In 2020, director Dushyant Pratap Singh’s film The Hundred Bucks was well received by film critics. His second film Trahimam (2022) was also loved by audiences. His next film Zindagi Shatranj Hai is set to release on January 20. It stars Hiten Tejwani, Bruna Abdullah, Shahwar Ali, Pankaj Berry and Hemant Pandey. Daler Mehndi and Arjumman Mughal will be seen in guest appearances. The Free Press Journal caught up with the filmmaker for an exclusive conversation.
He begins by telling us about his background. “I am a Hindi film director and music composer. I was born in Agra, Uttar Pradesh,” he states.
Opening up about the film’s intriguing title, Dushyant says, “Zindagi Shatranj Hai is a very pertinent title as it is a thriller movie. It revolves around a man whose wife is not ready to accept him as her husband despite everyone telling her that he is her husband. On the other hand, there is a mysterious murder in the city which traces its way to the same house. Each and every character in the movie is playing their turn with different motives. Here zindagi depicts the life we all are living and things which people face in their life and shatranj is focusing on the tactics which people use to deal with the different situations in life. As shown in the movie, everyone is playing their moves with different motives, some of which are right and some are wrong.”
A still from the film |
When asked if the film is inspired by his own real-life experience, he says, “No, it is not based on my life, it is written by M Salim who is an Indian writer known for penning the screenplay of Dongri Ka Raja (2016) and Main Zaroor Aaunga (2019).”
We then point out that life in the glamourous world of showbiz is also like winning a chess game if one makes it. To this he replies, “Well, it is no less than winning a chess game but again you have ups and downs and to maintain the winning streak, one has to work very hard.”
When asked how confident he is about the success of the movie, he concludes, “The whole team has worked very hard on this project and as it is said that hard work pays off. I am hopeful that this movie will be successful. The film’s song, Badnam Na Kar Dena, is already released and has crossed more than three lakh views.”
