Kayoze Irani has walked in the footsteps of his father Boman Irani in many ways. Boman turned director earlier this year with The Mehta Boys, after having acted in films for more than twenty years. The film explored a complex father-son relationship with nuance. Now, Kayoze has made his directorial debut with Sarzameen, which also tells the story of a father and son set against the backdrop of insurgency in Kashmir. The debutant director finds it a strange coincidence as well. “Both father and son are making their directorial debuts with father-son movies. What is really happening in this house?” Kayoze says with a smile.

The coincidence doesn’t end there. Similar to his father, Kayoze also acted in films, starting with a role in Karan Johar’s Student of the Year (2012), followed by a small appearance in Youngistaan (2014) and a significant part in The Legend of Michael Mishra (2016). Kayoze started his journey into films by working as a set sweeper in Yash Raj Films. Later, he assisted director Shakun Batra in Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu (2012), which was produced by Dharma Productions. It was here that Karan offered him a role in SOTY. Acting, however, wasn’t Kayoze’s first love. He wanted to become a director ever since he was in his teens. This was even before his father, Boman, ventured into acting. The spell of movies was cast on Kayoze when he watched Steven Spielberg’s iconic Jurassic Park (1993) and was left with a strong feeling to be part of the other side. “I wanted to be like Spielberg and create my own world. So, from my school days, I wanted to be a director,” Kayoze recalls. He is overjoyed now, after making his first film. “I enjoyed being an actor, but I love being a director,” he says.

It was again Karan who came to Kayoze with a 50-page story outline for Sarzameen. What drew Kayoze in was the emotionally charged family drama at the heart of the narrative. His first choices for the lead roles were Prithviraj Sukumaran and Kajol, and he was genuinely surprised when both agreed to come on board. “I am a pessimistic person, so I was thinking, why would a superstar like Prithvi sir work with me? Why would Kajol ma’am come back to Dharma after so many years to work with me? But both of them said yes pretty soon,” says Kayoze. He adds that it was a “breeze” to shoot with them. “They never treated me like a first-time director. Even if we had a disagreement, we always spoke about it. I told them how I wanted it, what my vision was, and they followed it completely,” he says. “I feel like I was given all the respect, sometimes more than I deserved. Both of them made my life so easy on the set that I could just sit back at the monitor and enjoy my film.”

The dynamics were quite different with Ibrahim Ali Khan, as it was a new beginning for both of them. Kayoze shot a montage sequence on the very first day with Ibrahim, recalling how the two of them were nervous. “I sat with him five minutes before the shot and we spoke about giving it our absolute best with all the conviction and hard work,” Kayoze says. Sarzameen was shot before Ibrahim’s Nadaaniyan (also backed by Dharma), which was met with severe criticism and online trolling when it was released earlier this year on Netflix. Kayoze maintains restraint while talking about Nadaaniyan, as he is friends with its director and has been associated with the production house himself. Yet, he says that they are all learning from the mistakes. “We will do our best to rectify them in future. As for Ibrahim, I am proud of him as an actor. He will answer his critics with his work,” says Kayoze.

While working on Sarzameen, there were also moments when Kayoze would get stuck at some points. That’s when he would go to his father for a solution. He says that the two keep discussing each other’s work. “I gave him some feedback on The Mehta Boys script and edit. He suggested some things to me on Sarzameen to make certain moments stronger. We do those things, but at the same time, we make sure that the voice remains our own,” Kayoze says. So, when Kayoze would ask Boman for a solution, the latter wouldn’t give any. “He would say, ‘How can I give you a solution? Because my solution is my voice. Where is your voice? That was an important learning for me,” Kayoze concludes.