18 hours agoAuthor: Ashish Tiwari
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Rajkumar Rao starrer film 'Srikanth' is being appreciated a lot. The response from critics and audience regarding the film is positive. This film is based on the life of visually impaired Indian industrialist Shrikant Bola. Rajkumar Rao played the role of Srikant Bola in the film. Recently, the film's producer Bhushan Kumar had a special conversation with Dainik Bhaskar about the film 'Srikanth' and upcoming projects.
Is it your foresight that you chose a subject like 'Shrikant', which is being discussed today?
I had locked this film 3-4 months before Covid at the Diwali party. There, director Tushar Hiranandani told me the story of the film. I liked the story of the film very much, at the same time I gave the signing amount to Tushar. After that Covid came. No one knew what would happen next? The casting of the film was done during Covid and the shooting of the film started after Covid. After Covid, films were not running in theatres. The audience was connected to OTT. But I was very confident about the subject and director of the film.
I felt that this was a respectable film. This film was supposed to be released last year itself. But we thought that this is a very beautiful film, let's wait for its release. When Vidhu Vinod Chopra's film '12th Fail' was released, it inspired us too. I told Tushar that now we should release this film. When we saw the film for the first time, we were a little worried whether the film would run in theaters or not.
Rajkumar Rao was also a little worried. He wanted to release the film on OTT. But I told Rajkumar Rao that the film has to be taken on the front foot. This film will run 100 percent.
We make a lot of films and earn money too. But the respect that this film has given us, no other film has given us that respect. My mother blessed me after watching this film and told me to make more such films. The blessings that we are getting mean more to us than the success of a blockbuster.
What did you see in director Tushar Hiranandani, Nidhi Parmar and the script of the film that made you feel confident about this project?
I was confident about this film from the very beginning. I never disturbed Tushar and Nidhi creatively. They would come and tell me everything themselves. They did whatever I told them to do. When the music was first recorded, if I didn't like it, I changed it immediately. Because they knew that I would give the right suggestions.
Tusshar has made this film very happy, which people are liking. This is one such film of ours which has been made within the budget. Normally our films are over budget. It was a lot of fun working with Tusshar and Nidhi and we are working together in the future too.
Are there any things that happened during the shooting that are close to your heart?
Well, I rarely go for the shooting of my films. When I went to the sets of 'Srikanth', I was surprised to see Rajkummar Rao. For the first time in my life, I have seen an actor who has completely immersed himself in the character. During the shooting he looked completely Srikanth. Even when someone came to meet him from his house, he used to look like Shrikant.
On one hand you make blockbuster big budget films like 'Animal' and 'Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2' and on the other hand you make films like 'Tumhari Sulu', 'Ludo' and 'Shrikant'. How do you strike this balance?
There are many studios that think of making the same kind of big commercial films. But our concept from the beginning has been that we want to make all kinds of films. We made 'Hindi Medium' and also films like 'Tumhari Sulu'. We made a film like 'Raid' based on real events and also a massy film like 'Animal'. After the horror comedy 'Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2', we are now making 'Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3'. It has been the vision of our company that all kinds of films should be made in our studio. We make every film with full dedication and market it with full confidence.
,People are already crazy about 'Animal Park'. Tell us something about this film and 'Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3'?
The shooting of 'Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3' is going on. This film will be released on November 1. 'Raid 2' with Ajay Devgan has been completed. This film will also be released this year. Right now, the director is going to start the film 'Spirit' with Sandeep Reddy Vanga and Prabhas. After this film, the shooting of 'Animal Park' will begin. Work is going on on 'Dhamaal 4' and 'Border 2'. The film with Anurag Basu and Kartik Aryan is starting in July.