Gurinder Chaddha's Parisian Short Film Releases This Week. She Speaks To Subhash K Jha.

Do tell me about your French film...how different is the experience of doing a short film from a full length?
The producers of AMELIE asked me to be a part of PARIS JE T'AIME and I immediately said yes. I liked the idea of twenty international directors making 5 -minute short films in two days on the theme of love, each set in a different neighborhood of Paris.

The day they asked me I wrote the script with my partner Paul . I knew exactly the theme I was interested in exploring. For me Paris, like London, is a great example of a vibrant multi-cultural city which is constantly evolving. That's a big part of it's charm and character.

In Paris they are having similar cultural debates that we had previously in the UK, so I was excited to look at the future possibilites of Paris.

Mira Nair is also doing short films (on AIDS). Is this, then, a symptom of audiences' growing impatience with length films, or just the demand of the times ?
I don't think it's about the audiences' impatience. It's more about storytelling, and whatever the length of your film you have to be clear about the story you want to tell.

Some themes lend themselves to short films because you can tell different stories with multiple points of view. Big themes like AIDS, or love, or the nature of a city, take on a different resonance when you look at the ways directors from different parts of the globe perceive them.

What did you think of Mira Nair's Namesake and Deepa Mehta's Water?
Are you mad thinking I'm going to answer that question! The great thing is that we are three distinct directors with very different styles. That's what's interesting.

Your short-film is about the Islamic purdah. How politically correct is your film considering the changing profile of the Muslim identity post 9/11?
In France I knew the issue of wearing the Hijab in schools was very controversial. I wanted to include it in my film because we rarely hear from a Muslim woman why she chooses to wear or not to wear the hijab. Most people in cities like Paris or London love the diversity of where they live.

It's part of the reason why people are drawn to these cities in the first place. Unfortunately that isn't celebrated enough and the problems become the focus.

I wanted to show a meeting between a Muslim girl and a French boy which is like the beginning of a new relationship, an honest relationship where they both throw away their pre-conceptions and start from scratch. There's nothing that is resolved in five minutes.

But it's a way of saying, 'come and walk with me, learn about who I am, not who you think I am'.

In Paris Je T'Aime You share the short -film platform with several stalwarts like the Coen brothers. Honoured, flattered or comforted?
I was honoured to be the only British filmmaker they asked to participate. It's rare to meet and hang out with other directors so I was interested to be a part of the project and see how all the films would play together.

When it premiered at the Cannes film festival, none of the directors or actors had seen any of the others' films. It was exciting and afterwards I had a blast with Alexander Payne, Alfonso Cuaron and all the other directors.

I was happy that a lot of people in France told me my film was looking forward to the future of Paris, not looking back at the past.

Would you like to make a similar film in India?
I think it would be great if a similar project was made in India.There would be so many amazing cities to choose from. Tt could be I Love Bombay, Delhi, Amritsar or Patna!!!

What progress with your next project?
I've been prepping my next film for Paramount's Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging and it's been a lot of fun. I'm having a fab time casting 14 year old girls and 16 year old guys. I'll be shooting the whole film in England later this year.

How're you coping with your maternity leave? Have the twins started kicking you around?
I'm feeling great and getting bigger every day. I had no appetite for several weeks, which was bizarre for me since I'm such a foodie. Happily my appetite has come back and the babies are now doing lots of bhangra and kung -fu kicks in my tummy.