Director Imtiaz Ali, who is known for his movies like ‘Love Aaj Kal’, ‘Rockstar’, ‘Cocktail’, ‘Tamasha’, and ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’, among others, has shared his experiences of extensive filmmaking journey, and shared his approach towards the shoot locations.
Imtiaz said he always prefers shooting at newer locales, and try to never repeat a location or a shot. “After an initial recce by the team, I always personally do a location recce. Many a time, even during the recce we miss out on some parts of the location, which get covered when we eventually go to shoot,” he commented.
The director revealed how during the shoot of ‘Highway’, he did not do any recce, and whenever they found good locations, the team stopped and shot the scenes. The 2014 road drama is written and directed by Imtiaz Ali, and stars Alia Bhatt and Randeep Hooda in the lead roles.
Talking about the same, he said: “ ‘Highway’ was the only film - where we never did any recce. We just hit the road with our filming gear and whenever we found good locations, we stopped and shot. We could do that because we were shooting in our own country. For foreign locations, the regulatory and budgetary constraints prevent us from doing so.”
The 52-year-old director said: “During the shooting of ‘Tamasha’ on the French island of Corsica, we have a famous scene where Ranbir Kapoor is sitting on a cliff. We decided on that particular shot after reaching the location for the shoot, it was that spontaneous. However, many times the local crew also helps us know the finer details - that eventually lead to marquee shots.”
“Locations are the heart of storytelling. I rely on them to create an evocative narrative that could captivate the viewer. These backdrops hold the power to convey emotion, history, and atmosphere, contributing to the depth of the story,” added the ‘Jab We Met’ director.
Imtiaz was speaking at a session in the 10th edition of the India International Foreign Tourism Conclave (IIFTC). Meanwhile, on the work front, he next has ‘Chamkila’ in the pipeline.