'The industry is a sh***y place'

Jaideep Varma left advertising to write a book. And then he left that to make films. After seven long years, the newbie director is finally out with his debut, Hulla, releasing on September 19. Buzz18 chats with the filmmaker…

Where did the idea for an unusual film like Hulla come from?

It's from my experience, about which I had written in my column in Gentleman magazine. The whole film is based on that one-page article.

You'd written a novel called Local. How did you come into filmmaking?

I was a copywriter, having worked with O&M, Mudra etc. I left advertising to pursue writing books. A friend of mine saw my magazine article and told me it would be a good story for a film. So, I wrote a script and approached many people to produce and direct it. But when things didn't work out, I took over in 2004, nudged by Rajat Kapoor.

Wasn't it easier, given your advertising background, to get a producer? After all, today we have names like Prasoon Joshi and R Balki who're making films...

In an agency, every copywriter worth his salt wants to make a film. So, if there were so many, why would producers entertain us? They wouldn't even give an appointment, forget listening to the story or financing. They said, 'Yeh to TV ki film hai'. It was difficult as Hulla didn't have a precedent – it has no stars, no love angle and no item songs. There's a lot of exploitation of talent in the industry vis-à-vis not paying writers. There are no work ethics. The industry is a sh***y place.

So, was it Rajat Kapoor who helped you get producer Sunil Doshi, who's produced some of Rajat's films?

Rajat did help in it, but Sunil has known me for a decade. He had faith in me and knew I would finish the project. Also, the script is original. The humour is very understated and subtle, not character-driven.