"The moment you say he is 64 that's when you realize Amitabh is old otherwise he is the youngest guy at heart" - Balki
By IndiaFM News Bureau, May 17, 2007 - 04:09 IST
I wanted two characters that are slightly of different ages but not so different that the audience should not be taken for granted. Watch Video
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A South Indian, who dropped out of Masters in Computer Application and accidentally ventured into advertising. After reinventing hoards of brands through his writings for ad film, Balkrishanan (or Balki as he is called in his ad circle) is all set to put on the director's hat with his first Hindi film called Cheeni Kum starring none other than Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu. He talks in his first ever exclusive interview on the film to IndiaFM.
Can you give us a brief account on what you have worked on before?
I am a writer. I used to work for Lintas and write ads. I have written ads for ICICI Britannia, LG etc. I haven't done any films so far. This is my first film and the first time I have taken a look through the camera.
Cheeni Kum has an unusual casting of Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu. How did you decide to pair them romantically?
I don't see it as an unusual casting. I thought it was the perfect thing and I wrote the story with the two in mind. I wanted to do a love story between two interesting people. And I didn't want it to be seen as 'hey how can this old man fall in love with this young person'. I wanted two characters that are slightly of different ages but not so different that the audience should not be taken for granted. I wanted the audience to believe that this can happen
Is it a love story about an elderly man and a younger woman?
Yes
So do we see another Nishabd coming up? Nishabdwas a very serious film. My film's love story is a comedy. It's also got Paresh Rawal in it. It's a regular mainstream Bollywood film with a few touches to make it enjoyable.
Nishabd was a very serious film. My film's love story is a comedy
But Ram Gopal Varma has gone on record to state that his Nishabd was inspired by your film
Well I don't quite agree with that. My film is not about an older man falling in love with a younger woman. My film is about two people falling in love and a relationship. They could be of any age, they so happened to be of different ages. They don't even remember their ages till the interval part of the film. It's a very light love story which people won't forget very easily.
But then Amitabh's pairing with Jiah Khan didn't go down very easily with audiences and Nishabd didn't meet with a very encouraging response. Doesn't that scare you considering the couple in your film too has an age difference?
First of all, I don't think I wrote the film much before Nishabd. I don't know about the audience but I personally enjoyed the film. The audience don't analyze the character as to how can Jiah Khan be paired with Amitabh. Audiences either enjoy a film or find a problem with it or they move on. They don't think too much in the theatre. I have attempted to make a very shallow film with no depth in it. It's a very light film.
Cheeni Kum is a love story with less mush in it. It's kind of a sarcastic love story.
Cheeni Kum is an unusual but interesting title. And the tagline of the film says 'A sugar free romance'. What do you intend to say by that?
It's a love story with less mush in it. It's kind of a sarcastic love story. Nobody says I love you to each other in the film. Amitabh's character has got less sugar in his life and is a rude kind of a guy. And that's why the tagline.
Would you say Cheeni Kum is a standard commercial film or kind of offbeat parallel cinema with the theme?
The film is as mainstream as it can get.
Every director wants to work with Amitabh at some point in their career. Don't you think you are quite lucky to get that opportunity in your first Hindi film itself?
I think I am the luckiest person in the world. Amitabh is just awesome. The moment you say he is 64 that's when you realize he is old otherwise he is the youngest guy at heart.
And Amitabh seems to be in complete awe of Tabu and the intensity of her performance.
Even Tabu is completely in awe of Amitabh Bachchan. She is also in awe of Paresh Rawal's performance and Paresh Rawal is in awe of Amitabh's performance. Everyone's in awe of everyone's performance because they all are fantastic actors
Tabu has been quite off the scene lately. What made you decide on her?
I don't think she is off the scene really, I wrote the film with her in mind and nobody else. I wouldn't have shot this film if Amitabh and Tabu wouldn't have agreed.
Nishabd was a very serious film. My film's love story is a comedy
