Writers- lyricists Siddharth- Garima turn directors with Dukaan
Writers and lyricists turned directors Siddharth Singh and Garima Wahal well known for movies like Kabir Singh, Toilet- Ek Prem Katha, Bajirao Mastaani, Animal and several others, sit down for a chat with Indulge at Park Street Social as their debut movie Dukaan hits the theatres today. Outlining the subject of commercial surrogacy and showing various aspects related to it, the movie aims to create awareness and starts a dialogue about the tabooed topic. It stars Monika Panwar, Soham Majumdar, and Monali Thakur in lead roles.
Excerpts from the conversation
What made you venture into the field of direction?
Garima: We feel it’s the most natural progression for screenwriters to go towards direction more than any other department in the film. Writers actually design the idea and take it to the execution level in a way that the director is being given the details of even what the sky is looking like. For us, as writers we were already doing a lot so we thought we may as well just take the next step.
Was it challenging to take up surrogacy as the subject of your first movie?
Siddharth: It was very challenging but at the same time interesting also. It has not just been in taboo, it is still in taboo. The government has passed a bill that has banned commercial surrogacy in India. We thought this conflict needs to be resolved and have taken a step towards that by making a film.
Garima: Also, we feel that surrogacy is very superficially known to people. Nobody knows the point of view of a surrogate. For us it was important to highlight this because we feel, what they feel. We have been screenwriters for almost a decade now and the fact that you give birth to something and hand it over to somebody else is an emotion that resonates with us very well.
Could you shed some light on the name of the movie?
Siddharth: It’s a sarcastic take on the profession of surrogacy. It’s a shop like demeanor in which this business is being practiced in India for so long.
Garima: We feel the context was perfect for us because people expect Dukaan to signify, maybe business. But nobody has considered how surrogacy has been a business for so long in this country.
How did you come about with the cast?
Siddharth: For us it was very important that the leading lady comes with no baggage because surrogates have no face in the country. It’s very important for the cast to suit the role and that is the only criteria on which we cast the film.
Garima: It had to be a solid actor. We had put our everything into the lead character Jasmine [ Monika Panwar]. Our dialogues and screenplay remain our strength in designing a character. We always insisted on auditions. It was important to see how she would look in the film. Despite her [ Monika’s] fantastic performance in Jamtara we had to see how will she look here, or will she be able to deliver the Gujarati accent and so on.
Will we see you juggling between roles?
Garima: Yes. We will continue to be in triple roles. We are also writing songs. So, even now if a song writing call comes it excites me. If there is a good director who we know will do justice to our stories we will write for them. But there will be that one story that we would want to direct as well.
What’s next for you?
Siddharth: The next movie with Sony Pictures is coming in theatres on July 5. It is called Saale Aashiq and based in the world of honour killing. It’s a romantic action film.
Garima: It so happened that we wrapped up Dukaan and our other film was also in hand. The actor dates came such that we had to shoot it pretty much back to back.
Both your directorials have a social message. Where do you get your inspirations from?
Siddharth: We feel cinema as a medium has a great influence on people, so why not use it for social messaging. We feel we can present these issues in an entertaining and light manner.
Garima: We live the longest with an idea and are scared of doing unimpactful work. And impact not just in the box office but also in people’s lives. Toilet Ek Prem Katha was a film which we are extremely proud of. It made money, it had a commercial star headlining it and had a subject which people knew little about; but saw it and it made a difference.
Dukaan hits the theatres today