The Donation

There's an interesting story about how he came to spell his name. The much-in-demand director of the surprise hit " Vicky Donor" was Sujit Sircar till he was well into his late twenties. "But even till as late as that, my life wasn't going anywhere, so my mother, perhaps out of some belief, requested me to change the way I spelt my name and that's how I became Shoojit." Clearly, here's a case of mama knowing best for the adfilm maker-turned-features film director who has not looked back since. After a long stint at Contract in New Delhi where he apprenticed under the likes of Pradeep Sarkar, Shoojit, 43, moved to Mumbai ten years ago. After directing scores of slick ad films, he made his features debut with the Jimmy Shergill-starrer "Yahaan", set in Kashmir, burnt his hands with "Shoebite" that never saw the light of day, and finally is back in the reckoning with the rib-tickling "Vicky Donor". Over an hour-long interview at his unpretentious Juhu office, Sircar spoke about how his latest film came about. Excerpts from the interview:

What prompted you to make a film on sperm donation, of all the subjects?

Juhi Chaturvedi, the writer, and I have worked together on several advertising films. One day, she came up to me and started discussing a film on sperm donation. I felt that if women were beginning to discuss the issue, perhaps I should go ahead and direct something on the subject. So we met a Sindhi-Gujju doctor (identity concealed) who became the prototype for Annu Kapoor's Dr Chadha. He gave us several insights, anecdotes and I must tell you that he spoke exactly how Annuji does in the movie. Meanwhile, I had been wanting to work with John Abraham on an altogether different script called 'Madras Talkies'. While we were discussing that, John mentioned he was looking to produce films, so then I mentioned the script for "Vicky Donor" to him. He read it, and decided to put his own money behind the project. That's how it came about.

You are a Bengali who has stayed in Delhi all your life. Clearly, a lot of the milieu in "Vicky Donor" comes from your personal experiences.

Well, I studied in Bhagat Singh college, (and that's the one Vicky has studied in). While I was studying there, I learnt theatre production (backstage, direction, sound and light management) with the theatre group Act 1. I trained with NK Sharma, who has been mentor to many of us including Imtiaz Ali, Manoj Bajpai, Ashish Vidyarthi, Swanand Kirkire, Vishal Bhardwaj and now Imran Khan. We all always show our scripts to him before starting a project and our belief is that once he has scrutinized it, abused us some, that we can begin work on it. That's his blessing. If he doesn't abuse you, you know something is amiss. As for "Vicky Donor", it is set in Lajpat Nagar which is where all my friends lived, and it's a place I know well.

I must here also share an episode from my mother's life that I have incorporated in the film. Several years ago, my mother, due to certain health reasons, suffered from insomnia. I'd often give her a shot of whisky to help her sleep. She liked that so much that later when I moved, she would want me to visit her in Kolkata to give her that same medicinal shot! I have captured this in the film where Dolly and Beeji drink together before retiring for the night. This has been widely appreciated. In fact, I got a text message the other day from a Punjabi aunty in Delhi saying, "Thank God after this we will be offered proper drinks and not cold drinks."

Dr Anjali Malpani, along with her husband, started India's first sperm bank in 1990. Here's what she had to share on sperm donation...

Facts

21-40 years is the best age to donate. The lower age limit is there for the donor to understand what he's getting into. Post-40, while sperm count remains the same, problems like difficulty in ejaculating may occur.

Once the sperm being donated is ascertained to be disease-free, 10 samples are posted with the bank over a three-month period, fetching the donor 5000.

There are no laws regulating sperm donation, only guidelines from the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research). 



The Guidelines

Couple seeking the sperm cannot see or know the name and address of the donor. However, at 18, physical and education attributes can be revealed to the child. However, at no stage can the name and address of the donor be shared.

The donor has no right over the child.

Top donor preferences

Fair-skinned donors (surprisingly, this request comes even from parents who are from the South and are possibly dark-skinned, themselves)

Tall ("as tall as Amitabh Bachchan")

Highly educated professionals

Donor from a particular religion 

Source: Times  of India