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Kiran Rao: Wanted to make 'Laapataa Ladies' accessible and fun
Updated On: 16 February, 2024 09:47 AM IST | Mumbai | PTI
Kiran Rao who returns to direction after 14 years, said audiences have been conditioned to expect the worst, especially when it comes to women`s safety
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Kiran Rao. Pic/Yogen Shah
There is a lot of goodness in the world and it sometimes doesn`t reflect on the big screen, says Kiran Rao who has done her bit to rectify that in her latest film "Laapataa Ladies", a comic take on two brides in rural India who accidently get swapped during a train journey. The "Dhobi Ghat" filmmaker, who returns to direction after 14 years, said audiences have been conditioned to expect the worst, especially when it comes to women`s safety. But her film, while realistic and grounded, doesn`t go there. "Honestly, this story could have gone in any direction. It could have been any other genre. When we were writing this, we were conscious that while we are touching upon several issues, the idea is to entertain and make it an accessible and a fun journey," Rao told PTI in an interview. "I feel there`s a lot of goodness in the world. When we look at our lives, we realise there are so many people around us who give us hope and love. We`re surrounded by people we admire, and we don`t see enough of them on screen," she added. The director admits it was challenging to keep the touch light but she saw it as an opportunity to show flawed and familiar characters who are "lovable and real".
"It was a bit of a balancing act to keep the realism while keeping the satire and humour... You feel like you know these people," she said. Rao said she had been working on creating a script that would become her next film but "nothing quite clicked". Till ex-husband Aamir Khan returned from a screenwriting competition he was judging. "Aamir came home and told me a one-liner, about two girls on a train and how they get swapped. And I was hooked. I knew that this was not just a great story but also a great opportunity for me. "Honestly, I could never have written a story like this myself. It`s not naturally my kind of story when I write but I felt I could bring something of myself to it," she said. Eventually, the story by Biplab Goswami was developed into the film with Sneha Desai working on the screenplay and dialogues. Rao`s Kindling Productions and Khan`s Aamir Khan Productions have produced the film, slated to release on March 1. The ex-couple has been promoting the film together. The fact that the two enjoy a great friendship despite their divorce in 2021 surprises many. But then, as Rao said, they have always made their own rules.
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