Was never fixed on becoming a director: Imtiaz Ali

Imtiaz Ali is presently directing Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma in The Ring.

Imtiaz Ali has made a name for himself with films like Jab We Met, Love Aaj Kal, Rockstar, but the director says when he came to Mumbai he had no plans to become a filmmaker and was instead searching for any work just to make a living. The 45-year-old director says he has always focused on what comes his way and never tries to plan things. “I was always doing theatre as long as I remember and I came to Mumbai with the hope of getting a job. There was no choice of job that I wanted to do,” Imtiaz said during a session at NFDC Film Bazaar.

“I worked as a production assistant then I worked as a creative conceptualiser. And then finally television happened. I started directing on TV and it went like that.” Though Imtiaz began writing for films during his television days, the director did not get any success. “While directing on TV, I also started writing few stories but nothing really happened with them. So, I continued with television because I had to keep my kitchen running. I had a lot of responsibilities,” he said.

Also read | I have no fear of getting typecast: Imtiaz Ali

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The director, who is now known for helming some of the hit love stories in Bollywood, has no regrets about what he has done in the past to achieve what he is today. “I think whatever I have done it’s good because it made me work. I was happy to get any job. I was never fixed on becoming a director.” Imtiaz says when he now looks back at his journey he feels that it was all planned.

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“Now when I retrospect everything, it doesn’t seem very random. It seems like somebody was writing the script but that somebody was definitely not me. I just kept doing what I could and what i got the chance to do. “And finally I wrote the script and it was called ‘Socha Na Tha’ and I met Sunny Deol, who listened to my script very patiently and by the end of the time he said we’ll do it.”

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