For 17 years, Yash Raj Films (YRF) has been home to Abhiraj Minawala, who worked as an assistant director on its several productions. It’s not surprising then that YRF head honcho Aditya Chopra gave him the duty of helming Mardaani 3, led by Rani Mukerji.

Minawala tells mid-day, “Among the many ideas we discussed, one dealt with the emotions of a parent and a child [against the backdrop of] human trafficking. As soon as I read the script of Mardaani 3, as a father, I was scared. So, the decision of taking this up was more important to me as a father than a filmmaker.”

Minawala may have made his directorial debut with Loveyatri (2019) outside the YRF fold, but his equation with Chopra has always been of faith. So much so that the producer recommended him to Shah Rukh Khan for a few sequences of Jawan (2023).

“I ended up working on two-three small sequences in Jawan. Shah Rukh sir is so sweet. He just called and said, ‘Beta kya kar raha hai? Chal, aaja.’ That’s it,” he recalls.