College was special to director Pushkar of Oram Po and Va Quarter Cutting fame in more than one way. That was where he met his future wife and co-director Gayatri. Though they were 18 years old then, they swear they didn’t behave like the teens who are bitten by the love bug. “That’s right — no red roses, greeting cards or tears — our romance has never been mushy,” says Gayatri. The only real life director-couple in the country graduated in BSc viscom from Loyola College, Chennai, in 1998. “Being classmates, we were practically together for most part of the day and hence didn’t need to bunk classes for some privacy,” say the 34-year-olds.
It wasn’t love at first sight for the couple. Working on assignments and projects together, cupid slowly struck and they started dating at the end of their first year. They didn’t believe in keeping their relationship under wraps either. “Our friends and professors knew about us. Our college never interfered with the personal life of its students. When you spend hours together on the phone, at some point of time your parents also get an inkling of what’s happening,” laughs Gayatri.
A compulsory village trip in their first year was the ice breaker, they say. Though Loyola gave them the chance to brush with giants like Balu Mahendra, Hariharan and editor Lenin, the couple were never inspired by them, though they admire their work. “I think we inspire each other,” laughs Pushkar, who is quick to add that they always respect their seniors and peers in the industry.
Having spent all their UG together, initially it was difficult for the lovers to stay apart when they decided to enrol in different universities in the USA for a course in filmmaking. While Pushkar was on his way to University of Illinois, Gayatri chose Northwestern University, also in Illinois. “We knew what we were in for even before proceeding to the USA. It’s not possible to procure funding for both of us if we were adamant about attending the same university,” explains Pushkar.
Despite their busy schedules, they flew once in a while when they were filming projects to meet each other. The genre that they have experimented with their movies and their sensibilities seem poles apart. Pushkar is quick to dismiss it. “Our education abroad made us extremely strong in the technical aspects of filmmaking. We also understood the importance of an organised schedule and sticking to it. If you look at world cinema, most of the movies will have a local flavour. Those with universal themes are exceptionally few. We try to churn out movies for a pan-Tamil audience.”
The liberal attitude of Loyola’s professors helped them overcome the culture shock they experienced in America. They say their romance was devoid of conflicts too. “Even our parents never opposed our liaison and we got married in 2004, a year after returning from the US. Working on short films, we were fervently preparing for our debut film Oram Po, which was released in 2007. For the audience it was something different to see actors like Arya and Pooja in the roles of an autorickshaw driver and a biryani seller respectively. So far, the two of them had essayed only sophisticated characters and some of the B and C audience could relate to them and feel like they are one of them,” says Gayatri.
As a woman director, Gayatri has no complaints since her hubby is with her most of the time. But at times she feels lower-ranking technicians prefer to approach Pushkar. “Of course, Antony (editor) or Nirav Shah (cinetamographer) or any other senior technician will never disrespect me.”
What about the quirkiness in their movies, does it come from the duo? “Of course not. We are nothing like the eccentricities portrayed by our lead actors at times. Both our movies are laced with humour, but in real life we hardly display any wit,” says Pushkar. Right now the couple is busy scripting their next film.
— shilpa.vasudevan@newindianexpress.com