'Chak De!' inspired Basu Chatterjee's daughter

Sep 11, 2009 Subhash K Jha

Mumbai, Sep 11 (IANS) Rupali Guha, daughter of illustrious filmmaker Basu Chatterjee, took inspiration from Shimit Amin to work with newcomers in her just released directorial debut "Aamras".

After Rupali saw the way the new girls had been cast in 2007 hit flick "Chak De! India", she gathered the courage to make "Aamras" with four new girls - Vega Tamotia, Natasha Bhardwaj, Manvi Gagroo and Aanchal Sabharwal.

"After 'Chak De! India', I was adamant. It had to be fresh faces no matter how much the pressure to get stars. I'm glad I stuck to my guns. The four news girls are the backbone of my film about girl bonding," Rupali told IANS.

Rupali's father is the prolific Basu Chatterjee and her father-in-law director Dulal Guha. And yet she had to knock from door-to-door to get her first screenplay approved.

"I went to everyone, including UTV. They all said, 'Who'll watch this film?' or worse, 'Get Shahid Kapoor to play the boyfriend.' How could I fit Shahid Kapoor into a film about the bonding among four 18-year-old girls played by four absolutely new faces?"

The story of "Aamras" was born from debutant Rupali's 13-year-old daughter's Jonaki's experiences.

"When I was growing up, I had just one best friend and then I had my family. My daughter has a circle of 11 close friends from different strata of society. And she comes home with very different experiences. I needed to understand her world of incompatible emotions. ?Aamras' has given me a chance to open up my daughter's world," said Rupali.

Next, Rupali is working on script called "Cinderella" about a girl's dreams of a prince charming falling to pieces.

Regrettably Rupali's father is in Kolkata and hasn't seen the complete film.

"I can't wait for his reaction," she said. Click the Movie button below for more info:
Aamras