by Monsoons are here and so are some high-profile movies releasing one after another every Friday. In midst of all the big budget extravaganzas, is a small movie ‘with a BIG heart’ – The Perfect Girl directed by debutant Prakash Nambiar, that is slowly getting noticed as it holds its tiny little head high as the release date nears.
On a drizzling Sunday afternoon I caught up with Prakash over some piping hot chai and pakodas, and chatted everything under the sun along with his debut movie. Here are some excerpts of our conversation;
What is The Perfect Girl all about?
The Perfect Girl is a story about a couple who meet in the tourist town of Panjim, Goa, fall in love and part ways. They cross each other in a crowd 14 years later but the memories of that meeting have faded away. The guy gets a feeling that he has seen her somewhere, but by the time he realises who the girl was, she gets engulfed in the crowd leaving no trace.
How did your affair with Bollywood start?
It started with Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai produced by YRF and directed by Sanjay Gadhvi. I was a multimedia designer back in 2001 and bagged the project for doing their movie websites and interactive press CDs. The more I got involved in my work, the more I got attracted to the magic of Bollywood.
How did The Perfect Girl (script) take shape? Any real life inspirations?
There were many inspirations. The germ of the idea came in 2006 when I met an old Australian lady in Panjim. We talked for over an hour and we enjoyed each others company. She had to leave for Bangalore, and after she left I realised we didn’t even exchange our names. That’s when the idea of two people falling in love over a conversation came into my mind. Then a couple of days later I walked into the inner lanes of Panjim and was mesmerized by the architecture. I realised nobody had ever exploited Goa’s architecture in any of the films. During that time I happened to see Richard Linklater’s Before Sunset although I hadn’t seen Before Sunrise then. And then the idea took shape into The Perfect Girl.
How did you discover Teeshay and Tara for their respective roles?
Through auditions. Tara was referred by a friend, while Teeshay was found by our casting director
Can you narrate some funny incidents that took place during the shoot?
There were many. But I particularly remember about two guys who were following Teeshay and Tara everywhere we went. They wanted to act in our film and finally we took a hilarious audition after which they were convinced they would become good comedians. Today they have found their footing in Bollywood.
We have heard Siddharth Mahadevan as a singer. How did he get associated with this project as a composer?
I met him and Soumil Shringarpure at a narration of a film that I had written dialogues for. He made us hear some of the compositions they had done for few Marathi films and I immediately felt a connect with their music. The project we met didn’t materialize and they came on board for The Perfect Girl 🙂
What is the USP of your movie?
The USP is its freshness – the cast, the music, the framing, the dialogues, the concept in short everything. The brief to everyone was to keep it simple and fresh. Besides that the point where the boy and the girl meet, the film happens in real-time.
What can the audience expect from TPG?
A fresh film which will warm your heart, make u smile and make u believe in the possibility of a perfect partner… well, only if u r single 😉
What are your feelings now as TPG is getting released finally?
The feeling is of contentment. The day we started the film to this day where the movie is releasing has been a huge learning curve. This film is like a film school for us till the completion and an MBA in marketing (laughs). All throughout we have used all our resources as efficiently as possible, be it filmmaking or P&A. What we could do within the resources available at our disposal, we have done it, now its time to let go and let the film embrace its destiny.
So in a nutshell, there is a feeling of contentment for what we have achieved and anxiety about where this film would take itself and each one of us in its journey over the box office.
Who is your Perfect Girl in real life?
My wife? That’s the safest answer i can give.
What’s next?
Have a script ready… but that’s after the release of this film.
The Perfect Girl produced by Udit Shivraj Pathak and directed by Prakash Nambiar is releasing at a theatre near you on 11th September 2015, so mark it on your calendar guys. It’s time to shower your love and appreciation to a small film with a BIG heart.
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