As Saali Mohabbat premièred at the 55th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) last month, director Tisca Chopra felt two contradictory emotions. On the one hand, she felt validated as her maiden directorial feature received praise; on the other hand, she remembers being harsh to her own work throughout the screening. “I am hyper critical. Even as an actor, while going back home after a shoot, I am redoing everything in my head. I think, ‘I should’ve done this or that.’ I’m trying to be less compulsive about things now,” she smiles.
    
In Saali Mohabbat, Chopra has brought an eclectic cast of Radhika Apte, Divyenndu and Anurag Kashyap. Considering Kashyap is a prolific filmmaker, did she take any advice from him? “Anurag would give suggestions as an actor, not as a director. For instance, he told me to stage a shot a certain way to save time. And we did,” she says, adding that she and Kashyap go back a long way. “He has never directed me and that’s a big grouse I have with him. He is a no-filter human being and that makes a quality performer because he is receptive. He was on board even before Manish [Malhotra, producer] was attached to it. On my first day as a feature film director, I was directing Anurag Kashyap!”

Anurag Kashyap