EXCLUSIVE! Costao Director Sejal Shah On Working With Nawazuddin Siddiqui Again: He Was The Only Choice

Costao director Sejal Shah interview: She is a woman of substance who knows the pulse of the audience. From backing internationally acclaimed projects to making her debut as a director in a mainstream film, she has done it all. We are talking about Sejal Shah.

At Filmibeat, we believe in putting spotlight on the people, who are silently working behind the scenes, playing a big role in the success of Indian cinema. As we interacted with Sejal Shah post the release of Costao, she fondly talked about working with Nawazuddin Siddiqui, backing Serious Men and her upcoming projects.

Here are excerpts from the interview!

1- Delhi Crime Season 2, Asur 2, Decoupled, Serious Men and now, Costao- such a wide range of themes and topics that you have covered through your projects. The one thing that remains constant in all these films and web series is the 'human emotion'. As a filmmaker, what is your thought process while working on a project? On what basis do you decide a particular theme needs to be carved into a series or film?

I am a very curious person. And I am always interested in people. Their lives. Their emotions. Their thoughts. Their fears.So I am naturally attracted to powerful stories or themes. Even if it's a thriller and comedy or horror I think every story has one underlying emotion. Which sums it all. For me Costao was about honesty and guilt. Duty and forgiveness. A custom officer and a father. Likewise all the stories we tell at Bombay Fables they are all about people and their lives and their stories and their emotions. Ultimately what makes us all human.

2- I have to congratulate you on the success of Costao on ZEE5. You have already directed documentaries, and this is the first time, you are dabbling with a film for such a leading OTT platform. What was your vision as a director?

My vision was always to find a way to amalgamate the truth the reality with cinematic experience. To make sure the visuals the movie did justice to the story. We wanted the audience to be engaged and even if sometimes what they saw was not always comfortable. We wanted to capture the emotions a man went through for all those years.

3- With Costao, you explored yet another subject where the character has to fight against all odds to receive justice despite being honest in his approach. What convinced you to choose this project?

Ofcourse the man whom the film is based on was the only inspiring reason for me. He was a hero. But a complex one. He was a father but not always right. He was a husband but not the perfect one. And his obsession with his duty and his love for his country. It's just hard to find such a nuanced and brave person. Who is actually alive and is still following the path he has chosen.

4- How can I not talk about your association with Nawazuddin Siddiqui? You guys create magic whenever you work together. Why was he your first choice to play the lead in Costao?

Nawaz is an exceptional actor. And as a producer, I have seen him create magic on serious men. And when we wanted to do Costao, there was no one else we imagined for this role. He was the only choice. As we knew, to play such a layered character, we needed Nawaz. He creates magic. We are just lucky to be part of it.

5- Serious Men has gained such a cult fan following in recent years, specially for the way it explored the themes around caste, prejudice in India. It's not a cakewalk to back such projects, where cinema is used as a tool to back important subjects. How was your experience producing the satirical comedy that delivered that message right to the point?

The credit for serious men a goes to Manu Joseph who wrote such an exceptional book. To the writers Bhavesh Niren Abhijit and Nikhil who adapted such a difficult book. To Sudhir Mishra the director who ultimately translated it with his brilliant direction . To Nawaz and his extraordinary performance. And to Netflix who greenlit it. Serious men is a movie that really happens once in a lifetime and I was just lucky to be associated with it.

6- What about your upcoming projects that we can look forward to? We have heard Saare Jahaan Se Accha is in its final stage with the post-production work on track. Is it true?

We are working on couple of movies with some very good writers and directors which are in development stage. Our show Saare Jahaan Se Accha will be out soon. And I am working on my next movie which I will be directing. So excited and looking forward to our slate.

Costao is available for streaming online on ZEE5.