Haider Khan has already intrigued everyone during the teaser launch of his upcoming show Driving With The Legends with his unique vision and portrayal of Kapil Dev. Haider is considered to be amongst the world’s best photographers, winning several prestigious awards. The Free Press Journal caught up with the director for an exclusive chat.
Haider Khan with Kapil Dev |
Opening up about Driving With The Legends, Haider reveals, “This is a very light-hearted show about travel, food culture and Switzerland. But the highlight of the show is Kapil Dev, who is known to everyone as the legend of our country. We will have about 10 contestants. The MCs are Archana Vijay and Esha Gupta and they all will be travelling to different cities of Switzerland and will be exploring the country. Kapil Dev will be interacting with the 10 contestants and we will also be exploring his experiences.”
He adds, “This show comprises six episodes. Kapil Dev will be seen in all of them. Who will be there in the second season? All that depends on the success of the show.”
Zaid Sheikh, Kaushik Ghosh, Sumedh Patodia, Kapil Dev, Haider Khan, Pawan Patodia, Varun Goenka and Uma Vishal Agarwal |
He talks about what will be the criteria of selecting the fans for the show. “We have not yet selected any fans. Every individual selected will be going around with Kapil Dev, so he/she needs to have enough confidence instilled within. It can be any common man, not necessarily a well-known person. We will show a little bit of a back story and how they are feeling being in Switzerland,” he states.
When asked why he did not base his show on travel in and around India. Haider explains, “India we will be shooting next. Switzerland we chose because it’s going to be summer. That was our plan to choose it in summer. We could have chosen Kashmir but this time we wanted to take people who have never been overseas. Yash Chopraji made Switzerland very famous through his films thus we decided to go explore those scenic locales once again refreshing those memories that have been instilled within all of us. I am a huge fan of Yashji and Raj Kapoorji.”
When asked how he began his career in the world of glitz and glamour, Haider recalls, “I started as a photographer and since then, I tried to assist many filmmakers but all in vain. No one was ready to engage my services as an assistant director. I got bored with photography. I wanted to be a director so I directed my first film titled Rohingya. My second film is Lingpoen. I have directed it in Bhutan and it’s the biggest hit and it is running successfully in theatres. I have done almost 100 shoots with Salman bhai (Khan).”
Since Haider is so close to Salman Khan, one wonders if the superstar offered him a chance to make his directorial debut through his production house. “I was signed for a film for his production house but somehow it didn’t happen. He is giving me a second project. I am sure he must have felt I am good to go for the second project so yes, I am waiting but it will happen soon,” Haider reveals.
