'Kangana was teary eyed when I narrated Tejas'

Kangana Ranaut is all set to showcase her tough IAF avatar in Sarvesh Mewara helmed

Tejas

. The film narrates the journey of an Indian Air Force pilot and aims to inspire a profound sense of pride for the courageous soldiers who unwaveringly protect our nation. Ahead of the film’s release on October 25, the director discussed with ETimes the film's journey, the extensive research, the challenges and box office performance.

Excerpts:
Shed some light on the research for Tejas.
During research, I met a lot of IAF officers and closely interacted with them and to see their love for the nation and the country, it genuinely gave me goosebumps. It was something very inspiring and very eye-opening for me. So if I was a Deshbhakt 50% before, after this process, I've become 80%. Because now I'm more mindful about their sacrifices. I hope after Tejas, a lot of people are similarly inspired. I just feel that every civilian should think whatever decisions they take, if they just think of that line that whenever in doubt, think about the nation.
Your experience of working with Kangana on Tejas...

When the conversation started for this character, the first name that came to my mind was Kangana. Since this is a film based on the IAF, we didn’t want to go wrong. As a civilian, we would not know much details hence we hired an IAF consultant, Gokhale sir. Kangana also had several queries about how to stand, technicalities about the jet, details about the salute, how they feel emotionally and other stuff which she wanted to know first hand from IAF officers. We also had a four day workshop with Kangana. Her instincts are so good that she would often make suggestions on the sets. She would often do scenes in a better way than I had written the lines, because she's such a terrific actor. Actors often elevate the script and that was the case with Kangana.

Tejas is being touted as an aerial action drama. So what would you say was the most challenging part about shooting it?
The most challenging for us was COVID. We shot for the movie between the first and the second wave. Because the team was experienced but nobody had ever done an aerial film. Usually for such a film you get experts from Hollywood, who have done this film and this kind of action but because countries were shut, everybody learnt it along the way. So COVID was a major challenge for me because it was my first film.
And the most challenging aspect was to get the aerial action sequences right, for nearly five months. COVID helped in a way that we got to research and the film got pushed. The best was that I had a great team, everybody came together, did their research, learnt along the way, and rectified errors instantly. And the other challenging part was to shoot it in Rajasthan. Even though I am from Rajasthan, to shoot it in those sand dunes, during extreme heat was very tough.
Everyone is being cautious about the content they put out there. How did you take precaution with Tejas, to not offend anyone?
I didn't plan that I don't want to offend anyone, because personally, I am a person who hardly offends people. But when you write any defense related film, you have to send it for approval. So that helped us a lot. I got feedback from IAF officers, and then with the consultant on board, I was very open to those changes. And that made the script more powerful in a way and also more attentive. And at the end of the day, whatever you make, I think 10% or 5% will get offended. There is nothing these days that people will love 100% or enjoy it or not get offended. So you have to just go by your gut feeling and your conscience that you're intentionally not hurting anybody's sentiments.
Kangana Ranaut responded to a netizen asking her to give credit to PM Narendra Modi for 'Bharat ko chhedoge toh chhodenge nahi' dialogue in ‘Tejas’. How true is it?
So actually, when I saw the video four years back, I realised that maybe I'm influenced by Modi ji or Vajpayee ji and all these things. Because in the growing up years, my favourite politician was Vajpayee ji. Hence while writing the script, it was a tribute to him because he gave the name to the Tejas aircraft. And obviously then our PM should get all the credit for that dialogue because it's him who said it and we just tweaked it. And I'm happy that everyone's loving it.
What more should one expect from the movie?
I always call Tejas an emotional action film. Because at the core of this aerial action is heavy emotions. There's this love angle that is also there in the film, there is a family element. You can expect 10 times the dialogues from the trailer in the movie. When I narrated the script to Kangana, she was teary eyed and whoever has heard and seen the film has said that it is an emotional entertainer. So that is what is unique about Tejas. I'm an emotional person and I look for emotions in a story and Tejas is that.
The box office game is completely unpredictable right now. How does that make you feel with Tejas arriving in theatres?
If you ask me, the instinct says that it will work, it will work with the people. But I also feel that as a filmmaker, I just want to do my job passionately and honestly, and then leave everything to the audience. I came to Bombay in 2006 and after 17 years, this is my first film. So I just hope that they find honesty in my work and they like it. Beyond that, nothing is in my control, so I don't think about it at all.
But then does box office brother you?
Actually, you cannot double guess anything. I don't think

Gadar

makers knew that it would make 500 crores. You take people’s feedback in any creative process, criticism is a necessity to make it better. So box office impacts in a way that obviously if your producer is happy and whatever money he has invested and if he gets the money out of it as a creative person, it makes you happy. And also it makes your journey easier for your next film. That way it does impact. But your choices are not based on whether this will become massy or not. Because that is not how I look at a creative process.