I adore Aamir’s kids: Kiran

As she prepares for the release of her directorial debut, Kiran Rao talks about why she didn’t want Aamir in her film, being friends with Junaid and Aira, and how she fell in love with the DJ of ‘Rang De Basanti’.
You said your film will appeal to a niche audience. Aren’t you scared of being typecast?
“Dhobi Ghat” is an arthouse film in its narrative style. I think it’s important to be honest with the audience and not have them come in with some other kind of film in mind.I don’t feel there is anything negative about making an arthouse film. I guess it means that your audience may be smaller than a big commercial film or a comedy, but I do believe that there is an audience for arthouse cinema. If there isn’t, I’m hoping this will make one.
So you won’t be venturing into commercial cinema?
Who knows what the future holds? Never say never. If a subject comes up and I’m able to do it with the mainstream in mind, I won’t mind exploring that.
No “Dabanggs” or “Om Shanti Om”’s for you?
(Laughs) Not at the moment.
To quote you, ‘It took five years for a vague idea to become a 100-minute reality’. Do you think five years back, this movie would not have had too many takers?
Certainly! Not just five years back, maybe even today the film would not have had too many takers in terms of a producer. It’s my good fortune to be married to a producer whom I greatly admire. I was able to get his time and read him my script. Of course, if Aamir hadn’t liked it, he wouldn’t have done it and that would be the end of it. My good fortune extended also to the fact that Aamir liked it and saw potential in it to engage audiences. Challenges for the filmmaker usually lie in how you market a very small film, and get audiences to come in.
Aamir had to audition for a role in “Dhobi Ghat” and he is rumoured to have begged you to take him in the film. Why was he not your first choice?
I was planning on having an entirely fresh cast, maybe even working with non-actors... Anyone who I felt was suitable for the role and had a certain degree of ease in front of the camera. Half of my cast is that – one of my actresses is a singer, one is a costume assistant. Since that’s what I intended to do, I couldn’t think of casting a big star. Another reason is that I’ve shot in real locations, so I needed people who could just walk down the street and not get mobbed. But among the people that I was working with, I couldn’t find the right tonality for the part. Then Aamir stepped in... He auditioned. And I thought, ‘Wow this is it’.
Don’t you think bringing in Aamir will make “Dhobi Ghat” just another Aamir Khan film?
All big stars come with expectations and memories attached. I also felt that the presence of a big star would affect the authenticity of the film and change the pitch or tone of what I was trying to do. However, Aamir has the ability to sublimate himself to the role. His performance is in key with the rest of the film, which has a high degree of realism in the performances and set-up.
Were you convinced about Aamir in the first audition?
I was thrilled when I saw that first audition. But I didn’t agree right away ’coz I also needed to figure out how I’d shoot with him in the most crowded parts of Mumbai. How would he walk down Mohammed Ali Road during Ramzan with a million people on the street? Those were logistical things which I had to sort out. I auditioned him in Hyderabad when he was shooting for “Ghajini”. Then I came back to Mumbai and sat with my team. We figured it was possible, and we’ve actually pulled off some pretty crazy things! It’s a quiet, internalised role, where he had to communicate without saying anything.
Aamir said “Dhobi Ghat” made him fall in love with you all over again. Any Aamir movie you love?
I loved him in “Rang De Basanti”. I had been seeing him with his Mangal Pandey moustache for a very long time before that. When the moustache came off after two years, I guess I fell in love with DJ.
Who do you appreciate more, Aamir the actor, the producer, the director, or the husband?
This is a very tough question because I like to think that I’m good at most of these roles and I certainly think he is. But if you ask me to choose one, of course, I’d choose husband because even if he is not directing or producing or acting, he is still my husband. That’s a role he has to play regardless of everything else.
Unlike other star wives, you never make an effort to fit in. Is this a conscious effort to distance yourself from everything filmi?
It’s who I am. I haven’t changed much since I married Aamir. The glamour part of the film world is not something I was exposed that much to, while growing up. And even when I married Aamir... He keeps to himself a lot. He doesn’t go out to parties every night or have a very public life. So I never had to adjust in that sense. The only difference was that I pretty much moved into a bigger house than my own (Aamir’s house)! The only thing that’s changed in my life since then is that I found love.
How comfortable are you at filmi parties?
Oh, I’m comfortable. In fact, I find the other women in the industry... The other stars in the industry extremely warm and friendly. I’ve had cordial and comfortable relations with them. We barely have some conversations at parties. I haven’t actually had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with them, so I can’t say I know them all that well.
Is that by choice?
Well, we have very full lives outside of the socialising and the celebrity part. We have our work, which we are extremely passionate and obsessed about. We have family, Aamir’s kids, we have each other. So it’s not a particularly conscious effort. Those things come lower down on our priority list.
Describe your relationship with Junaid and Aira?
I adore them. We are more like friends and I’m not particularly a mother figure for them. We hang out a lot, play games, go on holidays together. It’s remarkable the way they’ve been brought up by their mum and by Aamir. Both Reena and Aamir are very grounded parents. As children, they are polite, well brought-up and very warm and affectionate. That’s a great compliment to Reena.
Star couples are the latest buzzword in endorsements. Think SRK-Gauri, Abhi-Ash, Akshay- Twinkle, Saif-Kareena... Will you also jump on the brandwagon?
No, I doubt it. I’m not in that space at all. I wouldn’t be interested in it.
Aamir is famous for not turning up at awards shows. If “Dhobi Ghat” is nominated, will you attend these awards shows?
I don’t see myself doing that, because over time, I have figured out what really means something to me. I haven’t given much thought to it but I genuinely feel I’m not that award show type, you know. So I don’t know if I’ll ever turn up.
You’ve made a film on Mumbai, the city where you work; your next project has a Kolkata connect, the city where you lived. You’ve also studied in Delhi, so any plans of making a Delhi-based film?
I really love Delhi. The film that has a Calcutta connect could become something much wider, which may even have an association with Delhi... I’m not sure where that story’s going to go. Actually, I don’t know whether I’d even make that story, so it’s hard for me to say off the bat, but I’d love to shoot in Delhi. And the smaller towns in and around Delhi, which portray the cusp of urban and rural life.
Is there any recent movie that you wish you’d made?
“LSD”. I looked at it and was like, ‘Wow! That is a film that I’d love to have made.’ It was so good.
You said that “Dhobi Ghat” has enough Hindi to make it to the Oscars...
People would want to see “Dhobi Ghat” and the English in it might make it difficult for those who are not comfortable with the language. So we are considering doing a version entirely in Hindi. The original version, which is about 30% English and 70% Hindi, will also remain.