Still from Taraporevala’s new film Little Zizou (Courtesy of Sooni Taraporevala) Sooni Taraporevala is an expert in finding the right artistic medium through which she can express her ideas and creativity. Starting off her journey with photography, she later found herself in the grasp of a screenwriting career when her first screenplay Salaam Bombay! was made into a film by Mira Nair and won over 25 awards and was nominated for an Oscar. In 2005, she penned the adapted screenplay for Jhumpa Lahiri’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Namesake. And recently, her directorial debut Little Zizou premiered in New York City, following many other screenings around the world. We were lucky to be able to sneak into Taraporevala’s colorful life for a brief moment and talk to her about her new film and how she made it happen. F.A. After 20 years of experience as a screenwriter and having others turn your scripts into motion pictures, what made you direct and produce your new script "Little Zizou"? S.T. I wanted to be a 50 year old debutante! But seriously - I've had an odd career as a screenwriter. Little Zizou was my first spec script. All other scripts written in the past 20 years were commissioned by somebody else. I've written for a wide variety of directors, producers, and studios - of course my main collaborator has always been Mira Nair. As soon as I completed one job by good fortune I always had another one. And all the subjects were very exciting. In 2005 after visiting The Namesake set in Kolkata, I was back home in Bombay with some time in my hands. I began writing, this time for myself. I had been vaguely keeping notes and collecting material for an idea I had. I started with a kernel of an idea, which grew as I went along. I found myself enjoying it so much that I finished the first draft in 10 days. I wrote with actors and locations in mind. I was writing it like a director. Since it was a subject and a milieu that I felt I knew best - I also thought I'd be the best person to direct it. So that's how it happened. It wasn't a conscious career move. However, having said that, I must also say that I was getting a bit tired of screenwriting. Of writing so much and seeing so little of it on screen (though I'm told I have a good average - 7 out of 20 - again thanks largely to Mira). F.A. What were some challenges you faced during the production of this film? Can you tell us a little bit about how you were able to find the necessary funding to make this project come alive? S.T. I found the funding by chance. My friend Dinaz Stafford ran into her friend Chitra Subramanium at the premier of a film. Chitra was at Studio 18, a division of Viacom India, and they had just gone into film production. She asked Dinaz what she was up to - Dinaz told her we were working together on Little Zizou, and we had nearly signed with a company to make the film (we had but it wasn't ideal). Chitra told her - hang on - don't sign - we are very interested. We met them 2 days later - they were enthusiastic, we were delighted. We shook hands. Dinaz and I partnered and started Jigri Dost Productions that made the film. In the 2 years we've been with Studio 18, they've become one of the 3 biggest players in the industry here. They've gone from strength to strength. They were wonderful - gave me complete creative freedom and total support - the ideal combination. So I was very lucky. The challenges I faced were the same anybody faces who is trying to shoot 170 scenes in 42 days on location in Bombay in the awesome heat of summer. For me, the biggest challenge was how to get what I wanted without compromising while at the same time sticking to the schedule. The only way I managed was thanks to my top-of-the-line crew. F.A. The film was screened in various international film festivals, which I am sure acted as an effective way of promotion. What were some other things that you did to promote this film? S.T. We premiered Little Zizou in NYC November 10th - a few days after Obama was elected. It was a very happy time! We were the closing night film at The MIAAC festival - had 2 simultaneous screenings at the Walter Reade & the Museum of Art & Design. I was a wreck before them and over the moon after. The audiences were what you dream of as a filmmaker. Little Zizou is a comedy so it's immediately obvious whether or not you've been successful. You can hear it. And the cherry on the cake was the 2 awards we won. After that we've screened at festivals in Washington D.C. Rome, Italy, Goa, Kerala & Delhi, in India. We are gearing up for an all-India release in March. And we will definitely be promoting the film online. It's the medium of the future! I marvel at the quantum leaps technology has taken even in the last 30 years. When I was in college studying films, the only way you could watch a film was by going to a screening or having access to a steenbeck. No videos or DVD's. Kids now have such tools at their disposal to study films. I often speak to students here in Bombay about screenwriting. And my theory is a DIY one. I tell them to watch as many films as they can - they are lucky to have all films ever made at their disposal. There are many scripts that are either published in books or are online. I tell them to compare the two and listen to the Director's commentary. Similarly with the Internet. There has never been a free publicity and distribution channel for artists until the Internet came along. So we will definitely be promoting Little Zizou online. About the producer: After 20 years of being a screenwriter and a still photographer, Little Zizou is Sooni Taraporevala’s directorial debut. After attending Harvard University, where she studied English Literature, Film, and Photography, she enrolled in the Cinema Studies department at NYU to get her M.A. Her photographs were exhibited in India, the United States, France, and Britain. In 1988, with the success of her first screenplay Salaam Bombay! she found herself with a screenwriting career. She lived in Los Angeles, wrote screenplays for a variety of directors, producers, studios, before moving back to India in 1993. In 2006, she wrote the adapted screenplay Jhumpa Lahiri’s book The Namesake. Some of her awards include Time/Warner award for Best Screenplay at MIAAC festival (NYC, 2008) as well as best director for Little Zizou (2008), the Lillian Gish Award from Women in Film for Excellence in Film (Los Angeles, 1988), and the Osella Award at the Venice Film Festival for Best Story & Screenplay (Italy, 1991). She also received a Shine nomination in Los Angeles in 1999. For more information on Taraporevala, visit her Film Annex page at www.filmannex.com/SooniTaraporevala Interview by Eren Gulfidan. Contact at www.filmannex.com/erengulfidan