“Indian cinema helped me understand myself and my roots”: Smriti Mundhra

With this four-part docu-series, Mundhra pays tribute to the star-studded Hindi cinema, especially the dreamy celluloid full of music and music created by the legendary Yash Chopra and his successor at Yash Raj Films (YRF) The world salutes. But that’s not surprising. Chandni (1989) was the movie she went to after a long day, and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ, 1995) had a huge impact on her “coming of age”.

“Yash Chopra is one of the few filmmakers whose career spanned decades and gave us several iconic films. By focusing on the studio and its legacy, one can tell Hindi film stories,” Mundhra said. As a film student (she received her MFA in Film at Columbia University School of the Arts in 2010) and later filmmaker, she always wanted Hindi films to gain global cinematic recognition.

The idea behind The Romantics is to showcase Hindi films “beyond song and dance routines, weddings and colours”. According to Mundhra, “It’s a specific type of storytelling and cinematic language that works for millions of people around the world.” The documentary series was three years in the making and includes clips from films, interviews and archives.

Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in stills from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. (Photo: Express Archives)

“I wanted it to be a chronology of YRF’s journey. During the editing process, we discovered the larger story—about the family, what they were going through, and the sociopolitical events in India at the time,” says Mundhra, whose other non-fiction Feature film credits include The Right Girl (2017), St. Louis Superman (2019) and Matchmaking in India (2020).

Yash Chopra’s debut novel, Dhool Ka Phool (1959), reflected the mood of the new democracies at the time.After forming YRF in 1970 and having a hit with Daag (2071), he directed Deewaar (1975), which led to “Angry Young Man” (directed by Amitabh Bachchan as Vijay). In 1976, he made the multi-star romantic film Kabhie Kabhie. After several commercial failures, he directed his “biggest bet,” Moonlight (1989), which earned him a reputation as a romantic filmmaker.

Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta Stills from Veer Zara. (Photo: Express Archives)

The notoriously reclusive descendant of YRF, Adi Chopra, holds the whole story together. “The conversation with Adi was helpful in understanding the background of the studio and the film and his father’s career,” she said. During the making of the documentary series, Mundhra had to stay away from the girl with the fangs in her body. “Before every interview, I have to remind myself that I’m a professional and have to suppress my inner fan voice,” she said.

During the editing process, she had to drop “many highlights Rich Kapoorinterview” and some “key anecdotes” shared by Shah Rukh Khan and others. “Condensing 17 years of history into four hours was a challenge,” said the filmmaker, who also likes Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Works by directors such as Mani Ratnam, Anurag Kashyap and Dibakar Banerjee.

Why did she choose documentary as a medium for storytelling? “It started out as a medium that I had access to. It was cheaper than doing fiction. Eventually, I fell in love with it. Some of the serious storytelling happened through documentaries,” said Mundhra, who shared the YRF Entertainment production screenwriter and executive producer.

Commenting on India’s unprecedented three Oscar nominations this year, Mundhra said: “There are enough of us (Indians) in the world, we don’t necessarily need a global audience to sustain our industry. So, it’s good to know our stories and The way we tell our stories is better appreciated.”

Although “The Romantics” sparked interest in Indian cinema, it also faced criticism for promoting YRF. “I never claimed to be exposed. It was about understanding and taking apart the films that shaped my life. They are also significant in the history of Hindi cinema. Every story you tell, you have to decide a shot to tell a story … I chose Yash Chopra to tell the (Indian film) story. Telling it through his journey doesn’t cover every aspect of Hindi cinema or Indian cinema, but you can learn a lot about universals from the details,” said the The filmmaker says she’s rediscovering her favorite movies through the eyes of her children. Her son Jag is a fan of Ranbir Kapoor while her daughter Isabel is obsessed with DDLJ.