EXCLUSIVE| 'Leaving Rhea Chakraborty Out Of Chehre Or Film's Trailer Was Never An Option': Anand Pandit

Producer Anand Pandit also talked about the comparisons between his upcoming film 'The Big Bull' and Hansal Mehta's 'Scam 1992'.

(Source- Instagram)

Anand Pandit’s ‘Chehre’ has been making waves ever since the makers shared the trailer of the film. The trailer of the mystery thriller has received a good response from the audience. While several movie buffs are quite excited to see Amitabh Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi for the first time on the silver screen, many are curious to see Rhea Chakraborty in the film. Chakraborty’s absence from the promotional posters set several tongues wagging. Many fans wondered if the makers had decided to drop her from ‘Chehre’.

 All speculations were put to rest when Anand Pandit released the trailer of ‘Chehre’. Rhea Chakraborty, who hogged all the limelight in the second half of 2020 after Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, featured in the trailer of the much-awaited film.

While ‘Chehre’ has grabbed eyeballs even before release, the trailer of Anand’s other film ‘The Big Bull’ has also received an amazing response. The much-awaited film will premiere directly on April 8, 2021, on Disney+ Hotstar.

We at ABP News spoke to the veteran producer of his upcoming projects, Rhea Chakraborty’s absence from Chehre’s promotions, and a lot more.

Excerpts from the interview

From The Big Bull to Chehre, you have produced films belonging to different genres. What drives you to explore a wide variety of subjects?

I like to make films that I would like to watch as a ticket-buying member of the audience. I have grown up admiring and loving the diversity and enormous emotional appeal of Indian cinema and in my journey as a producer, I try to reflect all that entertains, moves or engages me, makes me laugh or makes me think. Be it a contemporary study of man with enormous ambition in a film like The Big Bull or a suspenseful story like Chehre, if a theme has the potential to grab my attention, I will be drawn to the idea of making it into a film.

 The trailer of The Big Bull has generated a mind-boggling response from the audience. How did you come up with the idea?

The idea was a collaborative exercise and what emerged was a very intricate portrayal of a complicated man created by our director Kookie Gulati, writer Arjun and lead star Abhishek Bachchan. A story about an underdog always strikes a chord so I expect a great response to the film as well.

Do you think the new restrictions will affect the box office of your upcoming films?

If you are talking about pandemic related restrictions then of course, at this point, the well-being and health of content creators and the audience is more important than box-office numbers.

The audiences have witnessed the story of Harshad Mehta in a web series. What do you have to say about the comparison between the two projects? What's new in the Big Bull?

People have got the wrong understanding. The Harshad Mehta series is a completely different set of entertainment whereas The Big Bull is a story of rags to riches. It is about a Gujarati gentleman how uses the loopholes in the system to become a business tycoon. We are inspired, of course, by multiple happenings but we have nothing to do with Scam 1992.

While Chehre will release in theatres, The Big Bull will premiere on an OTT platform. Do you think the Abhishek Bachchan starrer will be able to reach a wider audience with its release on Hotstar?

In the times that we are living in, it is more important to be grateful that we are able to reach the audiences at all. As a filmmaker and producer my inherent attempt is to make my film reach the maximum number of people. 

Let's talk about the elephant in the room. Rhea Chakraborty didn't feature in the posters of Chehre, which led to several speculations. We finally got to see her in the film's trailer. Was it a conscious decision, considering the hue and cry on social media?

All the speculation about Rhea came from outside sources that had nothing to do with us. She was and is an integral part of the film. Leaving her out of the film or the trailer was never an option.

Have the OTT platforms forced the filmmakers to dish out better content in their films which release in theatres?

To be better and to grow is important regardless of how someone else is doing. All of us should be better individuals and content creators than we were yesterday.