Zipping across town on a busy Wednesday afternoon, I wonder what director Pan Nalin, known for his meditative, panoramic films will be like. I don’t know what awaits me as I find myself in his Spartan, almost empty office. As I get down to interviewing the soft-spoken man, I’m charmed by his calm and honest responses. A long photo shoot goes smoothly without any hiccups or tantrums; both photographer Ritam and I leave, thoroughly impressed by Nalin’s refreshing simplicity. Excerpts from our confab.

What does your formally untrained eye bring to a movie?
I am not completely untrained. Life has a way of training you. Initially, I did have plans to go to a film school but it never worked out. Finally, when I got an opportunity in the form of a fellowship from the French embassy, I declined for fear of being influenced by someone and losing my freshness and style. I do not regret the decision at all. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not discouraging others from attending film school but, for me, this was a good learning experience because cinema is so much about life and so little about technique. I know of filmmakers who have developed their craft very well in a school but there remains a gap in their films. They have no substance and lack vital elements like soul, spirit – emotions that are universal. I seek these ingredients to bring a kind of originality to my work. More than anything, without trying to be too commercial or artistic, I am looking for a true voice.

Is spirituality something that you try to incorporate in all your movies?
I think when any work is done well, a person is bound to become spiritual. When you start enjoying what you do, that itself brings with it a level of spirituality. For me, it means being honest, conscious and open to myself and everything around me at all times. My spirituality helps me understand my audience, my characters and the spirit of the stories I tell. Although it is a big part of who I am, I do not propagate it in all of my films.

You have won over 30 awards and received critical acclaim for your movies. How important is this recognition to you?
I find it interesting that I’m getting good responses from places like Mexico, Peru and L.A., places with tough audiences where I am told my movies will not be appreciated. But they are. Awards are not so important to me. I try not to be too responsive and let them to get to my head so that I am not left feeling depressed when my films crash. I am only excited when I get an audience choice award. It means that people don’t really judge you but, simply vote for the movie they like.

Would you say you have a particular interest in things that are unordinary?
I am a story teller and if there is any great story that excites me, I pursue it. If there is something that challenges my perception of how thing are, it excites me even more. That’s how my interest in martial arts and Ayurveda began. This curiosity is part of human nature and has helped me unfold many great secrets. Also, I think if you bring to the people an original point of view, they are sure to get excited about it.

You seem to have a particular fondness for silence as a technique in your movies. Why?
Films are a reflection of life. Every day we spend a lot of our time in silence. Because of the commercial angle, there is too much emphasis on words when in most cases, silence has a greater impact. For me, it is a very important element, one that I am constantly trying to rediscover and write into my scripts, just like I write dialogue while attempting to break the art-house mould.

What is it about Alexandra Neel’s life that inspired you to base the Valley Of Flowers on her experience?
Alexandra Neel was among the first women to travel extensively in the Himalayan region. She wrote about 30 books and lived to the age of 101. I have never seen a more adventurous spirit than hers. Most of Alexandra’s books were about magic, unknown cultures and traditions, levitating hermits, people and things she came across on her travels. It was in three pages of one of her books where she mentioned this story. It was exactly what I was looking for – an unusual setting, a mysterious girl and a bad guy. I have always wanted to do an exceptional love story and when I came across this script, it inspired me to create this tale spanning two centuries.

What is the Valley of Flowers about?
I wanted to create a story where characters are not always likeable, where the lovers are not cute and cuddly but mysterious and up to no good and leave you questioning what it is you liked about them. On one of his escapades, Jalan, a bandit, played by Milind Soman, attacks a group of people where a woman, Ushna, played by Mylene Jampanoi, unexpectedly decides to run away with him. The two fall in love and soon she convinces him that stealing the vital energy of people is much more fruitful than robbing simple materialistic things. They set out on their journey all the while being chased by Yeti, played by Naseeruddin Shah.

On hearing that a sadhu somewhere in the valley of silence is in possession of an elixir of immortality, they make their way over and just as they are about to steal it, their luck turns against them; they are caught, but not before he becomes immortal and she dies. The movie unravels in the last 40 minutes in modern Tokyo where he is now 200 years old and she is in her fifth reincarnation. Naseeruddin Shah and Milind Soman are wonderful actors who brought so much energy to the sets every day, which made my job much easier.

What do you think of Bollywood today and the contemporary fare of films it produces?
I find too many similarities in the few recent movies that I have seen. Rehashing seems to be the trend now. I can’t find anything new in Bollywood which is probably why I enjoy the earlier styles much more. Movies like Mera Gaon Mera Desh and Amar Akbar Anthony were quite original in themselves. I am a big film buff but when I see a reference to another movie, it puts me off. Sometimes I can tell which two movies have been put together to make the third. I have even seen a remake of Samsara with bits of The Witness thrown in.

When Samsara released, it ran house-full for three weeks after which they pulled it out saying the theatres were booked for the next movie way in advance and since I was a ‘one-time client,’ there was nothing they could do to extend its run. Allowing Samsara to continue instead of these ‘commercial’ movies would create a problem acquiring these corporates’ next ventures. I think that people are too stuck on the economics of what ‘works,’ leading to a monopoly in the industry.

But for me, at the end of the day, it is the emotions of the movie that count. Did I laugh, did I cry or did I leave, feeling like a cabbage! Of the recent films I have seen, Dor, Omkara and Black Friday were quite good but that’s about it. We are so lucky to come from India – a land with such a rich repertoire of stories to tell. All we need to do is explore the possibilities. Right now it is not a very script-driven industry and I hope things will change some day.

How do people in Bollywood perceive you?
I think a lot of them are curious and interested in meeting me now although they seem quite unsure whether they are talking to me because Samsara made a 100 crore at the box office or because I won critical acclaim. Regarding the few people I have met, whenever I propose something different or new, they say why not add in an item number and then you’re back to square one. I don’t think there is anything wrong with making a musical. I would love to make one sometime if I can manage to find the perfect balance of music, but with the kind of projects I have lined up, I am looking out of India because they are not your typical Bollywood movies.