Bollywood actor Kunal Kemmu, who turned director for ‘Madgaon Express’, shared that this has been therapeutic for him as he felt “different things” about himself as he stepped into the shoes of a director. He also shared that he was more of himself in the public space as a director than he is as an actor.
Kunal wrote the script of ‘Madgaon Express' way back in 2014 and it’s now finally coming close to completion. When asked if the plot came to him first or the character, the actor said: “When you watch so many films, you are always present on film sets and if this is what you live and breathe, you always have your own stories to tell. Eventually, when I worked on ‘Go Goa Gone’, I learnt the discipline of writing.
In the process, I was also learning how to write screenplays, interact with technicians and also hear people talk about what to bring out of a story.”He continued: “When you spend time with professionals, you’re learning on the job. In the past, I had even tried to write a few times with my writer friends but then I realised this isn’t solely my voice. And that’s when I decided to do it on my own.”
He further mentioned: “I started to work on the story of the film and then the characters began to come alive. I never knew this would be something I would eventually end up directing or even act in. I then narrated the story to some of my friends and they liked it. From there, the process moved further and more people heard it. I wrote it in 2014 and now years later, the story came back to me for direction, and now I am in that place when I am ready to do it.”
He also shared the update saying the film is currently in the post-production stage. He said, “I didn’t want to talk about my experience of being a director until I had finished the journey. Unlike an actor, a director’s journey begins when the script comes to him. In this case, I’m also the writer, so the journey became much easier for me. Then you’ve to do pre-production which is one separate journey, then production followed by post-production, which is currently going on.”
“As a director, I wanted to first experience all of that and then talk about any of it. My journey will only be complete when I get the first copy with a full sound-design mix. That’s when I would be able to answer this more correctly. I realised I was more of myself in the public space as a director than I’m as an actor. I realised different things about me as a human being as a director,” he added.
‘Madgaon Express' is produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani's Excel Entertainment.