‘Rustom’ was a gamble: Neeraj Pandey

By Subhash K. Jha

Mumbai, Aug 31 (IANS) Filmmaker Neeraj Pandey says the "unusual plot" of "Rustom" has yielded results beyond the team's expectations -- and he is happy they took the risk of making the movie on instinct.

"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," Pandey said.

Featuring Akshay Kumar, Ileana D'Cruz and Esha Gupta in a tale inspired by the real life K.M. Nanavati case, the movie was appreciated by critics and audiences alike.

Pandey admits making the movie was a big risk.

"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," Pandey said and described 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," he said.

Akshay's participation clinched the matter for Pandey, who produced the movie.

"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."

Pandey and Akshay have collaborated on two films "Special 26" and "Baby" earlier. 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 2017 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 yet again.

"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."