Was so nervous before release of Luck By Chance, I got drunk: Zoya Akhtar

Mumbai: Zoya Akhtar's directorial debut ‘Luck By Chance’ received tremendous acclaim upon its release, and the filmmaker reveals she was so nervous before the first day of shoot that she got drunk.

Released in 2009, the drama chronicled the story of an aspiring actor and his girlfriend who, is a struggling actress.

The film starred Farhan Akhtar, Konkona Sen Sharma, Hrithik Roshan among others.

When asked what her reaction was before the first day of shoot, Zoya said, "The day before the shoot of my first film, it was the time I got really nervous. I wasn't nervous till then and then I just got drunk. That was it. I was fine the next morning."

She was speaking at a special event along with acclaimed director Cary Fukunaga at the ongoing 18th Jio MAMI Mumbai film festival.

For Cary, the experience of shooting all his films is like going back to school.

"For a lot of my projects I move to new places so not everyone of the crew that I am familiar with can come with me.

It is like your first day of school again. Hundreds of people staring at you, expecting you to know what you're doing," he said.

"Of course you've an idea but you're hoping things will just come together. So, there is a lot of anxiety, knowing everyone is looking at you. You better say something, and hopefully it is smart," he added.

The filmmaker, who boasts of several acclaimed projects in his kitty like ‘True Detective’, ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘Beasts of no Nation’, said in his head he thought he was giving motivational speeches to the crew, only to realise later that they were merely some technical commands.

"I used to try to make speeches to my crew, but then I realised I am not very good at speeches. In your mind you think you are moving every one but... All you do is 'put some cables here," said the 39-year-old filmmaker, who is gearing up for his next TV series "Maniac".

To this, Zoya, 44, recalled a conversation she had with collaborator and filmmaker Reema Kagti before shooting her first film.

"Reema made a film before me, so I asked her 'what am I going to do if I don't know what to say to the crew. What if I don't know where to put the camera?' She said, whenever in doubt, go handheld, just move (the camera) and it will be fine."

Post that, Zoya went on to direct films like ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ and ‘Dil Dhadkne Do’.