Directing for stage is more fun than films: Rohan Sippy

Rohan Sippy is taking a short detour from cinema to make a live musical for the stage.

New Delhi: Director Rohan Sippy, who hit the big time with ‘Bluffmaster’, is taking a short detour from cinema to make a live musical for the stage and says he is finding it more fun than making a movie.

The three-film old Bollywood director is helming a fifties-themed jazz musical called Fashion Broadway and is excited about his maiden stage venture. "I have never done anything for the stage before and this project deals with a part of Mumbai`s history, an era where there was a lot of jazz music in Mumbai. Its fascinating to dive into that. "When you make a film you have to think about huge budgets and audience. But a play caters to a limited audience so you can have fun with it," Rohan told reporters. The musical, starring Shahana Goswami, Ali Fazal and Rahul Dev, has music by composer Ranjit Barot and will be staged on November 27 in Delhi as part of this year`s Chivas Studio. "Shahana, Ali Fazal, Rahul Dev are going to sing live and Ranjit will play a five-piece band," said Rohan. Admitting that directing for the stage is tough, Rohan said that it is also a learing experience. "If I had known how tough it is going to be, I wouldn`t have taken it up in the first place. But the flip side is that you get to learn so much, start thinking about so many elements when you are dealing with a play. It is fun to change gears, set aside pre-conceptions and make a play come alive. I would love to do more work on the stage." Rohan, who made his directorial debut with `Kuch Na Kaho` in 2003, said he is working on a couple of scripts. "There are a couple of scripts we are working on. Romantic comedy is what I am looking at right now." But he is most excited about his father Ramesh Sippy`s return to direction. "The most exciting thing happening right now is my father`s directorial project and I am very much involved in it. We are finishing scripting now and trying to put everything in place so we can begin filming soon," he said. Being a filmmaker`s son comes with its own baggage but Rohan says he is a beneficiary of the fact that his father is a well known name in the industry. "Its brilliant being Ramesh Sippy`s son because I get to work with him and learn from him. There`s so much goodwill he has earned through his work and I am a beneficiary of that. It would have been a hundred times harder for me otherwise," he said. PTI