AA has this uh thing of really underselling himself uh when he’s in other people’s company and saying so I remember him saying seeing the trailer of the goat life and going around the whole set and telling you know I think this will win the Oscar if I had done
This I would been the basar he would keep I remember you know the day PRI used to come on set because he was only coming for 4 hours because he was shooting two really big films AA sir and tiger used to tell me that today we are junior artists because all attention was
On him all attention was him there’s only one Salman Khan as I always say in the industry uh he’s the most secure person the most secure star uh it was very sweet of him to write what he wrote he genuinely liked the trailer and he
Gave us a shout out and the way he said that you know this time I’m not coming on Eid but B and CH will give you the Eid is a very sweet thing to say well Katrina is always on my mind when it comes to making films because if I don’t
Cast her she calls me and say why are you not casting me uh we are also friends because our dads uh were very close my my dad is no longer alive but um mamuti s and my dad and shanu fahad’s father Fazil s who is one of the most
Iconic filmmakers from malum we’re very close friends so we are like the nepo kids so you Know hi welcome to news 18 thank you thank you hi how have you been doing very good no nervousness no Jitters at all do we look nervous because we are trying not to be see we are so calm yeah okay okay I’ll start with the both
Of you um it is a big film like we are all talking about the scale is massive there are some big actors in the film please tell me honestly how much time did it take for you to get dates from everyone and put and put the film together
Well on a film of this scale uh usually it takes almost a year and a half of planning you know whether it’s pre-production writing and just to get the right cast in and then coordinate their dates and especially if you have a superstar from down south who is doing
All the big films there now 1700 films yeah it it is difficult it is difficult and also because when you do these films which are assemble cast you have to have everyone together at every location and especially if you’re shooting it abroad on real location or even in India on
Real location Things become difficult um so so there’s a lot of planning goals that and and that’s that’s where the the real films are made you know like once your film is on an edit table you already know what material do you have but to put everything together uh and
And then to produce films of this scale is is a major task Jackie do you have to keep calling people up dates up dates so you know um like Ali said that U it took one and a half year of planning and of course you
Know we have AK s tiger prvi who are superstars and they you know their dates are constantly blocked but you know the the unique thing what happened is that I actually played a very smart role that U we worked very hard for 1 and a half year and Ali actually made an
Outstanding script once that script fell in place I automatically got DS right so so I feel that that what that’s what uh um was like you know the Aladin lamp for for for us yeah and I think prv is here a and tiger but he validated that yeah that it’s the script which
Brought all of us together but pry I just heard you saying that you know it was Prashant Neil sir also who told you that you know you should do the film because you know you were sort of struggling a little bit with the dates so I’m I’m sure he’s also to be thankful
For yes so I was talking to Prashant about while we were shooting the climax of salar about this really wonderful script that Ali abaser had told me and how I was offered a role in it but I’m not going to be able to do it because of
My dates issue and all that and I kept talking to him for like about 10 20 minutes about the film and the script and all that then Prashant told me you really seem like you want to do this and knowing you if you let this go you will
Feel rotten Prashant did tell me this and he was right you know if I had let this one go I would have just felt rotten especially now after having seen the film I would have really been kicking myself uh thankfully things moved around enough and Ali also sort of
Adjusted a bit and everything that I was able to do the film and I’m glad I was because uh it’s it’s a I think it’s a very good fil it is it looks it looks really fine um okay I I was at the trailer launch of
The film where AKA Kumar said that you know praj is way is a way better actor than I am he’s just being nice no but you know I mean do you still feel uh do you still blush at Compliments are you still embarrassed to accept compliments no I’m not embarrassed to accept
Compliments I love compliments but uh I I Tred to blush to look all nice humble and all yeah exactly yeah uh and I sometimes terribly fail but AA is just being nice you know aay s has this uh thing of really undering himself uh when he’s in other people’s company and
Saying so I remember him saying seeing the trailer of the goat life and going around the whole set and telling you know I think this will win the Oscar if I had done this I would win the basar he would keep he’ crack jokes like that but
I personally know uh I’m also a filmm I personally know having watched his work and having worked with him he’s a terrific actor he’s a way better actor than he will admit uh to being and uh aay s is very very good with when when
Material is given to him you know and he makes it his own and uh I think he’s fantastic in this film you know he’s very good in this film um when you see the film you will know that it’s not just about action and Mard and all that
This has got some serious uh evocative moments in in the film and both aay s and tiger have really pulled it off magnificently I mean full credit to him he’s he’s shot them and he shot me like fantastically well yes um you know I would want to talk a little bit about
The title because a lot of conversations are happening surrounding the title I remember there was a lot of curiosity when you had first announced it uh just want to ask you Jackie uh was was has there been any conversation with goind Sir With Mr bachan have they told you
Anything I mean I know these are two separate films of course but um you know actually U Amit anle was busy but I got an opportunity two days back to meet Chichi at his house actually one day before the trailer launch also and uh I
Showed him the trailer and he saw he saw the trailer and he said that uh your director is a very good man so I said uh CH how are you saying this he says because he is not made of film he’s made Cinema you know uh and you know he’s a
Veteran he’s a legend we all know I’ve grown up in front of him and you know that gave me so much confidence uh uh because I’m a creative person who’s now producing and it just it just made me so happy because all of us you know we are
All working day and night so that people love our craft people like audien has come and appraise us and it was just amazing and yeah Ali I’m very proud of you man of what you’ve you know what you’ve done uh with Bia Chia and he’s uh
You know he’s he’s just just taken it Way Beyond uh we could have I as Puja entertainment we could have imagined and uh yeah I’ll always be indebted to akes Tiger prit and ali uh you know for for this it’s it’s just as I I’ve been
Saying it in all my interviews that for me it’s just been a learning experience that um you know if you follow the process correctly um this is what the result would be what was your reaction like then when you heard Mr goa’s words I didn’t tell it’s the first time today
You’re coming to know so what do you have to say no it’s really you know both Mr bachan and ginda sir are like Legends you know um what I’m feeling happy after hearing it is at least what they said is like blessing to us you know so I’ll
Take it like that and and I I hope when they watch the film they feel proud that you know we’ve taken the their legacy forward in the right way um as prvi said and it’s a very special film not only because it looks Grand it’s it’s a very
Special film because I think there is a very beautiful story in there which people cannot uh gauge from the trailer because trailer’s work is to bring the audience into the theater uh but the heart of the film you will see it when you watch it um and it’s uh and it’s
Meant to be washed with families so it’s it’s a very Community film you know uh it’s designed uh as a as as I said like a comic book film so and and it has beautiful characters who when you watch the film evolve and you take take you on
A journey so I’m I’m so I’m not nervous about the film I’m excited about the film The only pressure that I feel right now is that it should be delivered to theaters as we’ve imagined it when we read it on paper because on a film like this your sound your picture everything
Needs to come together for an audience we are doing an IMAX release a 3D release so when kids go and watch it in 3D and they see prvi in the MK they should feel wow this is something which which they will watch uh you know in in
Their or read about in their Comics or books so things like that wow oh okay so I want to know what made you uh you know cast him for this particular character was was there any particular film or character of his that you had watched in
The past that made you feel like I think you know he’s the perfect no no I followed his work very closely um and you know the beauty about the Malayalam actors um now he’s he’s leading that Forefront you know but if you see muhan L sir uh there’s there’s lot of Charisma in
Them in terms of their persona but they’re all very very good actors uh you know uh so they are star actors rather than just being actors uh just being Stars you know and uh when when I wrote this character I was very very sure that I really wanted a superstar to play this
Character and for the longest time a s and were you used to tell me AR who will play the villain who will play the villain and I said sir there is someone in my mind and I will approach that person let me just finish the dialogue
Draft uh and uh luckily they they know each other you know so whenever the first time I called a s sir sir I think I’m going to pitch the film to praj his instinctive reaction was perfect just go to him and I’m not saying it only because uh you know he’s sitting here
But when you watch the film there is a reason why there is pitaj uh there is a reason why his character is so important in the film it’s it’s a three hero film it’s not a two hero film he plays an anti-hero but the way he’s mounted in
The the film The Way his character graph is it’s his story yeah in the film more than Bia Chia story so so when he heard the narration my first instinct I I’ve never felt so you know jit in a narration because I really wanted him I
Said so I don’t have any other person to fall back on uh you know and aasar and tiger were already on board and he he gave me a carrot and then he took it back and he says I love the script but I won’t be able to do it because I don’t
Have dates oh no and I was like now what do I do and then I kept calling him kept messaging him in the middle of night early in the morning hi prvi I really want you he said brother I want to do it but how will I do it and then finally I
Said I will change a and Tiger’s date but you give me your dates I’ll manage it no I mean I I’m I’m glad it worked out because like I said you know I would have been rotten with myself if I had let this one go yeah but unfortunately it came to me
When I was caught between salar and strangely enough another Hindi film so I was doing two films together at that time which I which actually in my industry from Malayalam industry where we come from we don’t have the practice of doing multiple films together when we
Start a film we stick with that film we finish that film and then move on to the next one so I was already in foreign territory doing two films together and then Ali gives me this fantastic script and the character and I’m like oh my God and
Uh yeah I mean I managed to pull it off and with Ali now the thing is he shoots everything real it’s it’s not so when I first heard the narration I was thinking I’m going to spend 40 50 days in a studio with green screens around me I
Didn’t see a single green screen for the entirety of this film everything he’s shot for real so my introduction sequence was shot in a place called Glen n in Scotland yeah and at that particular point in time I was shooting somewhere off Manali for another film I
Remember I drove from Manali to Kulu took a flight from Kulu to Chanda then from chandigar to Delhi Delhi to Bombay Bombay to Dubai Dubai to edinb and then drove all the way to Glen NIS shot for 4 hours with a mask and then took the
Entire route back to join the film I was shooting in Manali because Ali was particular that he will only shoot in the real location with the real chopper with the real actor and that’s how the entire film is shot the entire film is shot in real places blowing up actual
BMWs having actual bikes ride up from a ramp and crash into a real Chopper there’s some mad stuff that’s happened and to think in retrospective that this guy pulled it off in 100 I really wish my producer doesn’t know that by the way I’m directing a film as we speak to to
Imagine that he pulled this off in 100 days is just unbelievable unbelievable yeah Jackie blowing up a BMW not a multiple a few multiple multiple wow no for us it was very clear m uh when we heard the script we were very very clear that we will go all out
To back his vision and um no it’s great to have producers like this who trust you and you trust the vision also I think on paper we were very very clear with what we were making and this was the only way we could achieve it uh today you know everyone says big films
Big films big films but to make big films with any studio is making any producer is making is is a nightmare because the water it’s the money goes like water out of a tap you know it’s so expensive to make these films and and you know I’m I’m really fortunate to get
Backed up with people and the producers and the actors who really supported that Vision um I remember you know the day prvi used to come on set because he was only coming for 4 hours because he was shooting uh two really big films AAS s
And tiger used to tell me that today we are junior artists because all attention was on him all attention was him and they were just standing in gold and shouting that’s not the reason why you would say that because it the film is such that I speak the most in the film
Likea said during the trailer launch that you know I was I just finished dubbing for the film uh last evening and I was telling my sound recorders at the dubbing Studio that I don’t remember a Malayalam film where I’ve spoken so much in the recent past so that’s there’s a
Lot of me speaking in the film so wow okay oh I also saw um Mr Salman KH giving a shout out to your film and what does it mean you know to get this kind of a support from people in your own fraternity does it really encourage you
Further does it you know add to the pressure what does it do no definitely you it’s what there’s only one Salman Khan as I always say in the industry uh he’s the most secure person the most secure star uh it was very sweet of him to write what he wrote he genuinely
Liked the trailer and he gave us a shout out and the way he said that you know this time I’m not coming on Eid but B and CH will give you the e is a very sweet thing to say um so so you know we just want to thank him from the bottom
Of our hearts that you know it’s he’s just a good Soul you know and he will do it for the people he like he will even do it to the people he don’t like you know that’s the greatness of him um and yes all the thanks to him yes do you
Want to add something no I I know Salman since I was in school yeah since BB number one in days and he’s just been so helpful to all of them and not just he’s not just posted right I think Ali’s missed it but he recently went for a
Screening uh and again they asked him something and again there he said that you know I think you miss that sir so it’s just amazing that man uh we all have been fans of him we all uh it’s just he’s he’s he’s the Salman Khan so for
Him validating uh the film and he’s done so much work with Ali it’s just amazing it’s just amazing so much to learn from people like him BR you know we’re talking about Brotherhood here and support from the fraternity you have time and again maintained that you know
You share a great bond with two of your colleagues who are also great friends one not just two I I sh especially I’m saying you know dkar Salman Fahad fasil being you know two of the many uh so every time there’s a big project or any
Film coming out uh how much does there do you look forward to their feedback have they said anything have they shared any notes with you on Bia Chia not on B Chia because they yet to see the the film of course but uh whenever there’s a
Film that’s released of either one of us we see the film and we get in touch and tell each other what we felt about the film uh we are also friends because our dads uh were very close my my dad is no longer alive but um mamuti s and my dad
And shanu fahad’s father Fazil s who is one of the most iconic filmmakers from Malayalam they’re very close friends so we are like the nepo kids so you know so and also we live close to each other and uh but it’s not just dkar and
Fad I share a bond with many actors and I think it comes from a real realization that uh uh I’ve understood the business enough to realize two very important things that my growth is not based on someone else not growing they’re two independent things and uh the way Cinema
Operates as an industry is that anybody’s success will eventually percolate into everybody’s success uh if there’s a film like recently a Malayalam film for the first time breached the 200 Crow mark and it has opened up so many new avenues theatrically for Malayalam Cinema in general and the one film that
Benefited the most from it is the goat life my new release uh and suddenly we are talking about uh the goat life doing 50 50 60 Crowes in 3 days you know that wasn’t possible for Malayalam Cinema so it is also possible because the just previous releases like Manimal Bo pru
And brah yugam really shattered the glass ceiling in terms of theatrical revenue for Malayalam Cinema so I Now understand that their success is also my success so it’s uh it’s it’s from a deep understanding of how the industry and the business works yeah you know I’m
Getting CED to cut this one last thing I need to ask you uh you had shared a story you know you said you know Katrina we missed be uh you being on the sets and uh keep your dates free for the next one so just two quick things uh was she
In your mind for B Mia CH Mia ever well Katrina is always on my mind when it comes to making films because if I don’t cast her she calls me and say why are you not casting me you know she said this this time I met her recently du
Airport yeah so she she’s she’s the same thing to you no no she asked me I you done with Al yeah and the thing is that I just feel that somewhere or the other uh whenever I worked with her we we just have a great Bond as
Actor uh director and I also feel that there is a lot of potential in her as an actress whether it’s bhat brother gulan you know and tigers she’s she’s done really good work with me so every time you know I start a film the first call
That I get is from Katrina that you’ve not you know casting me in this one or you know why am I not being offered this film so this one she couldn’t do because she was busy with something so I just said that I hope next time you don’t
Complain that you’re not a part of Bia chimia and keep your dates free for the next one okay well uh on that note uh thank you so much to all three of you for your time and uh really looking for forward to watching this visual Extravaganza on the thank you all the
Very best thank You
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