Filmmaker Maneesh Sharma unplugged

Filmmaker Maneesh Sharma says West Delhi was never explored on celluloid until his film.

Maneesh Sharma’s love for cinema may have forced him to settle in Mumbai, but the young filmmaker confesses his heart belongs to Delhi. “Delhi is my home and Mumbai is just a workplace,” Sharma said during his visit to the Capital on Friday to attend the Hindustan Times New Delhi 100 film festival, where his directorial debut, Band Baaja Baaraat, was screened.

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Having grown up in the bylanes of West Delhi, Sharma found this part of Delhi so enchanting that he wove the entire script of the film around it. “Many great films have been made in Delhi but this part of Delhi has never been explored. Also, we wanted to highlight the aspirations to move from the Janak Puri galis to the big gates of Sainik Farms,” Sharma said during an on-stage discussion with HT City Editor Sonal Kalra at PVR Rivoli.

Interestingly, Sharma revealed that both the lead characters were modelled on him. “I am as carefree as Bittoo Sharma (played by Ranveer Singh) and as aspirational as Shruti Kakkar (played by Anushka Sharma),” he said. After recovering from a recent bout of jaundice, Sharma has resumed work on his new flick, Ladies vs Ricky Bahl with Ranveer and Anushka in Mumbai, and the trio hopes to recreate the same magic.