New formats, platforms don't excite me: Gauri Shinde

The director says digital platforms may be booming in the country currently, but they do not excite her without having a "compelling" story to tell
New formats, platforms don't excite me: Gauri Shinde

English Vinglish and Dear Zindagi fame director Gauri Shinde says digital platforms may be booming in the country currently but they do not excite her without having a "compelling" story to tell.

"There will be many platforms, but I think the key is the idea and the story. Once you have that and then you want to adapt that to any format, is fine. But these new formats and platforms don't excite me. If I have an idea that excites me, then it goes to okay which platform can I take it to. So, digital as a word does not excite me unless there is something new to do," she says.

She applies the same logic to filmmaking. There was a four-year gap between English Vinglish and Dear Zindagi, both of which were endearing tales about women.

What's next? "Really nothing... For me, I don't think there's any pressure of having to do anything. That's not how I think. If there's something compelling or I really want to express something, that's when I will take it up. I said after English Vinglish, too, that I won't make another film that pushes me in that direction," adds Shinde.

She finds it good that Hindi cinema is pushing the envelope as far as talking about social issues is concerned, and topping it up with a dose of entertainment. "I just hope we hope we all can manage the content well and somebody does not make something that again pushes it all back to where nobody has the guts again to do it. It needs to also be done in a very entertaining manner because it's great that people are accepting this kind of stuff and we can experiment and take the risk of making such films," Shinde says.

One to believe that cinema should never be preachy, she adds, "We are not making documentaries nor are we making special video films... This is cinema. So we should fulfil the first objective of cinema, which is to engage and entertain."
 

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