'Ittefaq' makers want to push conventional cinema's boundary

As the Sidharth Malhotra and Sonakshi Sinha-starrer crime thriller 'Ittefaq' is gearing up for release, Juno Chopra of B.R. Films, one of the co-producers of the film, says that with the adaptation of their grandfather B.R. Chopra's celebrated film of the same name, they are trying to raise the level of crime thrillers in Hindi cinema.

The 100-minute crime thriller, the trailer of which released on Thursday, revolves around two murders and two suspects of the event where one police officer struggles through an investigation to unveil the truth.

While the film is an adaptation of the 1969 Rajesh Khanna and Nanda starrer, according to Juno, the story was ahead of its time and it was quite an interesting process to set the film in the modern time.

In a chat with IANS after showing the film's trailer here, Juno said: "Though our Hindi cinema is known for the song-dance sagas, in the late 1960s' era, when songs used to play an important part of storytelling, 'Ittefaq' was one of the films with no songs in it. Our grandfather tried to push the boundary of conventional cinema with that film.

"As a youngster, it was our dream to recreate the same. This film is a dream."

Was there any creative challenge to establish a relevance of the story in today's time?

"You see, no challenges can be hard enough that can't be worked out. As I said, it was on our wish list. Abhay (Abhay Chopra) and I worked really hard to make the story interesting. Yes, there were challenges, but that drives us to do better."

Directed by Juno's brother Abhay, the film has been produced by Red Chillies Entertainment and Dharma Production along with B.R. Films.

Considering the fact that film is a crime thriller, it is quite interesting to notice how differently the producers are planning to promote the film without doing a series of film promotional activities with media interactions and utilising television platforms with the main star cast.

Asked if that is challenging, Juno said: "Yes, but we do not want any part of the story goes out before the film releases and therefore we are not talking much about the story of the film, and not giving an insight."

They last produced "Bareilly ki Barfi", which was embraced by the audience.

"I would like to thank every person in the audience who supported the film 'Bareily Ki Barfi' and made it a commercial success. It surely has given us, as young producers, a level of confidence about identifying the potentially good story that matches the taste of our audience.

"I think it will surely create an interest among the audience to come to the theatre and watch 'Ittefaq' because we are here with another great story," said Juno.

The film is releasing on November 3.

The movie is based on filmmaker Yash Chopra's 1969 film 'Ittefaq', which was produced by BR Chopra and featured Rajesh Khanna, Nanda, Bindu and Madan Puri.

A still from 'Ittefaq' trailer

'Ittefaq', itself a remake of British film 'Signpost to Murder' (1964), revolved around an artist, who is accused of murdering his wife whom he had pushed in a fit of rage. He then spends the stormy night with a rich woman who harbours a dark secret of her own.

Not many would know that Sonakshi Sinha's father, Shatrughan Sinha, was the first choice for the original film, which eventually starred Rajesh Khanna. Shatrughan couldn't take it up due to date issues. Sonakshi said in an interview earlier, "It feels like life has come a full circle. I didn't even know dad was offered Ittefaq till I signed it (the remake)."

She also said, "I have not seen the old 'Ittefaq'. So for me, I am doing a new film. And I am sure a lot of people from our generation have not seen the original 'Ittefaq' either. The way film is rewritten and adapted to fit in today's scenario and time, makes it a fresh film. I am looking at it as a new film."

A still from 'Ittefaq' (1969)

The trailer of 'Ittefaq' was unveiled by Shah Rukh Khan on Twitter. SRK shared the link to the trailer and tweeted, "Between his truth & her truth, lies the real truth! Watch #IttefaqTrailer @S1dharthM @sonakshisinha #AkshayeKhanna (sic)"

On Wednesday, new posters of the three characters were released on social media, raising the curiosity ahead of trailer launch.

'Ittefaq' is set to release on November 3.

Watch 'Ittefaq' trailer:

Also see: Uday Chopra Looks Almost Unrecognisable In These Pictures