In an exclusive podcast with Bharathi S. Pradhan for Lehren Retro, Hit-Tag Filmmaker Anees Bazmee opened up about his last blockbuster Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 & revealed the real reason behind choosing Kartik Aaryan as main lead in the same in turn applauding the Pyaar Ka Punchnama Star. The director also gave his fine take on why Bollywood movies underperformed during the Covid-19 times & how Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 broke several records at box office in that era. Anees mentioned that he loves to work in a happy-go-lucky environment on set & briefed about his experience of working with artists like Nana Patekar, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar & Anil Kapoor. Bazmee concluded by sharing his cinematic & box office views on Welcome Back which was released in 2015.
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00:00Did you take a long time to decide on Karthik Aryan to take on such an iconic film?
00:05No, no, I took one second because when I saw his film Pyar Ka Panchrama, I have a habit
00:14that when I see people's work and I like it, I look for their phone numbers and call them
00:20myself. I think I should do it. Appreciation.
00:23Yes, so I praised Karthik a lot and he was very happy. So that equation was there since
00:29then. After that, I was shooting in London and he was shooting for some other film and
00:34we were staying in the same hotel. So when we used to go for shooting, we used to meet
00:39at night. So, I don't know, I always liked Karthik. And when I was told that Karthik,
00:48I said, why not? I didn't take a single second.
00:51So, it was suggested by the producers?
00:53Yes, I was going to do a film with Karthik. So, he knew that Aneez is a good twin with
01:02Karthik and Aneez likes him a lot and there won't be any problem. So, he said, let's
01:07take Karthik. I said, yeah, fantastic. Next time he came in my office, we met and it was
01:12a lovely film. I enjoyed it a lot.
01:14Lovely.
01:15And I think for Karthik, his life has become a very important film.
01:22Ehem matlab, it was the most important film of his career so far.
01:27Yes.
01:28Yeah, I mean, because you know, especially, wo jo mahaul thi na.
01:31Bahut kharab mahaul tha, filme hi nahi chal rahi thi and I'll be very honest, even I was
01:38very scared, ke yaar, kya hoga?
01:40Aage peche sab, everything was flopping.
01:42Logon ne kehna shuru kar diya tha, yeh log ab ghar se nikal ke theatre mein nahi jayenge.
01:46Exactly, yeh 2022 mein.
01:48Haan, ab wo OTT pe hi dekhenge.
01:50OTT is a great platform aur bada khusrat kaam chal raha hai uspe aur maa khud bhi bahut
01:55dekha hun. Matlab, maine pandemic mein jitni series aur jo dekha hai, mujhe lagta hai,
02:00agar OTT nahi hota tha, main paagal hi ho jata hoon. Itna hai ab.
02:04Lekin, film ka ek jo parda hota hai, ek jo bada parda pe logon ke saath baith ke film
02:09dekhne ka jaadu hota hai. Wo jaadu jo alag hota hai aur logon ne kehna shuru kar diya
02:14tha, ab toh log filmon mein, film theatres mein nahi dekhenge. We were also very scared
02:19because jab aap 2-3 saal apni zindagi ke ek film ko dete hain, itni mainat karte hain,
02:24toh naturally iska result bahut maini karte hain. Aur main kabhi yeh nahi kaunga ki mere
02:29liye ek film banana important hai. Aur iske baad main nahi fikar karta hoon, film chalti
02:33hai, nahi chalti hai, no. Agar main aisa kaunga, no. Mujhe fikar hoti hai. Mujhe lagta hai
02:38ki yaar logon ko bahut umeede hain aur wo umeede pe hume utarna chahiye. Aur meri bahut
02:44khushi hoti hai mujhe film chalti hai toh aur nahi chalti hai toh. Yes, main bahut disturbed
02:49hota hoon. Yeh alag baat hai ki main bahut jaldi uss cheez ko bhool ho jaata hoon. Lekin
02:53yes, takleef hoti hai. Lekin jab aap bahut mainat karte hain kisi cheez par aur uska
02:58jab nahi hota hain, toh mujhe lagta hai ki yaar yeh kya hua.
03:01Toh 2022 mein, we had a lot of films that flopped. Big films jisme bahut umeede the.
03:07Jaise Vikram Vedha, even Brahmastra was disappointing. Then you had big films.
03:13Jayesh Bhai, Sambar, Prithviraj, Circus, kitni film hai. You know, lots of films came and
03:20just dropped, dropped, dropped, dropped, dropped. So, uss waqt jab aapki bhool bhuley aayi, I
03:25think only Kashmir Files and Drishyam 2 had done well in that area. So, aapki jo film
03:32that was commercial, big film. I mean, how do you think it did? You know, it just stood
03:39there and it was Karthik Aryan solo. You know, it didn't have any, it had a franchise and
03:46it had Karthik Aryan solo. And that also with a big question mark because people were used
03:51to Akshay Kumar, they were used to Manjulika, Vidya Balan, they were used to that, you know
03:58all that. So, you know, you just surprised everybody.
04:03Nahi, nahi, Allah has guided me.
04:05But what did you feel? How did you feel?
04:07I was very, very happy and relieved actually because logon ne toh khari, yahan tak hamare
04:12producers aur sabko bola, ki aap logon ne film hain bachali, toh mene kahi aisi baate
04:15mat kariye. Film hain bohot baddi hai aur uska bohot chhota sa hissa hai. Haan, yeh aap
04:20zarur keh sakte hain, ke iss film ko jab logon ne itna pyaar diya aur itni baddi hit hui,
04:26toh ek sabne umeed jagi, ke aisa nahi hai logon ne theatre me aana bandh kar diya.
04:32It proved that.
04:34Yeh ek baat mujhe lagta hai, iss film ke saath hamishe jodi rahegi, ke logon ki umeede jo
04:40hai, iss film ne baadi. Ke nahi aisa nahi hai ki theatre me nahi aayenge, agar aapne
04:44achche film banayenge, logon aayenge. Aur jo logon ne pyaar diya, toh I was very happy
04:49and very happy and mujhe laga ki nahi yaar, humne ek jo mehnat kiye uska phul mila hai
04:55aur bohot achha phul mila hai.
04:57Achha phul mila hai, yes, yes.
04:58Mujhe kahin zyada, bohot zyada khush Karthik tha because it was very very important film
05:03for Karthik, for Murad bhai, for everybody I think, I mean, everybody.
05:08What is it about Karthik that you like repeating?
05:12Karthik, number one, I feel, mere liye toh aasaan hai uske saath kaam karna. Mujhe achcha
05:18lagta hai ki jahaan par aasaani se kaam ho, maine aaj tak jeene logon saath kaam kiya
05:22aur jab aar repeat kiya, Nana Patekar, Nana Patekar saab ke saath maine teen filmyenge.
05:26And he's supposed to be a little sunky.
05:28Aisa kehate hain log, lekin mujhe lagta hai ki agar unhe yeh clarity hai ki nahi yeh film
05:34jo main kar raha hoon, iske andar main jo ismein doob chuka hoon, shayad mujhe thoda 5% zyada
05:40yeh insaan jaanta hai, jaise director kehate hain, toh he is, he's all right.
05:43Yeah, yeah. Toh mujhe lagta hai ek actor ko jab yeh aisaas ho jata hai, yeh mehsoos hota
05:49hai ki nahi bhai, we are in a safe hand aur yeh achchi film bana raha hai, mere character
05:53pe acha kaam kar raha hai, toh itni problem nahi hoti hai, maine Nana ji ke saath kaam
05:56kiya, maine pata nahi 10-12 filmon mein kaam kiya, Anil ji ke saath, itne achchi actor,
06:00itne bade actor, but koi taklif nahi hoti aur nahi sir aisa nahi aisa karte hain, acha
06:04thek hai, aisa nahi aisa karte hain, okay thek hai. Toh Akshay ji ke saath kaam kiya,
06:08Salman bhai ke saath kaam kiya, kitne logon ke saath, matlab takreeban bahot logon hoon
06:12ki jinn ke saath maine kaam kiya, kuch hi bachi hoon ki jinn ke saath kaam nahi kiya,
06:16toh Kartik jo hai, wo samajhdaar actor hai, I feel, wo samajhdaar hai, samajhdaar, ji,
06:20usse pata hai ki iss scene ki kya requirement hai, aur usse kuch kahein toh sunta hai, samajhta
06:26hai, and iska ek bahot bada plus point aapko bataao, Kartik ka, he is very hard working
06:33guy, bahot meinat karta hai, wo din, raat laga rhta hai, toh wo jazba hai, agar itni
06:39aap mehnat kar rahe hain, toh uparwala aapko phul dehega.
06:42What is, what is, is it his emotive acting, is it his dialogue delivery, is it his dancing,
06:49what is it?
06:50I think everything, jaise haath dance ki jo baat aati hai, toh abhi jo film ke andar,
06:54usne aakhari gaana kiya hai, itni mehnat ki, ab dekhiye logon ko kitna pasand aaya,
06:58dahaan tak comedy ka taluka, usne jo scenes ki hai, comedy pe logon ko pasand aaya,
07:02toh I think, agar, jo the climax jo tha, it was very new and very different for him,
07:07usne kabhi is tarah ka nahi kiya tha, ki wo possess, ab wo jis tarah kiya, usne, jis
07:12tarah humne poora shoot kiya, jis tarah samjhaya, jis tarah bola, jis tarah usne react kiya,
07:16I think, he is a director's actor, if director's knows ki bhai kya karna hai, aur uske tuning
07:23agar uske saath hai, toh he will do a great job.
07:25That's true.
07:26So, you mentioned that you were not, when a film doesn't do well, you feel bad about
07:31it.
07:32Actually, anybody will feel bad.
07:33So, did you feel bad when Welcome Back did not do so well?
07:36I will not say ki Welcome Back chali nahi hogi, kam chali humari ummi se.
07:41Because, Welcome was a big, big hit.
07:43Nahi, Welcome ke mukaable, agar aap bahat kahenge, toh aap yeh kah sakte hain, ki ab
07:48hi kam chaliye, but aap dikhiye, ki uske teen din ka, jo beginning ka, jo uske collections
07:54the, wo us waqt se pehle kabhi, John Abraham ki film ke nahi aaya tha, 50-55 crore rupiah,
07:59beginning ke teen din me tha, aur mujhe lagta hai ki 100-125 crore, jo film banati hai,
08:04haan, humari ummi thi 200 ki, wo alag baat hai, lekin, main aaj bhi feel karta hoon,
08:09ki usme, bada achha film tha, Nana ji bahut achhe the, mujhe aaj bhi kitne log hote hain,
08:16jo Welcome Back ke liye mujhe phone karte hain, aur kehte hain, mujhe lagta hai, John
08:20was very good in that film, toh mere nazi mujhe kuch dukh nahi hua tha, achhi lagi mujhe
08:24film, bahut maza aaya logon ko, aur jo bhi humne paise lagaye the, usko barabar humne
08:30use kiya, and film kaamiya pe.
08:33So, you're not disappointed with Welcome Back?
08:34No, no, not at all.
08:35You don't think you went wrong in that?
08:37No, no, no.
08:38Main itna zarur wrong hoon ki, jo pehli film thi, Welcome, wo bahut kamaal thi, wo bahut
08:44alag thi, shaad mein, bahut khush tha, lag mood mein film banaye thi, kabhi kabhi kya
08:49hota hai ki, jis mood mein film bana rahe hain, mujhe aksar, mujhe lagta hai, ki main
08:54toh hameshe kehta bhi hoon, ki yaar, mere set pe aap dekhiye, kabhi aayiye, bilkul picnic
08:59hota hai, koi tension nahi hoti hai, aur log bahut khas rahe hote hain, khush rahe
09:03hote hain, aur bahut sukoon se kaam karte hain.
09:06Toh, Welcome mein jab humare Ghaffar bhai was a very big producer of, apna, Feroz bhai
09:12ki father, wo jab aaye, aur unhe dekha ki Feroz Khan sahab bhi hain, Nana sahab bhi hain,
09:17Anil ji, aur apna Akshay ji, aur Katrina, Mallika.
09:21Mallika Sharma.
09:23And they were sitting, and they were having a great time, they were laughing, they were
09:28chatting, toh mujhe unhone toh bila, yaar Anil ji, yeh atmosphere, maine barso pehle
09:33Manmohan D'Souza ji ke set pe dekha tha, and aaj, aapke hain, toh maini badi khushi,
09:39mein bola, achha itni senior hain, hum itni respect karte hain, Ghaffar bhai se, Ghaffar
09:43bhai ne bahut kaam kiya hain, Manmohan D'Souza sahab ke set, main bahut bada fan raha hoon,
09:47Manmohan D'Souza ji, ki maini unke liek film bhi likhi thi, Diwan-e-Mustafa.
09:51Right.
09:52Toh, mujhe bade khushi hui, aur main bola, kya baat, bole, haan yaar, koi tension nahi
09:56hai, yeh toh main atmosphere, dekhna bhuli gaya, toh main jahaan jaahan hai, toh badi
09:59tension rehti hai.
10:00Right.
10:01Yeh toh actor hoon, toh bhi kuch ajeeb maahol hota hai.
10:03Toh mujhe lagta hai, uss maahol mein film banana.
10:05Toh main, koshish yeh hi karta hoon, ki jab film release hoon, uske 10, 15, 20, 25 saal
10:10baad bhi, usse judeve logon ko, jab uss film ka zikr karna pade, yaar jab zikr aaye, toh
10:15unke chair pe muska out ho, kya nahi, ek bahut achi journey thi.
10:18Mujhe lagta hai, Welcome Back ki journey jo thi, wo, it was not utni achi, jo pehli zungi
10:24thi.
10:25Oh, okay.
10:26And, that was very important for, at least for me.
10:29Mere jaisi insaan, jo bahut khush hokar, aur bahut mood mein kaam karne wale log hain
10:35unki agar acha atmosphere ho, toh we sometimes do wonders.
10:40Yes.