It’s an emotionally charged day at Vishesh Films office as the cast of Sadak 2 — Sanjay Dutt, Pooja Bhatt, Alia Bhatt and Aditya Roy Kapur — get ready to shoot their very first picture together under the watchful eye of the film’s director, Mahesh Bhatt. The master storyteller, who had bid adieu to his career as a filmmaker, has returned from his hiatus to helm this project.

The film is special on various levels. Not only will Alia work with her father for the first time, but she will also share screen space with sister Pooja here. Sanjay, who is extremely close to Bhatt, reunites with him 23 years after Gumraah (1993). Aditya, on the other hand, returns to the banner that gave him Aashiqui 2 (2013), which put his career on the fast track. Bhatt saab, who celebrates his 70th birthday today, describes this new journey, saying, “As I step into the sunset years of my life, the last act, there’s something that has happened to me. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I will ever hear the words — a Mahesh Bhatt film — mentioned around me again. Alia used to say, ‘Papa, make a film’. And I would tell her that I am like an extinct volcano. But then, suddenly one day, the volcano was rumbling. You know, they say that autumn is another spring, so as I go into my autumn years, it’s the process of what is called decomposition or decay, that too is a way of life.”

The maverick filmmaker is, of course, happy to be working with his daughters but he’s equally thrilled to direct Sanjay once again. He says, “Don’t forget that the two years he spent in jail haven’t been tapped into by anyone. And I know that buried in there is that unspoken anguish, which I had tuned in to during the making of Naam (1986). I think life has brought us a full circle. If there ever was an actor who has trusted me and went on to become a star purely because of his ability to surrender, it’s Sanju. He is like that lion, who perhaps can only be tamed by the language of love.”

IT ALL STARTED WITH SANJAY

Pooja reveals that it was Sanjay, who was keen on making this project happen. She reminisces, “After an event in Delhi, he came to me and said, ‘Why isn’t Sadak 2 happening?’ I was wondering how could we do it. I told him, ‘It’s not even mine, it’s Mukesh Bhatt’s property’. But Sanju insisted that I must talk to my father and uncle. I conveyed his thoughts and asked them to meet him. And now, here we are. He is the man who started it all.” Speaking about why he decided to return to filmmaking, Bhatt saab says, “Sanju liked the first narration. He then came over on a Sunday when we were discussing the nuts and bolts of the script. He said that the story is very good, but let’s not make it. He asked me who could direct it? He said even if you get me Steven Spielberg, I won’t be interested because there is no point in you narrating a script that won’t be transported on the screen in the right manner. That made sense to me. See, a director is not someone who just takes shots, there is something more that he is supposed to do. And that is to bring out the script in the way it has been visualised.”

AN EMOTIONAL ROLLER-COASTER

Sanjay, who worked with Bhatt in many projects, is back into a zone that he knows. He says, “I’m lucky that before I die, I get to work with the man I love the most. For any actor, Bhatt saab is a dream to work with. My last film with him was Gumraah (1993), soon after he quit direction. Ever since, I have done many films, but I always remember him. I have always believed that one day he will get back on the field and make that one epic. I know what I’m signing up for because I’ve worked with him in many movies, but these kids don’t know what they are getting into (laughs).”

DREAM COME TRUE

Ever since Alia stepped into the film industry, she has often been asked about working in her home banner and with her father. She says, “Every time I was asked the question, with a little bit of heaviness in my heart, I would say, “My dad is not going to direct and he has told me this time and again. But whenever I would work with my dad and his company, it would be special.” Back then, I used to say it because it was the right thing to say, but little did I know that I was putting out a great feeling into the universe. I can’t call this just another special experience because we’ll have to create a new word to describe it. People often say that you can have one wish fulfilled, but I have had two dreams come true at the same time. One is to be an actor and second is to be directed by my father.”

A NEW JOURNEY

Aditya, who starred in Aashiqui 2 (2013), now shares screen space with Alia for the first time. The actor remembers the narration that Bhatt saab gave him of Sadak 2, when the latter was babysitting Alia’s cat, Edward. He recalls, “I had the pleasure of having Bhatt saab narrate a film that he was going to direct. It was a surreal experience. Every 20 minutes I wondered if he wanted to take a break, but he was ready to keep going. He was enjoying himself so much.” Talking about signing the film, Aditya says it wasn’t something that he needed to contemplate about. “There was no question in my mind about joining this journey. I would have given my left arm to be a part of it. This is my second movie with Vishesh Films. The first project with them changed my life, so I don’t take this lightly and am honoured to be a part of it.”

A HOMECOMING

Pooja describes this project to be a homecoming of sorts. “This is not just a film,” she says. “I meet people from various spheres of life who tell me that your father has changed our lives. Not just as a filmmaker, but also because of the man that he is. He has done that by saying things and sharing his frailties. I am amazed at how he, in such a limited amount of time, has been able to leave such a lasting impression on people. I feel the reason they feel so intimate with him is due to the movies that he has made and how he has laid himself bare. One of the things that Sanju and I always talk about is that the magic of working with him was not always what happened in front of the camera, but it was about what happened in between shots when the camera was not rolling,” she concludes.