'Marriage is a deadly serious business'

When she did Tamas, she was known as Deepa ‘Tamas’ Sahi, and when she did Hum with superstar Rajnikant playing her husband, she was called bhabhiji for a while.
But after she did Maya Memsaab with Shah Rukh Khan, the name stuck to her. The actress has now ventured into a new territory... she has turned director with Tere Mere Phere, a rom-com road-trip movie.A select few who’ve seen the film describe it as a ‘delightfully funny look’ at the idea of love and marriage.
And if the audience expected a strong socially relevant subject from her, then she says, “Marriage is a deadly serious business! There is too much depression around... if you want to have a good laugh, what better way than seeing a couple of men and women like us thrown together? I think half the problems happen because we take ourselves too seriously. I find the man–woman relationship fascinating. A marriage is something that legitimises this relationship. But having married how legit are the workings between them? That is what the movie is about.”
Deepa, wife of filmmaker Ketan Mehta, has shot in the breathtaking locales of the Himalayas — lush green valleys, torrid streams, cold desert mountains. “For me those amazing mountains are as beautiful as love itself.... and very often their paths are as torturous as the paths of a relationship,” says the maverick director. The film is a reflection of Deepa’s persona... fun, passionate, unpredictable and spontaneous yet managing to strike a chord in the hearts of all who encounter her.
Bringing the story to life are Vinay Pathak and Riya Sen, along with a fresh lead pair in Jagrat Desai and Sasha Goradia.
Says Vinay, “I liked the script because it was without prejudice and without pretence. My character’s ruggedness has a reverence and his simplicity is very likeable.” Riya, who plays the pahadi mirchi Muskaan, is equally thrilled. “Here’s a director who excels because of her vision and experience as an actor and because she is a woman,”says Riya.
Presented under the banner of Maya Movies, the film produced by Ketan Mehta and Anup Jalota along with Sudhir Choudhrie (C&C Entertainment), also marks the debut of another young talent, music director Shivangi R Kashyap.
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