Rajat Kapoor, Director

I had the script for Raghu Romeo for the past three years- along with another script of mine, I made the usual rounds; been to all of them- all the big shot producers, all the new companies wanting to make small films. They all said- “mind blowing, sir” or words to that effect; but it would come down to making a proposal- who is in it, who is doing the music and so on. Basically no one to put a single paisa where their mouth was. So be it.

In March 2002 I submitted the script to NFDC for a co production. In September they said it is approved but agreed to give me less money than I had asked for. So be it.

There was some money that I had saved over the last three years from my acting and modelling work- with the express purpose of putting it in the film. Together with NFDC money, I was still falling short by a couple of million rupees.

Desparate measures were asked for. I started sending emails to all my friends asking them to buy shared in my film- for Rs. 10,000/- a share. People started writing back, word got around, Bombay Times did an interview with me and put it on the front page, then Rediffmail.com put my interview on their website.

And then, the deluge! I started getting upto 60 or 70 mails a day. From all over the world. It was amazing! People writing to say we don’t have the money but we want to help- we can sing, or write, or make your website, or tell us how to help you- or just plain best wishes to you we believe in this kind of cinema. Wow! I was overwhelmed. I had made myself a promise to write back to each mail individually and that I did. But I was surrounded by so much positive energy that I knew this project is blessed. I had the support of so many strangers, so many well wishers.

We started to shoot on the 31st of Decemeber. That was another good sign. What could be a better way to start the new year! The shoot went off like a dream. We shot for 31 days in all- and finished as scheduled on the 11th February. 31 days over 40 days. And everyday at the shoot I was reminded that this project is blessed. Things were always working out for the film- scenes had an energy. The improvisations were falling into place. The actors found their rhythm from day one. The two months of rigorous casting paid off.

I had always been sure of Vijay Raaz and Saurabh Shukla to play the male leads. All other roles were open. Finalising the girls took a long time. Finally, I believe we were lucky to have found two ladies who are excellent in the film. I have known Saadiya for many years ,so it did not surprise me to see her audition so well. I had no idea about Maria Goretti – and she completely bowled us over with her madcap energy. Phew! So we had our main cast ready.

The money meanwhile kept trickling in – as a loan to Raghu Romeo. By end of February we had almost all of the finance in place.

Now the film is ready. The first print came out on the 10th of June and the response so far has been terrific.
It is such a pleasure to see the film with an audience- the narrative, the characters- they all come alive once again.

And the recent good news is that Raghu Romeo has been selected for Locarno Film Festival. Yipeeee!