On Republic Day, Sam Bahadur, the biopic starring Vicky Kaushal as Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, marched on to the OTT field, on Zee5. Director Meghna Gulzar spoke to t2 on the occasion about her reaction to the film’s box-office collection, the success of Animal that launched on the same day and her mother, the venerable Rakhee.

Your mother is in Calcutta now...

I want her back soon (laughs). She is happy to be working. She liked the story (Amar Boss) and spoke highly of the directors (Nandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee).

Pictures came out of her eating phuchka at the Maidan recently. Does that worry you as to whether she is indulging herself at the cost of her diet at her age?

Not at all. She is much stronger than that. She can handle phuchka in Calcutta (smiles).

Sam Bahadur released on Republic Day on Zee5.

Yes. It is very gratifying. Many people have told me they wanted to see the film again.

Of all the feedback you have got, does any comment from any individual stand out?

My son Samay telling me how much he loved the film is the most precious to me. It’s the first time he has seen a film of mine in a theatre. He will be 14 soon. He was too young to see my earlier films. He had four of his friends with him. They also loved it. That a historical and biographical film from a time they are not aware of has managed to engage them makes me very happy.

There was a gap of three years between Chhapaak and Sam Bahadur. How long do you expect the gap to be before your next project?

The pandemic was not a gap as we were doing a lot of prep for Sam Bahadur. Our research with military historians was happening virtually around that time. So we used that time well. I am taking some time to wean off Sam Bahadur as it has been a part of my life for seven years and it was quite an intense filmmaking journey. I need to reconnect with myself and my family and need time to recoup before I get going again.

Meghna Gulzar with Vicky Kaushal on the sets of Sam Bahadur

You had posted a video on Instagram in which you spoke of a photo of Field Marshal Manekshaw standing amid tall grass in a field and bending to talk to a Gorkha jawan that you had as a screensaver on your laptop for four-five years. Is it still there?

Yes, it’s still there. Only now it’s the film still of the moment as we captured it with Vicky (smiles).

Your last few films have all been intense ones, be it Chhapaak or Raazi. You must have been drawn into those films as well.

They all take time to wean off. You are so intensely involved in that world! Especially for me, as I am involved from the writing stage to the post-production, whether it's sound or editing. I don’t do anything else. It's not like once the shoot is done, I go off to prep for another project. I stay with the film till the copy is ready. Mentally also, you want to be re-energised so that you do not get repetitive with your craft and get the breathing space to evolve. It is important to give time to yourself and also to your family. For me, that is most important.

Are you satisfied with the theatrical reception of Sam Bahadur?

I am grateful for the love and appreciation it has got. Of course, I would have welcomed it if it had got more but I am not disappointed.

Animal was also released on the same day, with the kind of content that has drawn widespread criticism. When you posted on the 18th day of release that Sam Bahadur had reached Rs 100 crore at the box office, Animal had crossed Rs 800 crore. Was that cause for frustration?

Not really, as even at that point the film had crossed the numbers that were being predicted for Sam Bahadur. I have — we all have — tried not to let any kind of negativity affect us. This conversation (the comparison) was all in the industry, the trade, the press... We as a team did not have this conversation.

Will the success of Animal, as an indicator of public preference, affect your choice for your next film?

Honestly, I have not seen this film (Animal), so I do not have my own opinion yet. Having said that, everyone is entitled to one's opinion, irrespective of whether others are for or against it. I cannot make a call or a judgment on another creator's perspective when they are creating something. All I need to focus on is what my intent is. As long as I am honest about that, I don’t have to have either a say or an opinion on what anybody else is doing.

There is a trend in the film industry that when a film does very well, three other makers start planning projects along similar lines.

A scene from Sam Bahadur

It is doing well because people are consuming it. Why is the balance of the blame only on the creator? There is as much responsibility for those who are watching it. That is actually what Javed saab (Akhtar) said. Five people could create a song (Choli ke peechhe in Khalnayak) but five lakh people made it popular. That is what we need to think about — what is their mindset, their social conditioning, why are they consuming it the way they are… that is what one needs to focus on as well.

But your choice will not be dictated by the box-office success of other films?

I have never made a film that aligned with the current trend of the time. It’s not as if I set out to be a path-breaker. It happened by coincidence. It has always been like that. I don’t plan and plot the story I want to tell. It's an instinctive decision. A story connects with me and I think people should know about it. I make it.

You started with a relationship (Filhaal) and followed it up with a romance (Just Married). But Talvar, Raazi and Chhapaak had hard-hitting subjects. Will you be looking to do something completely different now?

Like I said, it will be an instinctive decision. It could be a horror, comedy, true life, romance... The story needs to connect with me. Genre does not play a part. It is stifling to your craft to put such parameters on it.

Coming back to Sam Bahadur, did Vicky grow the handlebar moustache of Manekshaw?

He couldn’t grow it as there were seven different times that we needed in the film. Sometimes we were shooting three different decades in a week. So he needed to be clean-shaven to put on the moustaches for those looks.

Where are they now?

They are there in our production material but I am going to dig them out soon as I want to preserve them for posterity (laughs).

Did the film do better in some sectors than others or was the response similar all across?

It was extremely strong in metros, especially in Bombay, Pune and Bangalore. Everyone in the (armed) forces and with relatives in the forces loved it, judging from the messages I received. That is very gratifying.

Sam Bahadur is launching on OTT within six weeks of its theatrical release. Given that the gap between the two launches is lessening, does that make you worried that some viewers might get lazy about going to the theatres knowing it will be available for home viewing soon?

If a person is of that bent of mind, it does not matter to him whether the gap is six, eight or 12 weeks. He will still wait to see it on OTT. That’s one kind of audience. Raazi had an eight-week gap. Another kind wants to experience it on the big screen even if they watch it say, at the second weekend. A third kind is the compulsive film viewer who wants to see it on the first day of release.

Our viewers are extremely varied, just like our country. That’s why all kinds of films work. We don’t make one kind of film in terms of content, genre and narrative. I believe a film's launch on a streaming platform is not the end of a film’s life. It is a new lifecycle that a film gets, where it will remain for posterity.

You had written your father's (Gulzar) biography in 2004. Will you write one for your mother?

She doesn’t want to. If she wants, I would be honoured to write it.