Exclusive: “Was Difficult to Align Loo Breaks”: RS Prasanna on Fun Struggles of Sitaare Zameen Par

Sitaare Zameen Par, the spiritual sequel of Taare Zameen Par, is currently playing in the theatres. Directed by RS Prasanna, it stars Aamir Khan, Genelia Deshmukh and follows a suspended basketball coach who is made to serve community service by coaching a team of specially abled players for a tournament. During an exclusive conversation with Filmfare, the director opened up on the casting process and shared that they had to shortlist 10 people out of the 2500 they auditioned.

Prasanna said, “It was a great opportunity for me to connect with my ‘Sitaares’. It was almost an 8-month to 1-year casting process. I was given an opportunity to create a mini film school where we had workshops every day. I’d shoot stuff with them and then make them see that on the big screen. They got to know what editing was, and I got a chance to go back to my film school. We auditioned about 2500 talents, of which we finally brought it down to 10 of the main actors.”

Prasanna also quipped that coordinating all 10 of their loo breaks was quite difficult. The director shared, “There were so many of them, so it was difficult to align their loo breaks (laughs). One would go for a loo break, and we would ask others whether they would want to go. But none of them would. And then once we resumed shooting again, others would want to go for a loo break.”

RS Prasanna also spoke about the legacy Taare Zameen Par left behind and the lesson it had in store for parents. Asked whether he hopes the same would happen with Sitaare Zameen Par, he shared, “Legacy and lesson are two very big words. Taare Zameen Par made you cry, and this movie will hopefully make you laugh and then also get emotional. If a movie does that, then everything else will hopefully follow. Legacy depends on the audience. I didn’t want to preach anything with this film. Taare Zameen Par was a fantastic, emotional story. We connected with it; that’s why it became a lesson. It was not made to be a lesson for anyone. The legacy of Taare Zameen Par is very beautiful and a lot of us, including me, are fans of that movie. I am excited that I got to be a tiny part of the legacy.”

Also Read: Exclusive: RS Prasanna Responds To Speculations On Sitaare Zameen Par’s YouTube Release