A bowlful of papaya slices is sent into the room where newly-turned producers Madhuri Dixit-Nene and her husband Dr Shriram Nene are holding a series of interviews at Taj Lands End in Mumbai. With the sun setting outside, the two pose for final photographs, before returning to more questions about their first production, the recent Netflix release, 15 August.
Directed by Swapnaneel Jayakar, the two-hour-long, heart-warming Marathi film is about the dwellers of Gandhi chawl. Being lauded for its real, believable characters, the film follows the events that unfold surrounding a surreptitious love story during their Independence Day celebrations.
Script hunt
The couple’s company, RnM (standing for Ram and Madhuri) Moving Pictures was launched in 2012, and has been focussing on health and lifestyle digital content. Shriram says that the “logical sequel” was to then produce films by tapping into his business acumen, and Madhuri’s experience of 35 years in front of the camera. And for Shriram, the transition from being a physician to partnering with his wife down this new path felt like a natural progression. “In that avatar you could cure one patient at a time,” he explains. “This is no different. If you make someone laugh, it’s often the best medicine.”
Madhuri took control of sifting through scripts, and after about four years of seeking the right one, she found one that clicked. The star says, “[It was] the whole chawl set-up. I had relatives who lived in chawls, and I [have] stayed with them. So I felt like I know all these earthy, everyday characters. And it’s a layered comedy, so I thought it’d be ideal to make.”
Women central
Dixit’s transition comes at a time when there seems to be a wave of female actors taking the reins behind the camera. There’s Anushka Sharma who stepped into the arena with NH10 (2015) with her production company Clean Slate Films, Deepika Padukone, who is both the lead and co-producer for the upcoming Chhapaak, and Priyanka Chopra whose Purple Pebble Pictures is known to promote regional talent and cinema. While they certainly aren’t the first (even actors like Juhi Chawla and Hema Malini forayed into the field over a decade ago) the increasing rise of female actors in the production space seems to indicate a thirst to create and diversify the narratives in Indian films.
“How come heroes become producers and nobody asks why? I think when you have worked for 10 to 15 years, you’re equipped to go behind the camera and produce movies,” says the Padma Shri awardee known for ’90s hits such as Hum Apke Hain Koun, Khalnayak and Beta. But has the climate become more conducive for this shift? “It was very disorganised before, and that is changing now.”
Web battles
The tricky part for the duo was having to pick between a release in theatres or going online. “This film could’ve done well in theatres,” says Shriram, “because it’s a basic story: a love triangle with different themes. [But] there are 9,000 theatres in India, of which 400 will play Marathi films for a few weeks.” While he elaborates that the Netflix release enables reach to its 139 million paid subscribers across 190 countries, Madhuri adds, “The content is amazing. You see Spanish and French movies, and diverse cultures. For the Indian diaspora abroad, they get to see a Marathi film and it stays on forever!”
The conversation soon shifts towards films the couple wish they could have produced. “We have two teenage boys,” says Nene, before sheepishly adding “So I see a lot of Marvel films, unfortunately. But Black Panther (2018) stood out.” Dixit admits she’s more of a whodunit aficionado, and while she enjoyed last year’s Andhadhun, the actor has barely gotten time to catch up on recent releases. “I’m just looking at the future and asking, ‘what kind of films do we want to make?’”. Shriram agrees, “I think our films should always make people happy, and maybe teach a lesson in the process. But more than anything else, entertain them.”
The year ahead
The star’s plate is full with Karan Johar’s multi-starrer production Kalank, and Tahira Kashyap’s directorial début Sharmaji Ki Beti. On how she has been balancing her acting and new role as a producer, she says, “It’s been adventurous. 15 August was going on, and then I was simultaneously working on Kalank. And then I had these two teenagers in the house which is another production! And [there’s also] a little puppy now! It couldn’t be busier, right?” concludes Madhuri, with her characteristically infectious laugh.