EXCLUSIVE: Suneel Darshan explains why he’s not worried about War 2 arriving just six days after Andaaz 2: “If our film is accepted, it won’t get seriously damaged by War 2”; reveals why he was confident that CBFC won’t cut the Adani-Ambani dialogue: “We haven’t reflected them in bad light”
The successful veteran filmmaker Suneel Darshan is back with Andaaz 2. The film, starring Aayush Kumar, Aakaisha and Natasha Fernandez, is all set to release on August 8 after being pushed by a week. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, which was conducted a day after the trailer launch, the filmmaker spoke about the reason for the postponement, the intent behind the trailer and a lot more.
On July 18, Saiyaara was released and by June 19, it became clear that it was unstoppable at the box office. That day, Son Of Sardaar 2 was pushed by a week, from July 25 to August 1. Kumar Mangat Pathak is a part of the film and he is also Andaaz 2’s distributor. Since he was involved with both films, did you learn about Son Of Sardaar 2’s postponement in advance? Did that motivate you to push Andaaz 2 by a week?
It was instinctive. I don’t take long to make decisions (smiles). We were on the Jaipur leg of our promotional tour, and I was informed about how Saiyaara was performing exceptionally well at the box office. Hence, I decided to take the decision in the general interest of the film industry. You can’t keep clashing films. When it became clear that it had huge potential to draw huge traction even in the subsequent week, it was unfair to have my film release and get damaged by the established film, that is, Saiyaara. Meanwhile, the makers of Son Of Sardaar 2 were toying with the idea of pushing the film from July 25 to August 1. That would have also made it difficult to get theatres on August 1. Hence, when Kumar ji asked me if I’d like to shift the date to August 8 or August 22, the decision was taken to shift to August 8 with the interest of all parties concerned and the industry at large. When films do well, especially the ones starring newcomers, it deserves a little more care and compassion.
Your film has a brother-sister angle and even a Raksha Bandhan scene. And now, Andaaz 2 releases in the Raksha Bandhan week…
That’s a sheer coincidence (laughs). August 22 would have been too late, as we would have had to prolong the publicity campaign.
Is this why you decided to arrive on August 8, despite knowing that you’ll get a clean run of just six days since War 2 arrives on August 14…
War 2 is coming after six days and it will take away a few screens. But your film doesn’t take more than 6 days to establish itself. Hence, if the film is accepted, it won’t get seriously damaged by War 2. It’ll find its own level of consistency. I guess that’s the kind of positive approach you need to keep in a tight situation like this. That’s the best decision I feel I took at that point in time and I hope it’s going right.
The trailer launch was a great affair…
I was very happy last evening because the response was very nice. I could sense positivity and it gave me a great sense of relief, especially considering the negativity, which we normally survive with, in this industry (laughs).
The trailer transported me to the 90s. You have inserted all the songs in the trailer at regular intervals. Was it intentional to give the trailer an old-school vibe?
Definitely. However, I don’t know what is old school or new school. I just focused on what the subject demands and how it needs to be communicated. For me, music has been part of storytelling. I have not added any song for the heck of it. As for the promo, I decided to incorporate songs and overlap them with dialogues. However, this is the digital cut of the trailer. The theatrical version is slightly shorter, where we faced a constraint of 2 minutes and 15 seconds.
The trailer features a dialogue about Adani-Ambani. Nowadays, even harmless mentions of real-life personalities get censored. Did the CBFC make any changes to the said dialogue?
Not at all. The CBFC has fairly passed the film with a U/A certificate. Also, we just mentioned Adani and Ambani. Gautam Adani is not the only Adani, while Mukesh Ambani is not the only Ambani in this world. The Gujarati community has its share of wealthy Ambanis and Adanis.
I understand. Once upon a time, Tata-Birla were mentioned in the same way in our films…
Exactly.
But now we are living in times when anything can get cut…
Yes, I know that and I am aware that some people are sensitive. But we haven’t reflected them in a bad light. It is an aspiration of a common man; it’s the pinnacle of success to perform for an Adani or an Ambani. Hence, I am talking in their favour.
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