I AM press conference, L-R: Arjun Mathur, Abhimanyu Singh, Purab Kohli, Onir, Juhi Chawla and Sanjay Suri

Heard about the I AM sneak peek happening at Coomaraswamy Hall at the Museum near Kala Ghoda and had to visit considering my good friend Sanjay Suri was promoting his co-production with director Onir and Juhi Chawla.

Present at the event besides Sanjay, Onir and Juhi were Purab Kohli, Arjun Mathur and Abhimanyu Singh. They all spoke about the film and what got them interested in the premise, why they feel so strongly about the subject matter of the four stories — child sexual abuse, homophobia, Kashmir and women having children through artificial insemination.

What’s interesting about I AM is that the producers solicited money for it through social networking sites. At the event, Juhi joked that Onir even made her pay to be in the film!

Purab, Onir, Juhi and Sanjay

Sanjay moderated the event like a pro and the packed hall seemed enthusiastic after the ‘raw’ trailer for the film was shown to them.

There were originally supposed to be five films and not just four. The fifth was to be centred around Purab but was ultimately shelved. So Onir ‘fitted’ him in one of the films with Nandita Das in which Purab plays a sperm donor. Sanjay quipped, “And he had to audition for it!”

Purab and Juhi before the event started

The camaraderie and spirit of the filmmakers and actors was evident. They believe in their product and the message it has. One only hopes the film will come out soon to avoid looking dated. And where was Rahul Bose?

I AM poster boys

> on the scene: Sailesh Ghelani <