‘My Husband Acted Pricey’: Seema Pahwa Discusses Directorial Debut

‘Only my husband acted pricy during the casting of my film’, said Seema Pahwa, discussing her directorial debut.

Stutee Ghosh in conversation with actor Seema Pahwa on her directorial debut.

(Photo: The Quint\Shruti Mathur)

You know her as the protagonist’s mother in Bollywood films like ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’, ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’, ‘Shubh Mangal Saavdhan’ – Filmfare awardee Seema Pahwa has moved to the director’s chair with her debut ‘Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi’.

The film was screened at Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival where it was met with overwhelming acclaim and a standing ovation.

Here’s an excerpt from her interview:

“I had no intention to direct. I wrote a script and thought of acting in it. My friends asked me to direct.”

Seema Pahwa

The idea had been in the actor’s mind since her father’s death and Pahwa finally wrote it in 2015 while shooting ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’.

‘Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi’ is an emotional and funny family drama, boasting an illustrious cast comprising Naseeruddin Shah, Vinay Pathak, Supriya Pathak, Konkona Sen Sharma, Vikrant Massey and Pahwa’s daughter, Manukriti, and her husband, Manoj Pahwa.

“Manoj was concerned about my freedom on the set getting affected due to his presence. What if his ego gets hurt if I screamed at him on the sets? So we discussed it threadbare.”

Seema Pahwa

Pahwa further spoke about the lack of good roles written for people her age and how they usually do the same kind of roles.