Sep 01, 2026 3:41pm IST
‘At Home, He Has Only Been A Father!’ Says Meghna Gulzar On her Father’s Influence On Her Filmmaking (EXCLUSIVE)
The artistic synergy and deep personal bond between legendary writer-director Gulzar and his daughter, filmmaker Meghna Gulzar, remain one of Indian cinema's most compelling dynamics. While they share a passion for storytelling, their father-daughter relationship at home stays distinctly separate from their craft.
At the recently-held trailer launch of Daayra, the film's director Meghna Gulzar tells Variety India, "At home, he was and is just my father!" about Gulzar, while the senior filmmaker had once confessed with a smile that his daughter was particularly fussy about the lyrics she wanted in her films and it was not a cakewalk to write for her! Surprisingly, she declines any influence of her father’s work in any of her films, contending that none of her movies were in any manner similar to any of her father’s directorial ventures (which spanned from "Mere Apne" in 1971 to "Hu Tu Tu" in 1999). "He has neither taught me filmmaking nor given me any tips," she added categorically.
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At the trailer launch event of "Daayra", director and co-writer Meghna Gulzar waxed eloquent on her actors and team and also stated that her career, just like the B.C. and A.D. eras, could be divided into two sharp phases—pre-"Talvar" (2015) and after that movie. The former stage had marked her directorial debut, "Filhaal" (2002), "Just Married" (2007) and the subject "Puranmaashi" in "Dus Kahanaiyan" (2008). These earlier films failed to get her either critical acclaim or success.
With "Talvar", which was based on a real story, she began to be seriously applauded as a filmmaker of substance. Meghna has since directed only stories based on real events: "Raazi" (2018), "Chhapaak" (2020) and the biopic on Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, "Sam Bahadur" (2023). "Daayra", releasing on September 18, follows that pattern.
Meghna was an assistant on Gulzar, her writer-director father’s last two films, "Maachis" (1996) and "Hu Tu Tu" (1999). In the latter, she was also billed as Associate Screenplay Writer. Gulzar has written lyrics for all of Meghna’s films. Meghna had earlier assisted Saeed Akhtar Mirza, besides doing a short course in filmmaking from New York.
In "Daayra", Kareena Kapoor Khan plays DCP Ajooni Kohli, a fiercely righteous officer who functions strictly within legal parameters and systemic boundaries. Opposite her stands Prithviraj Sukumaran as DCP Raman Kumar, a righteously fierce cop who operates on a different frequency altogether. They represent the yin and yang of a delicate investigative process, bringing starkly contrasting personalities to a law enforcement system that rarely leaves room for personal compromises.
Their paths dramatically collide over a cold case that has remained unsolved for two years. An event involving a missing girl, and a subsequent controversial police encounter brings severe scrutiny upon DCP Raman Kumar. Kareena as Kohli relentlessly presses for answers about what truly occurred that night, accusing Kumar of being in this exact situation before and staging fake police encounters to hide the truth.
Written by Yash Keswani, Sima Agarwal and Meghna Gulzar, the film is scheduled to release in cinemas on 18th September 2026.
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