Dia Mirza & Zayed Khan romance together: The trio with brio They have leased office space, printed stationery and visiting cards (all three are directors in the company) and they’re going to make lots of movies Age: Youthful, the two guys barely 30, Tweety bird pretty Dia, younger at 29 Enthusiasm.
High up there COMPATIBILITY: Like besotted newly-weds with a life to look forward to together Vision: Clear as crystal – scripts that excite, films that are viable with goal entertainment Financial muscle: With Sahara Motion Pictures backing them, no worry over moolah Born Free, their new production company, really had its birth in Dia Mirza’s mind.
Her boyfriend, Sahil Sangha – eligible, good looking, green card holder, with a background in advertising and marketing, and a stint in the studios as assistant to Nikhil Advani on Salaam-e-Ishq – had a script in hand which he wanted to direct.
Her best buddy, actor Zayed Khan – “Di and I have always been friends,” quote, unquote Zayed. Dia says more: “Zayed and I did Fight Club and we hit it off very well. Then we did Dus, Cash and I became very, very close to his wife Malaika. What really bound us was his wedding, the preparation for the sangeet, all of us getting the skit together with me leading the brigade.
That really bound us further and we’ve stuck it out together, never missed a birthday, never missed an important occasion in each other’s lives. His son Zidaan is the new binding force in our lives. He is the joy of my life. I love babies and I love him. Watching this little thing become this wonderful little boy is such a joy. Such connections just happen.”The clincher from Dia: “I’ve been a great believer in Zayed for a very long time.
There is a lot more in him than what has come out so far, I strongly believe that. I hope our collaboration and our love and respect for each other can bring all of that to the fore. I will fight tooth and nail for him.”Dia is chronologically the youngest but the seniormost in experience with 34 films behind her. Zayed is 15 films old, Sahil is the baby of the team. “He has to do pairi pauna to us (touch our feet) every day,” teases Zayed. But as a professional, Zayed respects his partner. “We’ve found a great talent in Sahil,” he enthuses. “He’s a super writer and a great director, besides being a partner who understands the business of entertainment.”
Boyfriend and buddy got on so well, Sahil had an action-comedy all written and ready for filming which excited Zayed Khan. They were like two boys with a new gizmo. It was Dia who put it all together for the three of them: “After 10 years of working here, I didn’t want to be in a space where I had to be explaining why I was doing something to anyone.
It was time to introspect and grow. So I told the two of them, listen guys, we have a great story, we get along well, let’s do it ourselves. So if you ask me whose idea it was to start this company, I’d say, it was mine. We discussed it sitting on Zayed’s rooftop.”
But it was also Dia who burst the little boys’ bubble. A little petulant about having to put aside their pet action comedy, Sahil reveals, “Zayed and I loved the action comedy, you’re either laughing or watching action in every scene with very endearing characters.
But it was Dia who influenced us to start with a romantic comedy. She had this wonderful idea, a one-line idea which she once told me about. I started working on it and by the time Zayed and I were ready with our action comedy, I was also ready with the first draft of the romantic comedy. Dia reasoned with us and said, ‘We’re all going to put our hearts into this company, let’s first make a story of the heart’.
We mulled it over. Boys will be boys, we wanted to do the action comedy and we were like, won’t that be fun? But what she suggested made a lot of sense. So our first film will be this romantic comedy.”
Well whatever, but they’re here to make movies.
Zayed: “I know writers who’ve left their scripts with corporate offices, they’d gather dust for three years and then the subject would get stale. We are saying, broaden your vision guys, come to us with your new ideas. It’s not necessary that Dia or I should be in it or that Sahil should direct it.”
They want to follow the model set by Aamir and Shah Rukh Khan – make films that make money for everybody down the line. Zayed has the last word. “Some icons are already following the model but we are the youngest producers in town today!”
FACTS FROM INSIDE
When you walk into the Born Free office, it’s functional with no evidence of Zarine Khan’s upper crust touch. Or Zayed’s sis, Sussanne Roshan’s expensively stylish hand. “We’re on tight budgets, we can’t afford Zarine Khan and Sussanne Roshan yet,” grins Zayed. One of Dia Mirza’s own paintings will soon come up on a wall.
Zayed’s dad, Sanjay Khan too, has looked on indulgently. “He’s given us his blessings and that’s about it,” says Zayed. Sahil is delighted that there are positive signs all over. They zeroed in on Dia’s suggestion of a butterfly in the logo – he now discovers he’s got butterflies even on his lighter. Zayed: “We’ve had a caterpillar’s journey. Now it’s time to come out and bloom!”Filming in Mumbai, Delhi and Chandigarh will begin in February and Born Free will come up with its first release this summer.
Rani Mukherjee is enduring comparable tight spot: It's agonizing when you are at the peak of your career and suddenly witness a downtrend in your graph. Under such circumstances one feels snubbed & dejected and want to regain his/her established position anyhow. It appears Rani Mukherjee is going through similar tight spot.
