Showing posts with label Sejal Shah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sejal Shah. Show all posts
We didn’t want to make Saare Jahan Se Accha jingoistic-Pratik Gandhi
9:26 AM
Akash Bhatnagar (HINDUSTAN TIMES; September 8, 2025)
Actor Pratik Gandhi recently led the patriotic series Saare Jahan Se Accha, released just before Independence Day. Set during the Indo-Pak tensions of the 1970s, the series explores a spy’s story. With the show premiering shortly after the recent India-Pakistan conflict, Pratik admits the timing made promotions tricky.
The 45-year-old says, “We were very clear when we shot that it’s not about jingoism. But the concern did arise. Once we learned the release date — and considering what had happened recently — the context shifted in the audience’s mind,” adding, “That’s when you have to be very careful while talking about your project, because you know there’s no agenda, propaganda or jingoism involved. But how do you convey that to an audience whose mindset has already shifted?”
Producer Sejal Shah echoes the sentiment, emphasizing that the aim was never to push an agenda. “The storytelling in the show was always about emotions. It’s a story about love for one’s country and the sacrifices people are willing to make for it. The goal wasn’t about revenge or violence; it was peaceful — aimed at stopping a war.”
Pratik adds that the team consciously avoided loud patriotism. “There is a fine line between patriotism and jingoism, and we were clear that we didn’t want to make it jingoistic. In today’s hyperactive social media world, if something is repeated enough, people start believing it. I believe patriotism is an emotion you carry within, and there are multiple ways to express it – the easiest being to shout about it. But when you add depth, make it interesting, intriguing, and relatable, that’s where the real difference lies,” he says.
The actor adds, “When you feel ‘Mera Bharat Mahaan’, just communicate it. Actually, even without you saying these words, I should feel that oh my God, this guy feels a lot about his country.”
Pratik Gandhi to play R&AW agent in ’70s spy thriller For Your Eyes Only
8:28 AM
Scam 1992 star Pratik Gandhi to play R&AW agent in ’70s spy thriller For Your Eyes Only; series, inspired by real-life events, to roll next month
Upala KBR (MID-DAY; September 18, 2022)
After 'Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story' (2020) and 'The Great Indian Murder', Pratik Gandhi has zeroed in on his third web series. Next month, the actor will begin filming 'For Your Eyes Only'. One hears that the Netflix show—produced by Sejal Shah and Bhavesh Mandalia, the creators of 'Serious Men' (2020) and 'Decoupled' (2021)—will be an espionage thriller set in the ’70s, with Gandhi portraying an R&AW agent.
Mounted on a grand scale, the story of 'For Your Eyes Only' travels across India and all the way to Budapest as the protagonist goes undercover to find and neutralise security threats to the country. A unit member informs, “Backed by Sejal and Bhavesh’s production house, The Bombay Fables Motion Pictures, the project will roll on October 1. An elaborate set is being put up in Mumbai, which will be the venue for the first schedule. After that, the team will move to Delhi, Rajasthan and Visakhapatnam, before heading to Budapest. It will be a start-to-finish schedule of over 40 days.”
The series also stars Rajat Kapoor, Tillotama Shome, Sunny Hinduja, and Kritika Kamra. In keeping with the style of the ’70s, Gandhi will sport a different look. “The designer and make-up teams have already created the looks of the primary characters, including that of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and R N Kao, the first chief of India’s external intelligence agency. While many films have depicted spies as suave and stylish, this story remains authentic, depicting Pratik’s character and other R&AW agents as everyday men whose job requires them to blend into the crowd. The subject has been researched for over a year. The creators including Gaurav Shukla and director Sumit Purohit want it to be authentic and gritty. Important real-life events of that decade will be depicted.”
The source adds that 'For Your Eyes Only' will be one of the biggest drama series sanctioned by Netflix India, besides Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi. “A foreign DoP has been hired. The budget too is steep as sets resembling certain cities of Pakistan will be built for crucial sequences. The title is derived from the fact that when the intelligence agencies send confidential documents to the prime minister, they are always put in an envelope with the words ‘For Your Eyes Only’ written on them.”
Nawazuddin Siddiqui to undergo a physical transformation for Umesh Shukla's upcoming biopic
8:06 AM
Umesh Shukla says Siddiqui to undergo physical training for role of customs officer in upcoming biopic
Uma Ramasubramanian (MID-DAY; November 21, 2020)
Nawazuddin Siddiqui's prowess before the camera has so far been adequate in enabling him to charm his audience, but the actor is set to raise the bar with Umesh Shukla's next. "Nawaz will alter his physical appearance, and will need to acquire a certain definition to get into the character," Shukla, who is set to create a biopic on a customs officer, tells mid-day.
Following his socially-relevant satires Oh My God and 102 Not Out with a biography on prime minister Narendra Modi, the director is now drawn to stories that don't depend on fiction. In his second attempt at revisiting history to present another tale of bravado, he will showcase how the officer "fearlessly worked [to fix the flaws sin] the system."
"Nawaz is a committed actor. When we discussed about the physical transformation, he was excited. He will begin working on the character in early 2021. I always wanted to work with him. When this [film] came my way, I couldn't resist narrating it to him," he says of Sejal Shah's upcoming directorial venture that has been penned by Bhavesh Mandalia.
Shukla views Mandalia as a crucial addition to the team. Apart from penning his celebrated 2012 film, Oh My God, he was also instrumental in deftly creating Siddiqui's character in Serious Men. "The film will roll in March over extensive schedules in Goa and Mumbai."
Imagine Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge as an out and out comedy and you get Aankh Micholi-Umesh Shukla
8:04 AM
Umesh Shukla describes his current directorial as DDLJ in an out-and-out comic space
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 3, 2020)
The director of Oh My God and 102 Not Out, Umesh Shukla, wrapped up his next, Aankh Micholi, on March 6, just before the nationwide lockdown was announced. He is currently locking the final edit. “We shot for around 15 days in Switzerland, followed by a 40-day schedule in Punjab. We are lucky to have completed the film just in time,” admits Umesh who doesn’t make films only for laughs, but also weave a social message into the narrative. “This one talks of family values, it’s a blend of magic and logic. My films are clean and devoid of darkness because I want families to enjoy them.”
Prod him for details and he says, it’s a comedy in the Yash Chopra world. “Imagine Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge as an out-and-out comedy and you get Aankh Micholi,” he quips. It features Abhimanyu Dassani and Mrunal Thakur and the director points out that his hero Abhimanyu showed spark in his comic scenes with Mahesh Manjrekar in Mard Ko Dard Nahin Hota and even Mrunal is a blend of histrionics and humour.
The film, produced by Sony Pictures Films India with Umesh’s partner, Ashish Wagh, reunites him with Paresh Rawal after OMG Oh My God and Umesh informs that the two have known each other since 1986. “I started doing backstage work for his plays. Paresh bhai liked my temperament and made me an assistant director. Then, I acted with him in a couple of plays and finally, I directed him in two-three of them. It’s because of his large heart that I am here,” he says humbly.
Paresh was recently elected as the Chairman of National School of Drama. Considering that both come from a theatre background are there any plans of collaborating on NSD. “Yes, recently we discussed changes and improvements in the current structure. He has a bound progressive plan for the future of theatre and I will help him in whatever way possible,” he promises.
Meanwhile, Umesh’s next is a biopic of Ujjwal Nikam who worked on prominent criminal cases and helped prosecute suspects in the 1993 Bombay bombings, the Gulshan Kumar murder case, the Pramod Mahajan murder case, and the 2008 Mumbai attacks, where he was the public prosecutor in Ajmal Kasab’s case. “Yes, my next is on public prosecutor, Ujjwal Nikam. The script is almost locked and I will start approaching actors soon, I am very excited,” he asserts, saying that, as a producer too, he will roll with multiple projects by early next year, one of them with Nawazuddin Siddiqui to be directed by Sejal Shah. “It’s an incredible story, you won’t believe it’s true,” he signs off.
Sudhir Mishra to make film on late editor Renu Saluja; in talks with Aditi Rao Hydari to play the lead role
8:08 AM
Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; March 21, 2018)
Director Sudhir
Mishra is set to make a film on the life of late Bollywood film
editor, Renu Saluja. She was his live-in partner, but “you can refer
to her as my wife too,” says Mishra, who collaborated with Saluja on
award-winning films like Dharavi (1993) and Is Raat Ki Subah
Nahin (1996). “The film is my way of remembering her,” he
adds. Titled Swaha, the movie will see Aditi Rao Hydari essay the
role of Saluja.“I have spoken to Aditi and she has agreed. It has been 18 years since Renu passed away. I have been toying with the idea for long. Initially, writer Juhi Chaturvedi was to work on the script, but things didn’t fall in place. I took over the writing and now have a producer [Sejal Shah] on board. The movie will go on the floors later this year,” says the filmmaker.
In the ’80s and ’90s, Saluja was one of Mumbai’s top-notch film editors. Her filmography includes Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Parinda (1989) and 1942: A Love Story (1994), Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen (1994) and Vinay Shukla’s Godmother (1999). Some film folk also turned to her to salvage their projects and make them award worthy. “She had that inherent knack; whatever film she touched turned into gold. Many of her movies bagged awards,” says Mishra, who doesn’t want Swaha to be an adulatory piece about her. “I am not making a film about a film editor, but a supremely confident woman who happened to be an editor. It is about my relationship with a wonderful woman. It will show her various facets.”
Saluja battled cancer and passed away in 2000. She was 48. Mishra wants to relive her days of struggle in the film. “I want to capture the moments when she started moving away [from me] to refigure her own life, which was coming to an end.”
Saluja was filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s ex-wife, but Mishra’s film will not touch upon that aspect of her life. “Even after they parted ways, her and Vinod’s professional relationship continued. She passed away while editing Mission Kashmir (2000), which was completed by Rajkumar Hirani,” says Mishra.
Sudhir Mishra's next a screen adaptation of Manu Joseph's debut novel Serious Men
7:45 AM
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 15, 2017)
Veteran journalist-author Manu Joseph’s debut novel, Serious Men (2010), which won the Hindu Literary Prize and PEN Open Book Award, is being adapted into a film. To be directed by Sudhir Mishra, screenplay and dialogue is presently being written by the National award-winning Bhavesh Mandalia (OMG-Oh My God!).
“The better the book, the more difficult it is to adapt it and this one is amazing. I would love to retain Manu’s acerbic viewpoint since it matches with my worldview,” says Sudhir.
The tragic-comedy is about a clerk who lives in a chawl and works for leading international scientists while falsely promoting his 10-year-old son as a genius.
Sudhir notes that Serious Men is about an underdog. “I loved the father’s character the most for his range of emotions and view of life. I’m going to try and evoke similar emotions,” Sudhir promises, adding that as a scientist’s son he understands the world better.
Producer and former journalist Sejal Shah acquired the rights to the book two months ago and introduced Sudhir and Manu last month. They will start casting once the script is locked.
Manu, who will be in Mumbai in two weeks for a second meeting with the makers, says that he was left unimpressed by offers for a screen adaptation five years ago. “But Sejal is a reader. It’s not like she took a narration, saw masala in the story and decided to turn it into a film. I liked her and her team who were clear that I would be kept in the loop at every stage and the final interpretation would not come as surprise to me,” says Manu.
He adds that meeting Sudhir was a relief because the filmmaker, like him, can see the humour in seriousness. “Sudhir gets the tone of the book and the fact that if we want to state something important, we shouldn’t necessarily abandon the idea of entertainment. At the same time, just because we wish to entertain, we need not be frivolous,” he explains. “I believe that the novel is a unique medium and those who try to be too faithful to it usually end up in a lot of creative trouble. I respect the needs of the screen, this is going to be a Hindi film but I believe some of the monologues can be retained. I’m going to sit back and have fun watching other people interpret my novel. It’s such a slog writing dialogue and it will be interesting how others come up with their inferences,” he signs off with a laugh.
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