Wanted to explore the concept of eternal love: Mehra

“When I went to Gulzar saab and asked why Sahiban broke Mirza’s arrows, he replied, “Let’s find Sahiban and then ask her.” 

“Also, I wanted to understand can there be eternal love stories today? We have a check-list today about how a lover should be but is it really that simple? Is there a Mirza- Sahiban in today’s times? So, we set the story in 2016, and rather than making it like a period film, we showed how that epic travelled to the present generation,” said Mehra.

As for the answer that he waited for more than three decades, Mehra says, “I have found my answer. I found my Sahiban and it’s been a very exciting journey.

I have realised the greatest emotion in love is sacrifice. You can be possessive, jealous, make babies, remain immortal through them but sacrifice of any kind is the biggest emotion. Mehra says the three-year-old journey of making Mirzya became so personal to him that it felt like a rebirth to him as a director, as a person. “In my short career, Mirzya has definitely enriched me a lot. As a storyteller, I have now come a full circle. 

It has added so much meaning to what I thought about love. Going through that process has been enjoyable.” It’s an ambitious project for Mehra not only from the story perspective but also because it marks Gulzar’s return to film writing after a gap of 17 years and the director knows that is a huge deal.

“To take his writing and make it your own was amazing and challenging. I realised it was a moment in time in my career.” Asked if there were arguments between the two , who also happen to be neighbours, Mehra reveals there were moments when they did not see eye-to-eye but they respected that difference of opinion.

“Agreeing to disagree is the healthiest relationship. It means you are giving the other person space and respect. Most often, it would play out that I would tell him, “No, not this scene, it’s not sounding right.

 I don’t agree with how these characters are behaving. Then he would delete it and we would rewrite. After six months, I would call him and say, ‘I think we should keep that scene, it goes perfectly with the story. 

Please add that back,’ and he would reply, ‘But you asked me to delete it,’ to which I would say, ‘I didn’t get it then. Gulzar saab, such is your writing that it takes six months to understand it!” 

Mirzya features newcomers Harshvardhan Kapoor and Saiyami Kher, and Mehra admits casting 

the two young actors was not an obvious choice. 

Produced by Mehra’s ROMP Pictures and Cinestaan Film Company, the movie will hit theatreson October7.