Inside Bollywood

The Jodi Breakers director spoke of his journey in Bollywood, his love for cinema, controversies and the frustration he dealt with after Good Boy Bad Boy, produced by Subhash Ghai, earned him a bad name

In Bollywood fates change every Friday. One Friday, Ashwini Chaudhary’s Emraan Hashmi-Tushhar Kapoor-starrer Good Boy Bad Boy released, almost ending his career. But he has bounced back, this time with a talented actor, R Madhavan and one of B-town’s hottest sizzlers, Bipasha Basu for company in Jodi Breakers…

Your first three films, Laado, Dhoop and Siskiyaan were in a different zone and then you made Good Boy Bad Boy. What prompted the sudden change of sensibility?

I wanted to test new waters. As a filmmaker, you can say I was rehearsing for a bigger, more commercial and mainstream presence with the three earlier films.

After Good Boy Bad Boy you were almost written off and had to wait for a long time before Jodi Breakers began. Was it frustrating? How did you deal with it?

Of course it was frustrating. I managed to stay afloat with large dollops of native humour! Good Boy Bad Boy was a film made under ‘special circumstances’. The industry knew that it did not have my stamp on it. It was only a matter of time before I would be calling ‘action’ again, but I had to stay focused and positive and with some support from my cronies, I managed to do both!

You have managed a very unusual casting coup for Jodi Breakers. How did that happen?

Once Madhavan came on board, we knew we had to cast someone really smart and fresh with him. Bipasha had read the script, had liked it but I guess wanted her to be paired well. With Madhavan on… Continue reading →