The biggies are getting boycotted like
who wouldn't wan to be in the league of Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar
they'll boycott us also
I've been hearing this boycott thing since Twitter came into existence
Oh what a hot picture! oh so and so
She's seen walking out of so and so actor's house
I've never trended for this
Ranveer Singh told this
I was dropped from that film couldn't justify the fact that it won't sell in his name
Salman Khan
Are you mad? I don't want to pick a fight
give me 2 names who can give the same box office numbers
Hi guys this is Himesh, and welcome to Pinkvilla
Today we have with us the team of Dobara
Welcome to Pinkvilla guys, it's lovely having you here firstly
Thank you
My first question is to all 3 of you
The title of the film is Do Baaraa, if you have to revisit any moment of your life
which you can rectify or do differently what would it be?
2014, on Bombay Velvet
I just have one answer to this question which
I've been asked and given in all possible interviews on Do Baaraa
I possibly would have gone back and learned or try to probably
act a little more in school and college
knowing that I'll become an actor one day
Okay Maybe that
And Pavail for you?
I think I should have reacted better when Anurag Kashyap gave me this film
because I was just, when he-
Do you remember you called me inside the vanity and
Yeah I was very worried and anxious yeah at 2 am in the night [Pavail]
He has called me out of nowhere and asked me to come and meet him
and he offered me this film and he told that it's the lead part
and I didn't say anything I just came out without uttering a word
I couldn't understand what's happening I finally grasped the thought the next day
I think I should have reacted a little better
It must have happened because of your previous experience
But how did you decide on the casting, how did this film come together for all 3 of you
She gave me the script for this
I sent it to him and he passed it to him
How did you come across the script?
I got it from Sunir, our producer
It came to me and I read it I read it afterwards,
at first she asked me to find a director
So I did, she was shooting for Saand Ki Aankh, I went to visit and
she taunted me that I asked you to do this one job to find me a director and you didn't do it
it's such a good script, so I read the script and I liked it and so I came onboard
So she said okay then good
About Pavail, I had texted him twice before
He has been there with us for quite some time since he did a short film
that was directed by Ira ji and my daughter did its costume
so Pavail fans were there at my house from before only
that why don't you make a film with him? So I texted him from then
It's because I tested him and Manmarzyan's casting depended on Rumi
who will play the part of Rumi will decide the heroes actually
At that time there were a lot of actors
So today when I'm getting the chance to ask for their forgiveness
there were many on standby, so the female lead was decided already
so he was one of the lead heroes to be decided so he was prepared
for Vicky Kaushal's role?
Yeah when Tapsee got decided, on that basis
Vicky and Abhishek were decided
and he spoke about how you were the first I mean
The actress in Manmarzyan was decided first, which rarely happens in our industry
so how do you view this thing which
Actually that rarely happens in the industry but with me at least in the
last couple of years mostly after 2016
most of my films have been like that where they would have wanted to cast the girl first
if not me then somebody else but the idea was to cast the girl first
because the story revolved around that
what is the centre point of your story?
till you don't cast them other peripheral castings can't be done
that's the right way of doing it
Correct. And Pavail how did you react when Anurag offered you the film and
you know this is your second association with Tapsee as well after Thappad
This film was supposed to be my first film actually,
this was offered to me before Thappad Yeah I offered him the film
and Anubhav had also auditioned him so
Anubhav like his audition and he came to know that I'm doing a film with him
and he called me and he said I liked that guy's audition how's he as an actor?
I said he's a really good actor, mindblowing
then he asked should I cast him? And I said yes do that
And he was stuck in some other country
with you only in London
I was doing Ghost Stories with you yeah he was doing Ghost Stories with me
he said yes from my side I said yes
I didn't read the script also I gave him a thumbs up that
Pavail is doing the film
and my thing was that he has given me
the producer has given me a chance to get launched with Tapsee
this film is also with Tapsee you don't know how the producers are going to react
It wasn't like that for us that he's launching or I'm launching
so he called me and said I've talked to Tapsee and to the producers
you're doing this film and I was like sir the script?
He said, the script is good, you just do it
So that's how it all fell into place
Yeah
But were any of you a little upset or so when the original didn't do well
we were like okay, it's a good thing
Let's correct the mistakes and try to make a better one
Okay but there have been so many times
when people have taken the remake rights, the original didn't work so well
so they shelf the film
Yeah but we didn't do the film on the basis of the result of that film
we took the script I mean i said yes to it because the script was good
And I have never done anything like this
the first that I tried something sci-fi type in No Smoking
In that I got a hard time making people understand that the bathtub in it was a portal
now the thing is people know what a portal is and all of that
after seeing so many films or else I didn't have the guts after No Smoking
that I make or even try to make a film like this
But now I have that courage
And also because this was a script so when you read a script
it's very subjective how people perceive it
So that was the point that no matter what that film was
there's going to be a re-imagination of the whole script by the end of it
And you spoke about not imagining something on this space
after... No Smoking
Do you want to make a commercial big film again after Bombay Velvet?
This is a very commercial topic
I mean I This is very commercial
films don't go wrong as long as the budgets do
you know that film should have been made at the budget it was intended at
the way it was originally intended
and that didn't happen and nobody is to be blamed except me
because I did not fight for it enough we were in this sort of transition phase
and I was listening to those people who call themselves expert in this industry
And it was made exactly the way every expert in this industry had wanted
and all the experts failed
collectively, I believe that I have failed for sure
but the failure also belongs to all the big experts too
films don't fail the budget fail
After a long time Ranveer came out and said it
that he was dropped out of that film couldn't take him because it won't sell on his name
and it includes those people as well who are making a film with him today
so like with whom you're making a film so it's not like that
this industry is a weird place and
okay the consequences were mine so I immediately switched
where I'm happy under a controlled budget
do your way of work where people don't face any loss
I don't want to make a blockbuster i don't want to compete with anyone
So the idea should be good and the budget should be under control
making a film big is not in our hands
that brings me to the next question
there's an OTT revolution that has taken place in the last 2 years
and Tapsee you have delivered one of OTT's biggest hits in Haseen Dilruba
How do the 3 of you view the OTT revolution?
You have Sacred Games
No no my films are only watched on OTT by downloading
That is piracy
Before ott were there
OTT was invented for me
Because people watched my films on ott only
Like Paanch didn't even release so people watch it on ott only
they watch it on ott only on youtube so, I'm the original director for ott
OTT came later I was here before
OTT was a saving grace for us when the pandemic hit us and the theatres got shut down
there was no other option
and thank god for ott at that time
because you get alternate source-
yeah because the film is ready it's going to stay in the box
and every month there is a certain amount that adds on to the budget
because there's a certain investment that's being done
so that cost of investment is going to keep getting added on to a film's budget
so it's very important for the film to go out and eventually like reach out the audience
at the right time and thank god for ott for that
and you had one of the biggest successes with Haseen
yeah it was and that was my first release on ott and
thank god for it getting, I was getting very apprehensive before that
but when the result of that came out I was like I never felt sort
of it's good that it wasn't in the theatres because the buzz it got
and the way everyone started the way it reached out to people
in Brazil, and Argentina god knows where else
they were like messaging me and I was like wow this haven't seen
Within a week of its release it was trending in different countries
and I'm getting messages from there that people have seen it
Non-Hindi speaking diaspora also
So that gave me, showed me the positive side of ott which
I was not aware of before that
And how did the 3 of you react when you know\
when we met for the trailer launch and everything
Ekta was like she wanted to bring this to the theatres despite all the offers
so how did you react when she said that let's bring it in the theatres
I was really happy
meeting a producer with so much faith in you and stands by you
and stands by her word I was very happy
it is such a big validation also for the film
saying that I believe in this film and I believe in the project
And she fought for this film
the things going on she fought for this film
And she stood by the film
But in today's time there's so much going on in social media in terms of boycotts
this and that, bollywood is over, how do you view this entire mayhem
This mayhem? I'm used to it
See it affects those who were used to earning 100-200 crores
i never went over 32 crores
So it's nothing new for me
and speaking of boycott I've been boycotted since Twitter came into existence
So ask them who gets affected
I get happy like let's go once more
And Tapsee and Pavail, what do you have to say on it
So am I, have you ever seen me trend on Twitter for being like
What a sexy picture!
what a hot picture!
she's seen walking out of so and so actor's house
I've never trended for this
they have put me on trend when they wanted to boycott me for
something that I said, a stand that I have taken
opinion of mine on something so I'm also used to that
now I feel out of place when the biggies
the biggies are getting boycotted like who wouldn't want to be in
the leagues of Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar
please boycott us also, we- don't make us feel-
It has been years since I've not been boycotted
His film is coming after a long time in the theatres
After Manmarziyan this is the next release I feel very weird [Anurag]
no one boycotts me now
And Pavail how do you feel?
I haven't yet been boycotted
I am still an infant
They have been there done that so now they are relaxed about it
maybe I'll also reach that stage soon
he's just one film old right which was critically and commercially
both received so well, it went well only good things happened with that film
he is the only actor probably in the country whose films release in the theatres only
Actually right, even Salman Khan has come on ott
See now good, now feel happy about it
I am very happy I'm very very happy
It was my dream
And you know in recent times there's another discussion
which is going on, on a parallel system of stardom on ott
there are theatre stars and ott stars
how do you see this, ott was initially a platform
where the content was the main focus but now
people are bringing in star system even there like he's an ott star, a big ott celebrity
how do you view this parallel system coming into
i always had a problem with this entire star system
still now?
From the beginning
In abroad when you see marvel launch a new character
you see a not very known actor plays a character
everybody gets a fair chance
and when you make a film, bigger the film lesser known the actors
When Titanic was made Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet were art-house actors
correct, and Avatar was being made the actors were also art-house actors
here it is the opposite, bigger the film, the bigger the star
Load the picture as much as you can make it a volcano and let it erupt
we are living there
my problem with star-system is there
I think people should get the money worth on the money they generate
everybody should and there should be a kind of parity there
The money getting generated it will bring transparency
people will start paying for the back-end then the budgets will get low
because in our industry there is no transparency
Give two names who correctly tells the box office numbers
give me any 2 names I mean one film has 15 different box office numbers
Like when you log in to from India I can log in to China
and minute by minute, second by second I know this ticket has been sold here
this ticket has been sold here, this system is not there in India
Yes because there are so many experts here
when that system starts here you'll see it cutting unnecessary costs
Then you can go to the actors and talk about making films first
and then when the film makes money then we'll take the back-end
when this transparency comes to this industry
this will make our industry healthier this very true [Tapsee]
Since there's no transparency we are not very upfront and then creates the star-system
we make money based on that and even the prediction is also made on that basis
and prediction happens on the basis of the star
And Tapsee what-
I agree to-
See, I have done 2 films on the back-end deal till date and they were both in Telegu
Because there i don't do films to only make money or only be in the biggest of films
there was this film where me and some supporting actors were there
they were high concept films and they made money and I got my share
because they were my friends, the producers I could expect transparency
but today also, I mean I'm more than happy to
get a back-end deal, I would like it because i genuinely
A person who is headlining a film who is going out and promoting films
for like 2-3 weeks going on hearing so much nonsense from everyone because
I'm headlining a film, I am putting myself out there
why would I not want to reap the benefits of profit
I would love to that but am I sure that I'll be given the correct numbers
yes I'm not very sure
Yeah i'm sure you won't be told
yeah so that's why
I'm sure you won't get the correct numbers
People still call wasseypur a flop
It's been made 10 years now right
yeah 10 years and it still trends
people call the studio to extend the rights
Why should I extend the rights to a flop film? I won't do it
Insider's trend, it's colors who's earning not us
inside trading so when something bad happens in this industry
i just sit and watch and say they deserve it
these are your consequences only face it
And last thing there is one small game
so it's a game called I dare you to! So you have to give a dare to
an actor's name like whatever like what would you dare them to do
What would you dare Anurag Kashyap?
To dare? yeah
His biggest dare is to work with me again which i
which he will
so yeah
make a film, make a U film
We have done U/A film right
now a U film should be your dare
And what would you dare to the both of them?
to both of them
A dare to both of them
make me lose weight
Pavail?
I would dare him to pick up his phone in one go
that he never does
He picks mine in one go so I not complaining
and for Tapsee, give serious answers sometimes in life
Aamir Khan?
What should we ask him to do? he does everything
yeah he's very daring right
he does it all
Varun Dhawan
Gain weight and make a film with me
Leave your six packs
okay the last 2 names
Vicky Kaushal?
Let's do a dark film again
yeah that's a dare for him
let's do a dark film again
Salman Khan?
Are you mad? do you want me to get into trouble?
work with Bhai again? is there anything like that?
What never happened- so that's why a dare
that's not a fair dare
let's make a film where Bhai is not Bhai
It's the same for all for Vicky, for Salman Khan, the same dare for all
I can do that only right what else can I do?
And you make a U-rated film that's the dare for you
Perfect on that note thank you so much and wish you all the best for Dobaara
Thank you so much