapoor) before I came here to Goa for my shoot and her first lines were, ‘Bhul gaya tu mujhe... yaad nahin aati meri... abhi zinda hoon main!’ (Laughs) Sardar is a melodramatic ‘gangster’, like how my dadi is, and she’s also that feisty woman that you will see during various instances in the film like my nani was. It’s an amalgamation of both my grandmothers.

Also, I have heard these stories all my life. My great-grandfather came here (from Pakistan) when Prithviraj Kapoor came and Dilip (Kumar) saab and his family came, when Shah Rukh (Khan) sir’s father came this side. I have heard these conversations about displacement and I have felt a quiver in their voices at that one last wish of going back home. So when the film was offered to me, the decision to do it was very internal and personal.

On a lighter note, were there any tantrums or demands that you made of your grandparents that your parents otherwise wouldn’t allow?

Arjun: Every day, every day! Growing up, my nana-nani used to stay in Maker Tower in Cuffe Parade (in Mumbai). There was a field out there which had horse-riding and I was obsessed with horses! I used to insist on going horse-riding, which my nana used to take me for. Then I would insist on going to Asiatic and buying a toy which I would also get. Then I would insist on going to Gaylord and having pineapple pastry and chicken puff. I would eat bhutta in the evening. I had a routine set every Sunday, and it used to be fulfilled, no matter what.

And I would stay with my dadi-dada. So the dinner menu every day would be decided by my dada and me. So whatever was on the table — chicken, dal, sabji — would be what we like. And Sanjay (Kapoor, Arjun’s uncle) would always be irritated by why does the pota (grandson) get to decide what we eat?! (Laughs) So I was always that pampered child. Even when I went to meet my dadi now, I told her I am on a diet, but she didn’t listen... she still made an entire spread! Pampering never stops.

Rakul Preet Singh in a moment from the film Sourced by the correspondent

In times like these, how important has family become for you?

Kaashvie: Family is everything right now. People who have lived away from their families all these years now recognise how important family is. A lot of us take our families for granted and I hope this film puts that into perspective.

Arjun: I am filming in Goa, but my mind is actually back home in Mumbai because I constantly keep worrying about whether my sister (Anshula) is okay, my grandmother is old, my father (Boney Kapoor) is on his own right now because Janhvi is with Khushi abroad. I think of Anil chachu, my maasi, Max my dog... I think of my friends who are also family to me.

I am a very emotional person in times like these, but even in the past, I have gone to an extreme extent for my family and friends. You only realise what your family means to you when somebody suffers something or when you lose someone.

Today, the bond I share with my father — after what’s happened between us over all these years — is because he’s family, he’s my father. We have had our ups and downs and our shares of highs and lows... he’s dealt with so much, I have dealt with so much.... But that bond, touch wood, is better than ever, despite the personal losses that we both have faced. We have depended on each other, time and again, brought together by circumstances.

My mother (Mona Kapoor) brought me up with that understanding of responsibility. I have always been a mature person and my default setting is that of being responsible (smiles). Main set pe bhi hota hoon toh mujhe responsibility ki yaad aati hain. My set is my family and I really value people. And that’s also why I wanted to do this film.