Genelia Deshmukh and Manav Kaul will soon be seen in Aleya Sen’s directorial venture Trial Period. It will release on a digital platform on July 21. The Free Press Journal caught up with Aleya for an exclusive chat.
When asked about her filmmaking journey so far, she shares, “In the deeper sense, if I tell you conceptually, art is subjective and people may perceive it differently. I would have given my best to my debut film but I am very sure that Trial Period will resonate with people. Maybe I have learned the skill to tell my stories in a better way. The core of it has always been something that I believed. I have developed better craftsmanship.”
Aleya Sen with Genelia Deshmukh and Manav Kaul on the sets of Trial Period |
Sharing further on telling a story in today’s time that is more liberal and satisfying, she explains, “The idea of this film has been in my head since 2013. In fact, this was the first ever script that I wrote. During the pandemic, I realised, there is a lot of acceptance amongst the audience. It was heartbreaking that I couldn’t make this film earlier and if I introspect, this is the right time to tell a story like this, perhaps, 10 years ago, a concept like this would have come under negative radar. I was sceptical about the script rather than lucky.”
Genelia and Manav are the lead pair in the film. When asked about this unusual pairing, she says, “Since I am from an advertising background, while writing, I don’t think of faces. My brain doesn’t work in the commercial aspect of filmmaking, it doesn’t come naturally to me but I might have an influence from a studio or financiers. Most of the people will agree with me now that Genelia comes most naturally to the character, her warmth, motherhood comes naturally.”
She adds, “I have always been a fan of Manav’s work. My benchmark has been Langda Tyagi, a character played by Saif Ali Khan in Omkara (2006) helmed by Vishal Bhardwaj. He is the same actor who plays a flamboyant man in Dil Chahta Hai (2021). I was blown away with the transformation. I was inspired to cast Manav for this film.”
