In an exclusive interview with mid-day, Neeraj Pandey admitted that it is true that nobody was willing to finance his film 'A Wednesday' starring Naseeruddin Shah
Naseeruddin Shah in a still from 'A Wednesday'. Pic/YouTube
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Neeraj Pandey has become one of the most successful directors in today's time. With his debut movie 'A Wednesday', he proved that he is a different director and that if there is content in cinema, then any movie can be successful.
In an exclusive interview with mid-day, Neeraj Pandey admitted that it is true that nobody was willing to finance his film 'A Wednesday' starring Naseeruddin Shah.
Neeraj Pandey said that everyone used to wonder what film they are making and a special thing was that whenever they went to a production house, they used to tell them many things. "If I go to talk about them, then I have to write a different book separately," said Neeraj Pandey.
"But the truth is that everyone used to say that they do not want to work with our fixed star cast. Production houses put pressure repeatedly to cast popular faces," said Neeraj Pandey. The director, however, added that it became clear to him that no one would provide the budget.
Neeraj Pandey said, "So, I decided that we would route funds from the market. The special thing is that I made this movie independently. It's good because then I did not make any compromise. I was lucky that later on UTV came on board and I got the opportunity to release the film on a large scale."
Neeraj Pandey
The director accepts that it is not that he tries to give a message through his films. His attempt is to tell the story and reach out to people.
When asked if he wishes to work with someone special, Neeraj Pandey said, "If I have a script then I will do it."
Speaking of sequels to his films, Pandey said that he liked making sequels, but there should be a story to support it. He thinks 'Special 26' has that potential for a sequel. But, till now, he and his team have not been able to decide if they should make a sequel or not. So, it can't be said that the sequel will be made. But he keeps talking to the team about it.
On the topic of making films on literary subjects, Neeraj Pandey says that he has always loved stories of literature and will soon see such a film from his production house. Although they have not given much sign of it.
Akshay Kumar started getting a different popularity from his film 'Special 26'. But Neeraj Pandey says that he cannot take credit for the success of Akshay Kumar. "He is choosing the script himself. That is why he is successful," said Pandey.
Neeraj has said that he does not want awards, but audience. His recent film 'Toilet: Ek Prem Katha' became a box office hit and he is happy with it. Neeraj Pandey is now busy with his upcoming film 'Aiyyari' starring Sidharth Malhotra.
During the interview, Neeraj Pandey revealed that 'A Wednesday' was not his first script. Rather, it was his fourth script. Like other directors, he had also written a love story. Prior to 'A Wednesday', he had written three scripts, of which his first script was a hard-core romantic film, the second was a comedy, and the third was a satire. But Pandey revealed that he couldn't make any of the three films as he did not get a financier.
Neeraj Pandey did not take the name of any actor, but said that initially, he went to every big star. "But obviously I was new. So nobody was ready to believe me. So these films could not be made," Pandey said.
Neeraj Pandey also said that he has now moved on. He does not want to go through the script pages of those three films again. Yes, but if he gets the chance, he would definitely like to make a film based on a hard-core love story.
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