Tigmanshu Dhulia talks about why he has not worked with A-listers till Bullet Raja happened
With the sequel
to the 2011 crime drama Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster ready for release Mumbai Mirror caught up with Timanshu Dhulia,
The creative force behind both the movies.
How did you come up with the idea
of Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster?
The sequel happened
because the first one did well. It was low budget film but I had a felling it
will do well on the BO. I was pretty sure that the women would love the film.
My heroine, unlike most of her contemporaries, refuses to be a victim and
fights for their rights and emerges a winner. The fact that the film actually
did well gave me the confidence to build on the idea further and come up with a
sequel. Had Saheb Biwi not worked so well, I would have wrapped up my career in
Bollywood.
Everyone felt Paan Singh Tomar was a better choice for
Oscars than Barfi?
Well the federation decides which film
should go to the Oscars. However since Paan
Singh was a film close to my heart, I wished it has made the cut. Paan Singh would have got a better
chance because of Irrfan khan – he is an international name.
Irfaan is a common face on your
films. He is so selective when it comes to his roles. How do you manage to
convince him every time?
Well, the relationship we share is
not just a professional one. We are friends and we know each other from our theatre
days. With him, I have the liberty to insist on things. I can fight with Irrfan
without the risk of him walking out from my shoot.
You have roped in Saif and Sonakshi
for bullet raja. It is the first time you are working with A-listers. Your comments.
It is not that the stars were not willing to
work with me. I never approached them. When I began my career, Govinda used to
be the biggest star and I was keen to work with him. So much so, that I went
all the way to Hyderabad in public buses, stayed at cheap hotels.....and all
for one meeting with the star. I just wanted him to go through my script once.
However, when i finally got a chance to meet him he told me that he would hear
my script on the flight or at the airport. However, it never happened.
Go on............
Then I started
shooting a film with Sunny Deol called Ghullami in 2004, it was a period film
based on 1857, the first was of independence and it was to be made in a grand
scale. The way it was envisioned, it would have been of a greater magnitude
that Jhodha Akbar. We wanted to release it in 2007, on the occasion of the
150years of independence. We had put up a set worth Rs 70Lakh. We shot for just
three days and the producer ran out of money. So, thus my film with sunny was
shelved.
But yes because of my humiliating
experiences with Govinda, I was apprehensive to approach stars. I got to know
Shah Rukh during the shoot of Mani Ratnam’s Dil
Se and I am sure I had approached him with a script; he would have heard me
out. Weather he like the script or not is a different matter altogether.
You are working with Priyanka
Chopra and Imran khan in Milan Talkies.
Did you find it difficult to convince them?
Both of Priyanka chopra and Imran
had seen Saheb Biwi and Paan Singh with their respective
families and although it was not an immediate yes, they eventually put their
faith in me. Many times, even if the script is nice, a lot depends on how much
confidence the actors have on the director. I am glad that my work is finally
doing the talking.
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