Ahead of the release of Shakun Batra’s third directorial venture — Gehraiyaan (2022) — which is out 11 February on Amazon Prime Video, Cinestaan.com looks back at the filmmaker’s debut a decade ago.
Batra started out in films as an assistant director with Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na (2008), which also marked Imran Khan’s debut as a lead actor in Hindi cinema. The actor, who is the nephew of star Aamir Khan and grandson of filmmaker Nasir Husain, had appeared as a child in home productions Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) and Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992).
Batra and he connected on the 2008 film and it led to the actor backing him for his directorial debut. Batra also met Ayesha DeVitre, who worked as a hairstylist on the project; she would go on to be his co-writing partner on all his feature films.
“All of us started hanging out together; I mentioned that I was writing something,” Batra told Verve magazine in a 2017 interview. “Before I knew it, Imran read it, liked it, and then took it to [producer] Karan (Johar) who also enjoyed it — and Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu happened. In hindsight, I think it was a lucky stroke that got it rolling. How many people get to a star and a producer with their first project?”
Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu (2012) was an unusual story of unrequited love for Hindi cinema. Set in Las Vegas, Nevada, the feature is centred on the unlikely relationship between 25-year-old architect Rahul Kapoor (Imran Khan) and 27-year-old hairstylist Riana Braganza (Kareena Kapoor Khan) who are opposites in every way.
They meet on Christmas Day, accidentally, first in a grocery store, and later in the office of the psychologist whom they visit to learn how to deal with a major disappointment in their lives. The uptight Rahul has just had to conceal from his toxic parents the fact that he was fired from his job.
His ambitious father (Boman Irani) father wants him to join the family business, but not before he wants to see him succeed at every level. Rahul’s frivolous mother (Ratna Pathak Shah) is only interested in appearances and connections. His parents have turned him into an emotionally repressed being who gets anxious about everything.
The carefree Riana, who has emerged from a failed relationship, has also lost her job. After being initially sceptical about one another, the pair meet up for drinks and loosen up over alcohol. They get drunk all over Vegas, and in a fit of merriment, get married in a chapel ministered by an Elvis Presley lookalike.
The next day, they regret their actions and plan to annul their hasty union. But over the next two weeks from Christmas to New Year's Day, they find themselves in each other’s company and grow closer. Besides being a romance, Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu is also a coming-of-age story for Rahul who finds himself at a crossroads, despite having his whole life planned out for him by his overbearing parents.
The slightly older and definitely more mature Riana allows him to take a long look at himself and the choices he’s made over the years. Slowly but surely, Rahul wants to be more like her and fancies himself in love with Riana.
The two fly back to Mumbai, India for the New Year, where Rahul gets a rude shock when he realizes that Riana only sees him as a friend. Upset and angry, he erupts at an important family dinner and breaks free of the shackles his parents have placed on him.
The young man, who was always afraid of failing and being average, finally embraces himself, warts and all. Riana, who has overcome disappointment and failure in her own life, helps him come to terms with his failings. She has a positive upbringing, with supportive parents and family, who accept her impulsiveness in all aspects of her life.
Batra, who studied cinematography at Vancouver Film School, gave Rahul a passion for photography in the feature while co-writer DeVitre transferred her profession to Riana. Both Batra and Devitre packed the film with honest, relatable conversations.
The trope of a quickie wedding, especially in Vegas, is overdone in the West; here it’s a fun novelty. The feature has a very hopeful tone to it, with the title ‘The Beginning’ cueing the credits.
Moreover, the Hindi film was one of the first in which characters were shown seeking help from a mental health expert, normalizing an important part of modern life. The Alia Bhatt-starrer Dear Zindagi (2016), which was backed by the same producers, was another step in the right direction.
The filmmaker’s second film, Kapoor & Sons (2016), which featured Fawad Khan, Sidharth Malhotra, Alia Bhatt, Rishi Kapoor, Ratna Pathak Shah and Rajat Kapoor, followed a dysfunctional family with several secrets hidden under the surface.
Gehraiyaan, which stars Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday and Dhairya Karwa, looks at two cousins Alisha and Tia and how infidelity threatens to tear them apart years after they reconnect.
Batra stands out because his characters aren’t perfect, they are fleshed-out beings, like you or me. In the same interview, he credits his penchant for authentic female characters to his co-writer. “It partly comes from having a female co-writer who is also my closest friend,” he stated. “This has helped me understand women more. I get upset when I see a potential for a female role, but it is just reduced to a love interest, or she is objectified. All characters should feel alive and real. And that requires effort as a writer-director. What helps me in this regard is the fact that I have read many books.”
While we await Gehraiyaan, we are reminded of Batra’s debut which was both sweet and heartfelt and explored unrequited love in a realistic manner. The film also pointed out that love is also friendship, an idea also explored in producer Johar’s debut Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998). But Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu was a beautiful and evolved variant of the Dharma Productions' film.