Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali ’s daughter Ida Ali has grown up surrounded by stories, but when she decided to make her own short film, she wanted to do it on her own terms. She recently directed a short with her friend Kareema Barry, with whom she also runs a podcast channel centered on Hindi films.
Within a month, they have released a second short film as well, titled GUL. “I had been wanting to direct something which is not related to any brand or any music video. Since the duo already had their podcast, they wondered if they could make a film as well, “Of course, we could only make a short film. And so we were like, okay, let’s see what ideas we can get. And on a whim, made a short film. Ida grew up in a household where stories were part of everyday life. Her father, filmmaker Imtiaz Ali would tell her stories every day.
I wanted to do something of my own,” Ida says in a chat with HT City.
At 15 or 16, she made her first short film and immediately knew she had found what she wanted to do. Because they are excited about it,, i want everyone who comes on to a project to come on. It was during her teenage years that she realised she was visualising her stories as films. For a short film, if some known name or production house is backing us, it kind of takes away, I think it is not fair. She points out that a reel can accumulate enormous views and still be forgotten within minutes. A short film that someone takes ten minutes to watch, however, can stay with them for much longer.
“I think I always wanted to be a storyteller,” she says. Ida says she could have used her industry connections to approach established filmmakers, actors or production houses, but deliberately chose not to, “I don’t want anyone to do me favors either. When I have something like that to offer to someone with a bigger name, then I would be very happy to work with them,” she says. “They will remember it, which is, I think, a little more valuable, at least for the filmmaker, than just a bunch of content being put out.”
