Mira
Nair's
Interview
Delhi,
which
is
a
twin
city
to
Lahore,
doubled
for
the
Pakistani
city
for
filming
the
teahouse,
the
university
and
all
the
interiors.
A
second
unit
filmed
the
streets
of
Lahore
and
the
exteriors
for
four
days
without
the
actors.
"No,
we
didn't
have
that
terror
problem
even
creating
Lahore
in
Delhi," the
director
said.
Mira
Nair's
Interview
"The
first
bolt
of
inspiration" that
Nair
had
to
make
a
film
on
Pakistan
was
in
2004
when
she
first
visited
Lahore,
where
her
father
had
studied,
and
was
"dazzled
by
the
kind
of
largesse
of
warmth
and
spirit
and
love"
she
received.
Mira
Nair's
Interview
"The
creative
sparks
that
I
saw
there
-
the
music,
the
paintings
-
in
every
way
it
was
full
of
an
artistic
expression
that
I
certainly
never
associated
with
or
knew
about
with
what
we
read
about
Pakistan
in
newspapers," Nair
said.
Mira
Nair's
Interview
Reading
Mohsin's
"wonderful
novel" in
manuscript
form
18
months
later,
she
realised
that
like
the
writer
"I
have
lived
half
my
life
in
New
York
City
and
half
my
life
in
the
sub-continent
and
I
knew
both
worlds
within
and
somewhat
without."
Mira
Nair's
Interview
When
Nair
finally
set
out
to
make
"The
Reluctant
Fundamentalist",
Mohsin
joked
if
she
was
making
'Monsoon
Terrorist'
"because
I
love
music,
I
love
naach,
gaana,
tamasha,"
said
the
maker
of
films
like
Monsoon
Wedding,
Mississippi
Masala
and
The
Namesake.
Mira
Nair's
Interview
In
fact
"Music
is
a
huge
part
of
my
breathing
universe
and
the
modern
music
in
Pakistan
is
just
unbelievably
inspiring"
in
its
rendition
of
old
traditional
sources
like
the
qawwali
and
the
ghazal,
she
said.
Mira
Nair's
Interview
And
the
poems
of
the
sub-continent's
revolutionary
poet
Faiz
Ahmad
Faiz
"were
a
huge
cornerstone
of
why
I
made
the
film
in
the
first
place,"
said
Nair
who
has
used
three
of
his
poems
-
'Bol,
ki
lab
azaad
hain
tere',
'Mori
arz
suno' and
'Dil
Jalane
Ki
Baat'.
Mira
Nair's
Interview
But
did
she
ever
feel
that
the
film's
treatment
was
in
danger
of
slipping
into
'lite'
territory?
"No,
it's
my
way," said
Nair.
"For
me
music
is
very
much
part
of
how
we
live
in
the
sub-continent
and
I
wanted
to
integrate
that."
Mira
Nair's
Interview
And
"Yes,
I
don't
want
my
films
to
be
only
like
heavy,
sort
of
home
work,
like
a
lecture," she
said,
"I
make
films
also
to
take
you
on
a
journey
that
elevates
you,
that
moves
you,
maybe
shocks
you.
But
in
which,
I
hope,
you
can
see
yourself."
Mira
Nair's
Interview
And
Iyengar
Yoga
helps
her
"keep
going",
said
Nair
who
begins
the
day's
shoot
with
an
hour
of
yoga
practice
with
crew
and
cast
joining
in,
"but
no
one
is
forced
to",
she
said.
"So
actors
come
and
go.
And
it
just
sort
of
promotes
a
great
sense
of
strength
and
stamina
and
also
the
ego
is
left
at
the
door,
which
is
a
very
wonderful
thing
to
make
you
work," she
added.