Meghna Gulzar’s Film Talvar has Three Different Versions

The star cast launched the trailer of Talvar, and also revealed interesting facts that you should know

Trailer Launch of Meghna Gulzar’s Talvar

Meghna Gulzar’s Talvar has been in the news prior to the release of its trailer, thanks to the film being premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Written and co-produced by Vishal Bhardwaj, Talvar is based on one of the most controversial criminal cases in India – the Aarushi Talwar murder case. The film’s star cast including Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sensharma and Neeraj Kabi, along with writer Vishal Bharadwaj and director Meghna Gulzar, launched its first trailer in Mumbai. Here are a few highlights from the event.

Q: A very controversial case with a lot of versions of the truth. Is that why you felt the need to express what you believed happened in the case?
Vishal Bhardwaj: Actually it’s not my version. How it started was, Meghna and I were doing research on this case and we found very bizarre contradictory things. Each point of view had its own conviction and so we thought, why not present all the three versions? Like a film named Rashomon, this film has three different points of view on a murder that was committed. So we have presented the conviction of all three points of view.

Vishal Bharadwaj, the writer and co-producer of Talvar reveals that the film has three versions

Q: Have you worked with the consent of the Talwar family?
Vishal Bhardwaj: No we have not taken any permission from the parents.

Q: Meghna, how difficult was it to make a film with an unpredictable ending, while keeping it close to reality?
Meghna Gulzar: It was like completely stepping out of everything that is ‘comfortable’. I guess that is what made it so exciting and challenging. More importantly for me, the very fine line one has to walk while working was that even though the names were only characters, but very often it would strike me that they are actually real people. That this has actually happened to them. That was a little unnerving.

A scene from the trailer of Meghna Gulzar’s Talvar

Q: Irrfan, what made you say ‘yes’ to this film?
Irrfan Khan: It’s the power of the story. You will see three different versions. What happens with us is that we read the headlines in newspapers, or we listen to the news, or read somebody’s version on the internet, and we have the tendency to believe those things. But I would say everybody has the responsibility to go beyond the headlines, to do their own homework and then come to their own conclusions. We shouldn’t let news headlines form our opinion. And when I read this script, even though there were different versions of the story, but still there were such powerful emotions coming out of it. That is what compelled me to do the film.

Irrfan Khan said he did the film cause the story was very powerful

Q: Are you prepared for making changes and cuts in the film that the censor board might prescribe?
Vishal Bhardwaj: The film is already censored with a UA certificate and so is our trailer.