Some films are written at a desk. Others are discovered while life quietly unfolds. For filmmaker Jayesh Jaidka, PREET was born not in a writer’s room, but in the stillness of a tiny New York apartment during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Jayesh’s journey has been anything but conventional. It has taken him from cricket academies to Delhi University’s vibrant theatre culture, from Boston University and the New York Film Academy to the director’s chair of an ambitious international feature film to what unfolds next?
PREET is a gripping crime and suspense thriller woven around two deeply human issues that transcend borders: domestic violence and the fragile existence of undocumented immigrants in New York City. What first emerged as a short film and proof of concept has now evolved into a full-length cinematic vision, one that transcends boundaries and promises some of the best talent from across the globe.
The film is jointly produced by Harjot Kaur, Sarvesh Jaidka, and Jayesh Jaidka. Jayesh forged the crew in both countries, US and India, provided the company setup, and cast international and nationally known actors from India, US, the UK, Canada, Mexico and Central Asia. As a director, story writer, and screenplay writer, Jayesh shaped the creative soul of the film.
With production entering its final phase, Jayesh speaks about the long journey behind PREET, a journey fuelled as much by emotion as imagination.
Q: Jayesh, you have finally finished the shoot. How does it feel to finally see PREET taking shape?
Jayesh Jaidka: It feels surreal. When you’ve lived with a story for close to 6 years, you start observing the growth in it, and sometimes it’s almost crazy how much everything has changed from the first draft to what we shot.
What astounds me more is how much I have evolved over the years. While Preet grew in story, teammates, and the whatnots, I sometimes have a hard time recognizing when I went from a boy who had a hard time setting up his closet in NYC in 2020 to a man who now runs a whole company and is leading an Indo-US feature film, while dealing with jealousy, insecurities, and rivalry, but also successfully having a network base in both the US and India.
There’s a lot that I want to share in between, but all I will say until the film is completed is that the pain of all the rejections takes a back seat when the confidence of who you truly are starts shaping your personality. If you’re a filmmaker or actor trying to break in, use the power of those rejections to prove everyone wrong – anything is possible if you put your mind to it. That, and learn the business – nothing is possible without it.
Q: You also brought a female co-writer into the project. Why was that important?
Preet is a woman’s story, and not having a female voice leading it was the missing sauce to the script. Even before the short film/proof of concept, I took a swing at the feature film script and failed miserably. Partly because I badly wanted to succeed at Sundance Film Festival, hence I wasn’t doing justice to myself by writing an art house film that had no correlation to myself as a filmmaker and entertainer.
It was when I decided to at least shoot the proof of concept to keep my passion alive that I realized that I have a heavy penchant for making a mystery thriller of this film, and while I feel for the topic heavily, I want to showcase a domestic abuse survivor as a roaring power fighting back, which is when I knew I needed a female voice to lead the writing department.
A film that experiments with twists through psychological turnarounds of a domestic abuse survivor required a strong female writer, and Jessica Jiji was the perfect partner I could find. I searched for a writing partner for a whole year, not wanting to work with writers that wanted to follow a simple writing formula written in books like Save the Cat. Taking nothing away from the book and while both Jessica and I have read it, I wanted a brave writer that understood that a script that breaks these rules after having a foundation on them is a script that will transcend tremendously on screen.
Jessica Jiji is a fantastic, ever so happy and just the most amazing human to have worked with and, dare I say it, my long-lasting partner in crime in this film. I had a video chat with her where I showed her the rushes, and she was able to tell the scene with just the frames, and that’s how you know she knows her job and aces it without trying very hard. God’s gift.
I’m already developing my next with her – a band movie. I think I have a great friend in Jessica. Most likely taking off my shirt in this one, if I can sustain my stress to fun levels until the end of Preet, haha.
Q: What has been the biggest challenge in bringing PREET to life?
The patience, uncertainty, counts where I was taken lightly, and just the sheer restraint I have had to show during the development of this film. This film has matured me in ways I didn’t know I could. I think the period of April 2024 – February 2026 was the most emotionally grueling and exhausting period of my life. The Bermuda Triangle of travels between New York City, New Delhi, and Mumbai really had me lost, pun intended.
As I answer this question, I am still doing a lot of things for the first time. It can be challenging to trust my own gut sometimes with all the opinions thrown at me. I guess that’s why my ideal, Mr. Ratan Tata, used to say: Every Tough decision is a lonely decision.
Building a robust system for merging two of the biggest film industries is a task, but to also be mindful of the risk involved in using family finances, a personal loan, and all my savings is a whole new ball game. It builds you to a different stage altogether. Once a man goes through the pressures and confusion of doing everything for the first time, the self-confidence achieved at every stage is an immaculate feeling. Fully counting on character growth to not be my only reward after the film’s success haha! I have my eyes on a new BMW to begin with.
Q: Was filmmaking always your first love?
My first love will always be my family. Good people, but can be a handful. My second love was a girl in high school who dumped me in 3 days. Let’s never talk about that again. Still stings!
After that, yes – I was torn between acting and cricket. Acting took precedence because I was a sucker for attention, still am, but now I’ve learnt to also be a giver and share space. Acting took me to theatre days in Ramjas College, where I studied economics. Post a 4-week acting course to NYFA LA and my theatre society not letting me direct a Kashmiri adaptation of The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh, I started a film company out of revolt. Revolt led me to making films with friends, and somehow I just fell in love with filmmaking.
Q: Beyond filmmaking, who is Jayesh Jaidka?
A goofy, ambitious, adventurous, passionate, sensitive travel bugging, super talkative human seeking his full potential and a cute girlfriend.
Q: Finally, what should audiences expect from PREET?
It will blow your minds away; that’s what you can expect. The actors and crew members are some of the tightest performers and muscles out there. From my lead actress to the spot boy on the set in India, I am so proud of how everyone has contributed to the film. I also had the time of working with some of the most amazing talent in NYC who were a part of the B-wing shoot in NYC.
If you’re a lover of unsettling psychological suspense thrillers, this one is for you. If you’re not, I may have to drug and drag you to the theaters.
Q: What was the difference between your shoots in New York City and India?
*The crew. I feel like the passion in India blew me away. This was my first stint of shooting in India and this told me so much about my home country. I felt a sudden surge of passion and mutual respect that all crew members that had for each other; which naturally translated to fun and frolic even in stressful situations. I would like to give special shoutouts to Ojas Jain (Director of Photography), Vishal Pandey (Production Designer), Anoop Tiwari (1st AD), Irshit Sharma (2nd AD), Sumit Dubey (Line Producer), Harshit Bakshi (Head of Production), Ritu Meebisht (Costume Designer), and my literal backbone – Sanand Saxena (Associate Producer and Director’s Assistant). A dream team that will carry forward!*
*Taking nothing away from the crew in NYC. We had a whole stint of stolen hard drives by a few delinquents but I’d rather like to shed light on some of the most amazing people that came onboard to resume the shoot and truly make the production experience in NYC enjoyable and how I remember the city as. I want to give them a shoutout here – Eleni McClain(1st AD), Tal Kissos(DP and Gaffer), Jenil Mehta(1st AC), Malvika Bajaj(Costume Designer), Emili Weintraub(Script Supervisor), Sebastian Holst (Sound) , Lou Serrano(Grip) and Esteban Campagne(Grip), to name a few.*
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