Filmmaker Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, who made his Hindi debut with Pink (2016) starring Amitabh Bachchan and Taapsee Pannu, is back with his second movie of 2023 after Lost, starring Yami Gautam. Aniruddha, who recently helmed Kadak Singh starring Pankaj Tripathi speaks exclusively to The Free Press Journal on working with the versatile actor, anecdotes from the sets, and more.
Recalling his first meeting with Pankaj, Aniruddha shares, “We had a lovely vegetarian lunch together talking about films and life. I came to know about him and talked about my roots. The entire meeting was very metaphorical, spiritual, and philosophical. We hardly spoke about the film (Kadak Singh). And we bonded. Both our chords matched.”
On his experience directing the actor, Aniruddha, calls him “great” and says that he understands notes between the lines. “We met for almost two and a half months regularly. He's so organic and he plays everything so correctly. It was genuinely a beautiful experience.”
Aniruddha also revealed an anecdote from the sets in Kolkata when they were about to wrap up the film. He said that Pankaj asked him why were they finishing and suggested writing a few more scenes and doing some extra shooting. “He was not willing to leave the set. It was a beautiful moment which was created when an actor said, let's do some more scenes. Let's write more. Let's work for a few more days. So I was quite happy and touched, says the filmmaker.
Aniruddha returned as a director after seven years this year with Lost, followed by Kadak Singh. Speaking about the gap after Pink, he maintains that he’s been constantly working. He explains, “The process of filmmaking starts from writing, and I love to marinate my thoughts. I don't want to hurry. Unless I properly fall in love with a script, I can't start anything. It takes time.”
Aniruddha asserts that there was a rise in expectations after Pink since it was in Hindi, reached many people, and the voice of Amitabh Bachchan went to every corner in the world.
“As a maker, I have to believe in my stories and I have to deliver my job. Storytelling is something that I believe. And when I believe, my conviction, and integrity with that story, with the screenplay, shows on the screen, sometimes it will work, sometimes won’t. It's a process. But as a filmmaker, I have to keep on experimenting,” he avers.
When asked which actor he would like to direct in the future, Aniruddha concludes by saying, There are a lot of actors with whom I want to work. It varies from story to story. There is not one particular actor. There are so many subjects, so many colors, so many thoughts, and a particular story fits somebody and then you start thinking about that actor and want to make it happen.”
