Rajkumar Hirani on choosing boxer Ritika Singh for Saala Khadoos

Harshada Rege (DNA; January 11, 2016)

With Saala Khadoos, you’re producing a film that isn’t being directed by you...

Yes, this is the first time that I am producing for somebody else. The last time I was on board as a producer was for my own film. It’s been a different kind of a learning experience. Basically, my natural bent is to get creatively involved, but then as a producer you also have to do the other part of marketing, promoting and selling. Sudha (Kongara), who is the director looks as it ke koi involve hoke help hi kar raha hai. It’s been a wonderful experience. Whatever little I could contribute creatively I have done, but it’s their film so you don’t really want to curtail someone’s vision and say ke aap aisa hi karo. It’s her vision so she is making it her according to her sensibilities, but wherever I could’ve contributed I have done that.

This is the second time you are associating with Madhavan...

After 3 Idiots, Madhavan decided to go easy and just do the good scripts that come his way. But good scripts aaj kal milna aasan nahi hai and eventually an actor runs out of patience. He starts thinking ke aab jo bhi aaye main kar loon. Madhavan actually waited. In the meanwhile, he did Tanu Weds Manu and its sequel. He was on the lookout for a good script.

This was one script that Sudha was writing then Maddy heard it and he got involved. What I admire about him his that he has taken his chances. Sometimes when you take such a long break waiting for that good script you can be completely of the radar. But he took his chances. It’s a risky thing to do. He is committed to his work which I have seen when I worked with him in 3 Idiots. He’s more a friend now. I can tell him what I feel. We have worked together, taken holiday together. It’s a very easy relationship. He said I have a script and will you present it? My first reaction was that if it’s a good film then I can present it. Eventually, came on board as a producer.

You picked Ritika Singh, who is a real boxer, to play one on screen...

In a sports film, it is extremely important that the actor is presented in such a way that sport looks real. In Bhaag Milka Bhaag, Farhan (Akhtar) really worked on his externals and made himself look like a runner. We had two options, to take an actor and train him to be a boxer, or take a girl who is a boxer and train her to act. Taking an actress would’ve been the easiest way out. We said, ‘Let’s see if we can find a boxer instead because she has a lot of matches in the film’. Then the boxing will become real if we get a good boxer that area would taken care of. So Sudha and Maddy went on a hunt. They started looking at boxers in the boxing league started by Raj Kundra and that’s where they found Ritika. They told me that she is very good, but my fear was that how will she act? When I saw her, she showed some of her actions in the ring and they looked very good, very real. So I was assured ki yeh fake nahi lag raha hai. Otherwise what happens is that you see an actor hitting two punches and then you move the camera to something else. So we knew that the fights would look real. The we said chalo acting karwa ke dekho. And she turned out to be absolutely real. Besides Hindi, the movie is also being shot in Tamil. She already knew Hindi because she is from Kalyan. We wondered how will she speak Tamil. So we gave some lines and because she is a sportsperson there’s tremendous focus and she is regimented about her work, she did well. She reads, she is curious, she is eager to take instructions. When she did her test there was some very raw energy in her. The way she was talking, the way she was behaving, she was doing it very well. So we decided to go ahead and take a chance.

We keep taking such chances. In 3 Idiots we had done that while casting for Chatur’s role. Omi Vaidya used to stay in America and didn’t know Hindi at all. But we thought there’s something funny about him so let’s cast him for the role. That’s what we did here. Now that the film is ready you see the raw energy in her. Her performance is honest.