Badhaai Ho director Amit Sharma is following up the 2018 hit with a sports biopic fronted by Ajay Devgn and a Finnish family vacation
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 3, 2019)

To say that Amit Sharma had a great 2018 would be a bit of an understatement. His second directorial, Badhaai Ho, which featured Ayushmann Khurrana, Neena Gupta and Sanya Malhotra, among others, and revolved around a shock pregnancy, was one of the biggest hits of the year. “The idea was to make something that was worth the viewers time and money,” the filmmaker says, adding that he needs to have faith in a story to direct it. The filmmaker, however, doesn’t think that content is taking over the concept of stardom in Hindi films. “Content and stardom are not here to replace each other but to co-exist and complement each other. It would be magical to have a big star in a content-driven film,” he opines. Amit’s directorial debut, the Arjun Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha-starrer Tevar (2015), wasn’t received well but he sees it as a stepping stone to success. “Tevar was a special film, as it was appreciated by industry insiders, I was noticed, and it gave me a platform to direct my next film. I have loved cinema too much for a failure to let me down,” he smiles.

He is now gearing up to direct the biopic of legendary football coach Syed Abdul Rahim, which features Ajay Devgn in the title role. Once again, he downplays the pressures of working with a superstar, saying, “There is an obvious pressure, but I look at it differently. Ajay is disciplined, and committed towards everything he does, and it will be exciting to work with him,” he says. He believes that Ajay’s presence in the film will create more buzz for the sport in India. “He has a tremendous fan-following and working with a superstar will prove to be an advantage to the film. We are working on a film about the greatest Indian football coach, so it is essential to get the basics right. We are in the pre-production stage which involves collecting and corroborating information about that time. The script is locked, and we plan to go on the floors soon,” he offers. Before work beckons again, Amit is enjoying a family vacation in Finland. “I am making snowmen and swimming in subzero temperature,” he signs off.