Q:
Tell me about your new film.
A: "It's A Wonderful Afterlife" takes me back to
the "Bend It Like Beckham" territory. Sanjeev Bhaskar
and Shaheen Khan are there. I've actors from "...Beckham"
back in my new film. It takes me back to my Punjabi roots, very
West London. What would be an interesting challenge for my leading
lady Shabana Azmi is that for the first time she plays British
Indian. Shabana will be playing an Indian woman who has been
living in Britain for the last 45 years. She's never done that
before. Besides, I've a completely different take on being British
Indian from what Indians perceive. My film is going to be the
quintessential British comedy.
When Shabana read the script, she began to get the cultural
connotations. For the first time I'm partnering up with Indian
production companies - The Indian Film Company and TV18. I'm
very excited about that.
Q: I believe you wanted to work with Shabana for a long time?
A: Who wouldn't want to? Earlier I never had a script that
would challenge her enough. Here she not only gets to do a role
that's totally different to what she has done so far, but also
do comedy, and a British comedy at that. It's not an easy thing
to do. What she would find specially interesting is to work
with a cast of British and Indian actors.
Q: How was your last film "Angus, Thongs & Perfect
Snogging" received?
A: It was a very very English film. It came out in England
with "Mama Mia", which was massive. It affected every
movie that came out last summer. We did spectacular business
in the matinee shows. But because of "Mama Mia", we
weren't able to expand into the evening shows. The film comes
out in May 2009 in the US. In America, April-May is like a Diwali
release in India. Paramount is releasing it in the US. The young
lead Georgia Groome will become the British version of Jodie
Foster. I like introducing new talent. I'm introducing a new
girl in my new film "It's A Wonderful Afterlife".
Q: What happened to Parminder Nagra after your "Bend It
Like Beckham"?
A: She signed up for five years for the American soap "ER".
That's quite an accomplishment for her. She's quite a household
face in the US. She chose to do television. In the West, it's
still not easy for Asian actors to get a big break. No, I won't
say it's easy for them to break into Hollywood.
Q: Do you think the actors from "Slumdog Millionaire"
will benefit from its success?
A: That's a difficult question to answer. The good thing about
this movie was that it was a movie with no big budget or Hollywood
stars, and no American content so to speak, winning all these
Oscars. It's like someone in America making a film in Boston
and winning all the Filmfare awards. I'd say it's wonderful
for A.R. Rahman and the grace with which he has accepted all
the accolades was heart-warming. He's an asset to India.
Q: How much do you think the "Slumdog..." factor
matters to your cinema?
A: I don't think it matters much to what I do. Though I don't
doubt more Indian subjects will be green-lighted in the West.
That's not necessarily a good thing. I wouldn't have made 'Slumdog
Millionaire' the way Danny Boyle made if it was offered to me.
That doesn't mean Danny Boyle hasn't made a film from his heart.
For me, what I'm doing in "It's A Wonderful Afterlife"
is what I'm comfortable with. For a while something vital was
missing from the script. I realised it was the Gurinder Chadha
factor. I'm making comedy but the human essence was missing.
I got down to it, left my kids to the nanny and got in front
of the computer. Now I'm ready.
Q: Do you share a unique personal rapport with Karan Johar?
A: Yes, in fact I sent the script for "Angus Thongs &
Perfect Snogging" to Karan in New York. He thought I had
gone mad. After reading it he said his hormones refuse to go
back to normal. He said he'd love to see a remake of the film
situated in Chandigarh.
BOLLYWOOD 
