Imtiaz Ali - "Ranbir sees 'tamasha' of his own life in the film"

A combination of critical acclaim and commercial success - Now this could well be at the top of a wishlist for any director. Ever since Jab We Met, Imtiaz Ali is seeing it all. Love Aaj Kal, Rockstar and Highway later, he is now gearing up for his most ambitious film till date, Tamasha. Reuniting with his producer Sajid Nadiadwala and composer A.R. Rahman after Highway, while roping in Ranbir Kapoor (Rockstar) and Deepika Padukone (Love Aaj Kal) again, he couldn't have asked for more when it comes to putting together a dream team. With just a few weeks remaining for the film's release, the director opens up on Tamasha.

When asked about the significance of the core title Tamasha, Imtiaz said, "In the film, Ranbir is playing a character who has grown up with the view that there is Tamasha all around him and that 'All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players', just as what Shakespeare said. He has grown up with this view as he had been told this by a storyteller. Within this 'tamasha' of life happening all around him, he sees the 'tamasha' of his own life happening too. There he has to find out that whether he has the power to change his 'tamasha' and make it according to his own story. That's the relevance."

Also, the film's tagline reads - 'Why always the same story'. So is that where the crux of the film lies?

Says Imtiaz after a long pause, "What it says is that you have the ability to change the direction of your life; you can write your own story and make it unique and different. Khud socho, why always the same story? Ussi tarah se jeena, ussi tarah se chale jaana. Why do you want to be lakir ka fakir?"

Ranbir Kapoor features as the central protagonist in the film, and it is expected that after Rockstar, it would be yet another sensitive character in display.

"Pitch of the film is about a boy who grows up and during that journey, he has lost his childhood, he has lost his innocence. He has become what I call him as a 'lakeer ka fakeer'," elaborates Imtiaz, "The questions for him are - Why to be like everyone else? Why don't you make your life unique?"

Well, we look forward to these questions being answered once Sajid Nadiadwala and UTV give this A.R. Rahman musical a mega release on 27th November.