‘She’s kind, loving…but on the sets, she’s a taskmaster.’
IMAGE: Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran at the music launch of Daayra in Mumbai, September 11, 2026. Photograph: Afsar Dayatar/Rediff
There was a time when Meghna Gulzar was introduced to the world as Gulzar’s daughter.
Over the years, through films like Talwar, Raazi and Sam Bahadur, Meghna has successfully built an identity of a storyteller and director, who has the conviction to tell complex characters and stories that rarely offer easy answers.
Her latest film Daayra, a crime thriller starring Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran, appears to continue that journey.
At the music launch of the film in Mumbai, Gulzaarsaab, who has written one of the songs, composed by Amit Trivedi, made a rare appearance and offered a glimpse into Meghna’s creative process.
“Meghna mujhe apne scripts soonghne bhi nahi deti (she doesn’t even allow me to smell her scripts),” Gulzarsaab, who turned 92 on August 18, revealed before adding how his only child has developed a unique and independent style of filmmaking, which he has learned to respect.
Meghna revealed her process about how, after writing the film, she would religiously offer the first bound script to her father and wait for him to leave notes.
Watch: How Gulzaarsaab ‘corrects’ Meghna’s bound scripts
Videos: Afsar Dayatar/Rediff
IMAGE: Roshan Abbas engages father-daughter Gulzar and Meghna Gulzar in a candid conversation at the music launch of Daayra. Photograph: Divya Nair/Rediff
Kareena shared how Meghna is “loving and kind” but that she is also a “taskmaster” on the sets. Despite having worked for 26 years, Kareena said she felt like a “newcomer on the sets”.
Watch: ‘You’ve worked on so many films with my mother-in-law Sharmila Tagore. Now her daughter-in-law got to work with his daughter,’ Kareena tells Gulzarsaab
Kareena and Prithviraj were not allowed to wear tight-fitting clothes in Daayra.
Watch: ‘She would be like, ‘no, I don’t want to see her figure!”
IMAGE: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Gulzar, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Meghna Gulzar at the Daayra music launch. Photograph: Divya Nair/Rediff
Kareena joked that because she “couldn’t give expressions” in the film, she made up for it by being particularly expressive at the trailer launch.
Prithviraj, who plays a cop named Raman Kumar, revealed how Meghna challenged everything he knew as an actor.
“I am an occasional filmmaker and Daayra is a difficult film to make. It is a disturbing subject and you have to be objective,” Prithviraj expressed while adding how, during the film’s shoot, he would often ask questions about his character.
Watch: ‘I’ve had the maximum number of arguments on the sets,’ Prithviraj confesses
Daayra releases in theatres on September 18.
