A romantic film is a warm blend of visuals and music. Hindi cinema is defined by this genre, which also comes with a range of cliches, like R Madhavan and Fatima Sana Shaikh patching up in a heavy downpour by the shore in Vivek Soni’s Aap Jaisa Koi. Over the years, rain has been the third wheel of Bollywood romances. Who can forget the iconic scene from Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein (2001) where Madhavan, via a fog-tinted glass of a phone booth, sees Dia Mirza dancing in the rain. It’s love at first sight. Since then, the actor has become the face of love, but strangely so, has not starred in many romantic films. “I have barely done three Hindi romances,” he says with a smile, recounting RHTDM, the two Tanu Weds Manu (2011 and 2015) films and a scene in Rang De Basanti (2006). “But the image of being a romantic hero has stuck for a long time.”
Aap Jaisa Koi places the actor in director Vivek Soni’s aesthetic of symmetric frames and vivid lighting. Vivek wanted to personalise the storytelling, twist the cliches and use them with conviction. In a scene in the film, Madhu (Fatima) finds a worn-out flower in a book at Srirenu’s (Madhavan) place. It is a symbol, popularised in Urdu poetry. “I feel cinema has been obsessed with showing the beauty of blossoming flowers in the garden. For me, I wanted to show the beauty that lies in a wilted rose,” says the director. Madhavan puts it into perspective as he adds, “Clichés work mainly because they are good. In fact, some filmmakers start judging their own work because they find it clichéd. But that shouldn’t be the case.”
In the film, Madhavan plays a 42-year-old, old-fashioned Sanskrit teacher who falls in love with a progressive, French professor, ten years younger than him. While the role was somewhat age-appropriate for the actor, he was still concerned. “I was worried about looking too old while romancing a younger actor,” he says, adding that he didn’t want to make people ‘cringe’ while watching the film. He elaborates, “If you see a shot where an older man is romancing a younger woman, instead of seeing the characters, you think that the actor is having fun, and then that romance is gone; you have killed the scene. It looks like one man is taking advantage of the situation.”
Due to this, Madhavan wanted to find an appropriate actor opposite him. He says that it was tough to cast for the female lead in the film. “Who can do romance now in the industry? Everyone wants to do high-octane, western romance kind of films, and this is a tender story. Besides, they should be able to speak Hindi clearly too, so you cannot get anyone from the South,” he says, while also pressing on the importance of working with someone as experienced as him. “There was really no one like that. So, I was glad when we found Fatima for the role because I couldn’t act with anyone else.”
For Fatima, it’s her second romantic film to release after Anurag Basu’s Metro…In Dino. She says that she is gravitating more towards the genre. “There is no love anyway in real-life, so I get to experience that on-screen,” she jokes. “But Metro… was a different kind of love story, which was about loving the same person over and over. It was about a toxic relationship. While here, it is about exploring every emotion; about knowing what goes in the middle of happiness and sadness.”
Through her character, Aap Jaisa Koi also tries to go beyond the same-old love story to explore the prevalence of patriarchy and chauvinism in relationships. Srirenu goes through a learning curve after he expects Madhu to act a certain way in the marriage. He realises the meaning of equality in love. Fatima says that women have to go through this learning curve as well. “It is not just about men. Women have also been victims of patriarchy,” she says. Madhavan feels that there is space for redemption in a relationship when someone is able to change their mind after hearing a reasonable argument. Something similar happens to Srirenu in the film when he sees his conservative brother being questioned by his wife. Madhavan agrees with Fatima and says that some women don’t want to be independent. “Some of them want the man to take care of the house while they look after the children. I have seen a lot of women like that,” says the actor as he concludes, “It is their choice ultimately and as long as there is a freedom to choose, then the redemption is justified.”