'Rang de Basanti' was a tough act to follow: Mehra

Filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra has admitted that Rang de Basanti was a tough act to follow and credits his co-writers for their patience and craft which carved out his next offering Delhi-6.
    
The film starring Abhishek Bachchan and Sonam Kapoor is scheduled for February 20 release.
    
He said initially he was confused as to which would be his next project since Rang de Basanti was a tough act to follow.
    
Editor P S Bharati helped him choose, said Mehra.
    
"She understands my weaknesses and vacuum, and pushes me in the right direction. She was very clear that Delhi-6 would mean raising the bar for me as a director and story teller," he said.
     
For Mehra, the process of putting together a film always begins with the story idea where he starts putting his thoughts together. Kamlesh Pandey weaves a story out of his fragmented thoughts, the filmmaker said.
    
Prasoon Joshi takes it to another level bringing in his perspective by giving the characters depth and clarity.

However for Delhi-6, Mehra said he wrote and re-wrote the treatment and characters, researching all the while and bouncing off ideas to Bharati.
    
"Her clarity helped me find my own course. In this case, I was digging into my childhood memories and setting them against today's times. My thoughts were abstract and it was not going to be easy for the co-writers to decipher. It was their patience and craft which carved out a story...a beautiful story called Delhi-6," he added.