It was a gamble – Neeraj Pandey on the success of Rustom

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Producer and filmmaker Neeraj Pandey has never serenaded the expected. "I think many factors contributed to the success of Rustom. But we never thought it would go this far. I've to admit the success of Rustom has surpassed all our expectations. I think the unusual plot had a lot to do with its success. Though inspired by a real incident, we made sure there was enough drama and emotions in the telling of the story to keep the audience hooked."

He admits he took a big risk with Rustom. "It was a subject on infidelity and not too many films have been attempted on that…we were aware of that. When Tinu Suresh Desai came to us with the subject, I was sure we wanted to do it," says Neeraj.

Neeraj describes his faith in the script of Rustom as a gut-feeling. "I've always gone by instinct. And the director Tinu Desai has worked with me earlier. He had assisted me on my directorial venture Special 26, so I knew what he was capable of. The rest is just plain instinct. You have to take risks if you want to get the audience interested."

Akshay Kumar's participation clinched the matter for Neeraj. "When I had an actor of Akshay's stature on board everything else just fell in place. I don't think we could have made this kind of an impact without him. He persuades audiences to believe in his cinema."

Neeraj and Akshay have collaborated on two films Special 26 and Baby. They are about to collaborate on a third directorial project.

"At the moment I am not in a position to say anything about our next film Crack. We have an idea. And we have a release date. Independence Day 2017. And we have the shooting dates. Yes, we shoot for Crack from the end of January to the end of March 2017. Beyond that there is nothing at the moment. We are yet to decide anything about Crack."

It's bound to be something unconventional. "Akshay's collaboration with me is based on mutual trust. He will never wonder if my idea will work. I will never wonder if he would fit into my scheme of things. We know that if we are working together, there can only be one answer to our question."

There was another film on the same real-life crime that director Ram Madhvani was collaborating with Aamir Khan for. Neeraj says he had no idea of this. "All I knew was that there were other films being made on similar lines.We never thought about who was doing what. All we were sure of was that there was a story that we wanted to tell. Rustom was a story that had to be told. "

Article written by staff at Bollywood Hungama. Read more