Milap Zaveri: For me, cinema is escape

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Mumbai: Bollywood filmmaker Milap Zaveri looks forward to his upcoming release "Marjaavaan" and he says that nothing is more important than delivering a film that is worth the audience's money and time.

"Marjaavaan" features Siddharth Malhotra and Tara Sutaria, and the November 15 release -- billed as a love story -- has raised eyebrows among sections of Bollywood fans for its violence quotient, going by the trailer.

"For me, cinema is escape. Nothing is more important than giving the audience a good time in the theatre. After watching a film they should say, ‘paisa vasool!' I think people, especially critics, tend to over-intellectualise films. They take films too seriously, more than the the audience that consumes these films and optimises box office numbers," Zaveri told IANS.

About his new film, he added: " ‘Marjaavaan' is a violent love story like ‘Tezaab'. People go to the theatre after a hard day's work, So I think I should make a film that helps them forget their worries. They should laugh, cry, get scared!" said the director who earlier made the sex comedy "Mastizaade" and the patriotic drama "Satyameva Jayate".

His last release, the 2018 film "Satyamev Jayate", was a larger-than-life action drama about a vigilante who punishes corrupt police persons. The director said that although the story had violence, audience reaction to the film had overwhelmed him.

"A rickshaw driver told me how he related to 'Satyameva Jayate'. He said the traffic policemen only harassed people like him, and extorted money. They won't stop a BMW because they know rich people can get away with anything and extorting the poor is the easy thing to do," he recalled.

Asked if there is any subject he would not touch, and Zaveri replied: " I will never show paedophilia on screen. It is extremely distasteful. I will never show something that hurts religious sentiment because I genuinely believe in religious harmony and patriotism. I will never propagate anti-nationalism."