#MeToo made us realise how trust is compromised on sets: Dar Gai

The global MeToo movement against sexual abuse has made people aware that acting is a vulnerable profession and there is a need to provide a physically and psychologically safe work environment to actors says Gehraiyaan intimacy director Dar Gai The Ukraineborn filmmaker who is settled in India was roped in by director Shakun Batra for the film making Gehraiyaan one of the first movies in Bollywood to have an intimacy director a position which became an integral part of film sets in the post MeToo worldGai believes the role of an intimacy specialist on the set is that of a protector who understands and respects the performers traumas Execution of the product is not enough whats also important is how we feel during that execution how our actors feel whether they feel psychologically in a safe zone or not the filmmaker told PTI in a Zoom interviewThe MeToo movement which was propelled by the expose of Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinsteins widespread sexual abuse made people look at actors with a more humane approach she said The movement made us realise that there are so many different ways in which trust can be compromised We need to understand that actors are human beings they have certain trauma and experiences in life certain things they dont want to do All this needs to be discussed with them in order to keep them stable happyIt also makes the entire process easier more professional and gets an outcome which can create much more connection with your audience than if you just push your actors to do whatever youd like to Gai added The filmmaker shared that she knows a lot of actors who have had disturbing experiences as the directors wanted them to go beyond their comfort zone while doing an initimate sceneBeing an actor its a very vulnerable profession because you have so many eyes looking at you and judging you and thinking about you And its complicated It is important to figure out how to make that zone that experience safer she asserted Gehraiyaan starring Deepika Padukone Siddhant Chaturvedi Ananya Panday Dhairya Karwa is a contemporary relationship drama Gai gives credit to Batra for understanding the need of bringing in specialists to choreograph the intimate scenes and also to help actors prepare for the sameBest known for directing festival favourites Teen Aur Aadha and Namdev Bhau In Search of Silence Gai believes directors and producers have the responsibility of creating a healthy work space for performers Directors and producers need to understand that intimacy specialist be it a director or coordinator or coach is there on set not just to be in certain teams like actorsrsquo team or just director They are there to facilitate a comfort zone for everyone Its not trying to take the directors vision it actually tries to help she asserted adding that intimacy directors act as a bridge between all the departmentsDetailing the process they used while preparing and shooting for the Amazon Original movie Gai said they started with understanding what exactly they had to bring on screen and accordingly designed workshops for the four leads We sat with our actors and took them through each and every shot that we thought could be complicated And if theyre uncomfortable with something ie they didnt want to do something we had a space to sort out those issues and find alternatives As it was her first job as an intimacy director Gai said she was excited about the outcome and was extremely happy with the way things turned out on the day of the shoot The actors she said were all supportiveWhat was surprising for me is that not even for once the actors hesitated even when we started workshops They never said no to any of the exercises If something wasnt clear for them they would just ask me in a polite constructive way Its very collaborative working in this kind of environment The filmmaker believes workshops help the actors as well as the director find the right language for a particular character that will seem organic on the screen She said she noticed a huge difference in the way the four lead performers conducted themselves on shoot post the sessionsWe immediately saw the difference before the workshop and after the workshop when we shot They understood each other so when the complicated scenes were conducted it wasnt difficult anymore she said Gehraiyaan also featuring Naseeruddin Shah and Rajat Kapoor in supporting roles will premiere on Prime Video on February 11This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever