Filmmaker Shaad Ali speaks the way he directs, without fuss, without ornament and in pursuit of something truer, something different. He seems to wear the legacy of his parents with ease but his reflections, on cinema and emotions, reflect a wisdom that is at once disarming, as it is refreshing.

In a chat with Mirror following ‘Cinema and Culture: Reflections from Two Eras’ — a discussion at the ongoing 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI 2025) that saw Shaad speak at length with his father, the veteran Muzaffar Ali — the Saathiya maker spoke of his own style of storytelling and his emotional bond with his father.

On his style of storytelling

Shaad, also known for films like Bunty aur Babli and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, doesn’t feel his movies, which seem to portray intimate ever

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