New formats, platforms don't excite me: Gauri Shinde

"English Vinglish" and "Dear Zindagi" fame director Gauri Shinde says digital platforms may be booming in the country currently but they do not excite her without having a "compelling" story to tell.

"There will be many platforms, but I think the key is the idea and the story. Once you have that and then you want to adapt that to any format, is fine. But these new formats and platforms don't excite me.

"If I have an idea that excites me, then it goes to okay which platform can I take it to. So, digital as a word does not excite me unless there is something new to do," Shinde told IANS here during a recent visit.

She applies the same logic to filmmaking.

There was a four-year gap between "English Vinglish" and "Dear Zindagi", both of which were endearing tales about women.

What's next?

"Really nothing... For me, I don't think there's any pressure of having to do anything. That's not how I think. If there's something compelling or I really want to express something, that's when I will take it up. I said that after 'English Vinglish' too that I won't make another film that pushes me in that direction," added Shinde, who was here with her husband and filmmaker R. Balki earlier this week.

She finds it good that Hindi cinema is pushing the envelope as far as talking about social issues is concerned, and topping it up with a dose of entertainment.

"I just hope we hope we all can manage the content well and somebody does not make something that again pushes it all back so that nobody has the guts again to do it. It needs to also be done in a very entertaining manner because it's great that people are accepting this kind of stuff and we can experiment and take the risk of making such films," Shinde said.

One to believe that cinema should never be preachy, she added: "We are not making documentaries nor are we making special video films... This is cinema. So we should fulfil the first objective of cinema, which is to engage and entertain."

She was here for a session for Ficci Ladies Organisation (FLO).

--IANS

rb/dg