Kapil Chopra on reviving grandfather BR Chopra’s banner and the ‘Barfi’ delicacy
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 15, 2017)

Kapil aka Juno Chopra, son of late filmmaker Ravi Chopra who gave Indian television the magnum opus epic series, Mahabharat, is ready to roll with three films after home production Bareilly Ki Barfi, which hits screens this Friday, and the Ittefaq remake, which releases on November 3.

Admitting that he’s still taking “baby steps” in reviving his grandfather BR Chopra’s legacy and banner, the 37-year-old producer recalls how Shah Rukh Khan had once advised him on how to choose films he wanted to bankroll. “He told me, ‘Always make films that you truly believe in and would want to attach your name to.’ I made that my motto. Today, I’m a hands-on producer. I sit with the writers and work with them. I like to listen to everyone but do what I want to,” he laughs, adding that the upcoming slate of three films will cut across genres and will be high on content. “We’ll make announcements shortly. In Hollywood, there are tent-pole superhero films, sci-fi dramas and offbeat fare. India too is steering towards the consensus that content is king. And that’s the only thing I’m keeping in mind while green-lighting a script.”

So, two years ago, when Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, who was waiting for her directorial debut, the Swara Bhaskar-starrer Nil Battey Sannata, to hit screens, came to Juno with a story she loved, he decided to read the French novel that had a line that inspired the movie. “We’d worked with Nitesh Tiwari (Ashwiny’s filmmaker husband) in our earlier production Bhoothnath Returns and I’d told her that she was meant to be a director. Once we saw the script Nitesh and Shreyas Jain had penned, there was no going back and I decided to produce Bareilly Ki Barfi,” he recalls, adding that the lead trio Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao and Kriti Sanon, were always the first choices for the film.

Juno laughs at the thought that he and his filmmaker-brother, Abhay Chopra, who is also directing Ittefaq, featuring Sidharth Malhotra, Sonakshi Sinha and Akshaye Khanna, are at loggerheads when it comes to the final casting. He admits that even though the siblings, along with their mom, Renu Chopra, argue endlessly until they reach an agreement, nothing is green-lit before they give their nod. “When we began casting for Ittefaq, all of us knew we wanted Akshaye as Rajan Kumar. Sidharth as Vikram and Sonakshi as Maya were also our first choices and luckily both of them loved the script. We’ve wrapped up the film and it’s been a fun ride,” he says, adding that he has reunited with Rajkummar who will be seen as Dr Pratap Mehta in the remake.

The filmmaker harks back to the time when the family was hit by a rough patch, saying it brought them closer. “My dad was unwell and as a family, we were going through a bad time, but circumstances made us a stronger unit. Today, we understand each other and work towards a sole aim of seeing our banner fly high. We have our differences but are open-minded,” he smiles.