Mumbai: Tanuja Chandra, whose "Qarib Qarib Singlle", has been critically applauded, says she is more comfortable with hard-hitting films but would love to explore light-hearted stories as well. Tanuja is best known for her psychological thrillers such as "Dushman" (1998) and "Sangharsh" (1999), which she feels were ahead of their time.   "If they had released now, they would have been received even better," says Tanuja in an interview to PTI.   

"I have made dark films that were great and that is my comfort zone. There is a certain comfort zone (in)... a hard-hitting thriller or a dramatic-emotional film. But I do want to diversify."   The reviews and box office response for "Qarib Qarib Singlle", starring Irrfan Khan and Malayalam actor Parvathy, have been good. Its success has encouraged the director to try more films in this genre.   

"I love this space and would love to make films in this space. If I had to guess, it is to do something real and genuine in terms of characters. I don't have the talent to make a film that's not rooted in real life," she says.   Tanuja thinks she could add something different and fresh to the genre.   "We are working on something but nothing is finalised. I would love to do a happy film and then go back to thriller space. I would like to make a light fun film first," she says.  

The seed of "Qarib Qarib Singlle" was sown almost 20 years ago by Tanuja's mother and noted writer Kamna Chandra.   "It was something she had written two decades ago. But it stayed in my mind and I wanted to use it, so we modernised it a bit in terms of story," she says. PTI