Waiting

About the film

Waiting is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Anu Menon. Produced by Priti Gupta and Manish Mundra under the banner of Ishka Films and Drishyam Films respectively, the film was co-written by Menon and James Ruzicka, and stars Naseeruddin Shah and Kalki Koechlin. Waiting focuses on the relationship between two people from different walks of life who befriend each other in a hospital, while nursing their respective comatose spouses. Rajat Kapoor, Suhasini Maniratnam, Arjun Mathur, Ratnabali Bhattacharjee and Rajeev Ravindranathan play supporting roles in the film.

The development of the film began in June 2014, when Menon signed Koechlin and Shah for an untitled project. Principal photography started in November 2014 in the South Indian coastal city of Kochi; Neha Parti served as the cinematographer for the film. New Zealand-based singer-songwriter Mikey McCleary composed the film's score. Nitin Baid and Apurva Asrani edited the film, and Atika Chohan wrote the dialogue. Waiting also marked the Hindi film debut of the prominent South Indian actress-director Suhasini Maniratnam. Koechlin also made her debut as a lyricist with the film's soundtrack, writing the song "Waiting for You".

Plot

Shiv Natraj (Naseeruddin Shah), an elderly psychology professor, arrives at a hospital in Kochi to visit his comatose wife, Pankaja (Suhasini Maniratnam). Tara Kapoor Deshpande (Kalki Koechlin), a young advertising agent, also arrives at the hospital during the night after being delivered news of a car accident involving her husband, Rajat Deshpande (Arjun Mathur). She is consoled by Rajat's eccentric co-worker Girish (Rajeev Ravindranathan), but dismisses him abruptly. Tara is deeply disturbed to see Rajat breathing on a ventilator, and leaves immediately.

In the waiting lounge, Tara approaches Shiv, believing him to be a doctor, and asks for his advice. He reveals that his wife had a stroke eight months ago while he was out watching a cricket match, and has been in a coma ever since. The two bond over their similar situations. Later, Girish drops Tara off at a hotel and gives her Rajat's bag. Tara finds his watch in it and puts it on. The next day she is angered after reading an intimate message on Rajat's phone from a colleague Sheetal, who is later revealed to be a man. Shiv witnesses the whole misunderstanding, and the two share a light moment. He later visits her at the hotel, and she shares her disappointment with her friends and followers on social media for having abandoned her. She commends Shiv for his composure, as he explains the five stages of grief to her.

Tara finds her strength in Shiv, a wiser and more experienced counterpart. The two start spending most of their spare time together coping with their grief, despite being completely opposite in nature. Shiv takes Tara to the temple, and she takes him shopping. Rajat's doctor, Nirupam Malhotra (Rajat Kapoor), tells Tara that Rajat has a hematoma in his brain and an operation might help him recover, but it carries the risk of partial paralysis. Tara is torn, as she believes Rajat would not want to take the risk, and seeks advice from Shiv. He is already at loggerheads with Dr. Malhotra, dismissing him as a pawn of the hospital board and the insurance companies who only care about making money and not the patients. Tara and Shiv get into a heated argument. Shiv lashes out angrily at Tara for not giving Rajat a chance at life. Tara retorts that she is a realist, and dismisses Shiv for being selfish and making his wife go through pain for his own sake.

Production

Made on a modest budget, the movie Waiting was produced by Priti Gupta of Ishka Films and Manish Mundra of Drishyam Films. The film was directed by Anu Menon, her second directorial work after the romantic comedy London, Paris, New York (2012). She also co-wrote the script with fellow London Film School alumnus and former anesthesiologist James Ruzicka. Menon, inspired by her own personal experience, started working on the film's script with Ruzicka. She called the writing process extremely difficult as they had to figure out "what it means to be associated with a comatose patient, both emotionally and medically". She said later that Ruzicka's experience as a medical practitioner proved really helpful in developing a logical understanding of the situation. Menon revealed that she had begun writing the story years before the actual production for the film began, and that it took her several years to complete it.

Pre-production work began in July 2014, when Mundra, a Dubai-based film producer, agreed to produce. Menon wanted an entirely different setting for the film, away from "fast paced city life", and decided to set the story in the South Indian state of Kerala. The film's director of photography was cinematographer Neha Parti Martyani, who had been previously associated with films including My Name Is Khan (2010) and Yamla Pagla Deewana (2011). The film's dialogue was written by Atika Chohan. Prajakta Ghag was the film's production designer.

Entertainment website Bollywood Hungama reported that Kalki Koechlin was set to star in Menon's upcoming film. The published reports revealed that Koechlin would be playing the role of the young, brash, and social-media-savvy Tara Deshpande. Koechlin's co-star from That Girl in Yellow Boots (2011) and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011), Naseeruddin Shah, joined the cast after he was approached by Menon, who sent him the film's script in an e-mail. Shah, who did not have any prior knowledge of Menon's work, accepted the male lead role in the film. To prepare for the role, Koechlin worked on the dialect in which her character spoke, an amalgamation of Hindi and English. She also dyed her hair black for the role, as Menon wanted her to look more "earthy". In an interview with Gulf News, Koechlin said she loved the film's vibe and compared it to the American drama Lost In Translation (2003). In a separate e-mail interview with Arti Daniel of The Khaleej Times, Shah said that Waiting was his way of making up to the audience for the spate of "ghastly movies" that he did in 2014.

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