Mumbai, Producer Dinesh Vijan, whose last two releases “Chhaava” and “Stree 2” were major successes at the box office, on Thursday said the audiences are connecting to stories that are about the “new Bharat”.
The filmmaker was asked about the poor performance of Hindi movies in theatres and what was it that he thought he was doing different from others.
“I can’t tell you what I’m doing and what others are not doing because I’m doing the same thing. We’re trying to understand that right now, we are not aspirational; we’re Indian in the way we think, and the common man wants stories about us.
“So, the people we’re surrounded by are important because they are going to influence the decision that you’re going to make. I’m fortunate that my writers and directors are grounded, real people, and all are connected with new Bharat. It is important to know who we are, and the new Bharat is proud of who they are,” Vijan said at the trailer of his new movie “Bhool Chuk Maaf”.
“There’s so much here; there’s a Khazana of stories here,” the producer said.
When asked if he deliberately weaves in the theme of inclusivity in his movies, Vijan said he feels blessed to have found the right storytellers like Karan Sharma, Laxman Utekar, and Amar Kaushik, who take pride in narrating stories of India.
“They are from Bharat, and we get along like brothers, not like project makers. It is important to build the right atmosphere, creativity doesn’t flourish in desperation. It has taken us 20 years to reach here and we want to create an atmosphere with stories like this, and if we ever forget it, you all remind us because sometimes we forget from where we started.”
The producer-director, also known for movies such as “Love Aaj Kal”, “Cocktail”, “Badlapur”, “Hindi Medium”, “Bala”, “Mimi”, said he has learnt a lot from failures.
“We’ve had our share of heartache also. It has been good for the last few years, so we’ve learnt. Your failure teaches you more.”
“Bhool Chuk Maaf” marks the eighth collaboration between him and actor Rajkummar Rao after movies like “Raabta”, “Stree”, “Made in China”, “Hum Do Humare Do”, “Roohi”, “Bhediya”, and “Stree 2”.
On a lighter note, Vijan said he always looks for the availability of the National award-winning actor for most of his films.
“We first find out if Raj is available, then we see who he has not worked with. So, he has not worked with Wamiqa so let’s go ahead. On a serious note, we ask the director .
“We can’t ever insist on any actor to do a film. When Raj hears the script and if he doesn’t connect with it, he should not do it because it is like ‘Being in a relationship we don’t want to be in’,” he added.
Citing the example of casting – Rao, Aparshakti Khurrana, and Abhishek Banerjee in the “Stree” franchise, Vijan underscored the importance of casting the right talent.
“I believe it is important to cast someone in a new facet, and when that happens, it is more exciting than seeing somebody do it every time,” he said, adding that Rao is apt to play the common man on screen.
“Also, the films that I’ve worked on in my career, the films don’t have a reference point. I don’t think we’ve had a film like this where a guy is stuck in his haldi. So, when these three things happen, it becomes memorable,” he added.
Set in Varanasi, “Bhool Chuk Maaf”, follows Ranjan , who manages to land a government job to win over his love, Titli . But just before the wedding, everything goes wrong. Trapped in a single day that keeps repeating, Ranjan must figure out what went wrong, why Mahadev hit pause on his life, and what it will take to set things right.
The film is written and directed by Karan Sharma of “Maharani” fame, and he said, “It is not that tough to make such films if you’ve lived that life. There should be soul in the story irrespective of whether it is set in a small or big city.”
Presented by Dinesh Vijan in association with Amazon MGM Studios, “Bhool Chuk Maaf”, will be released on May 9.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
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