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EXCLUSIVE: Farhan Akhtar’s Dil Chahta Hai was rejected by distributors, recalls Ritesh Sidhwani; ‘Yeh film kabhi chalegi nahi’
During an exclusive conversation with Pinkvilla, Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar discussed various topics and shared how their film Dil Chahta Hai was rejected by several distributors.
Ritesh Sidhwani made his debut as a film producer with Dil Chahta Hai. The film was directed by Farhan Akhtar and was released in 2001. Together, they founded one of the biggest production companies, Excel Entertainment.
But every producer and director faces setbacks. In an exclusive interview with Pinkvilla, Ritesh revealed that the Farhan-directed film Dil Chahta Hai was rejected by several distributors while sharing how they created their production company.
'When we started Dil Chahta Hai we were 27 or 28 at that point,' says Ritesh Sidhwani
Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani graced our recent Pinkvilla Masterclass and discussed various interesting topics. During the chat, Ritesh was asked how his contribution to the cinema evolved after the growth of their production company.
He shared, "When we started Dil Chahta Hai we were 27 or 28 at that point. I had no idea of what filmmaking was. I have never been to a shoot in my life. My friend here has written the script; I knew him, I knew what he could do, and that's how Excel was born."
Continuing to say that there were no multiplexes at that time when they were rising, Ritesh recalled that people used to say that Dil Chahta Hai would have come 5 or 10 years later.
"But I think what it did was to bring an audience to cinemas which were not coming in. There were distributors who watched the movie. We very proudly showed the movie to the people who would not show films so we thought we are such big stars so let's call them in and show them what we made and I think almost 6 of them saw the movie and left the film and said, 'yeh film kabhi chalegi nahi.' That's how the Excel distributions with Anil Thadani started," Sidhwani said.
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW:
Farhan Akhtar opens up about Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara 2
During the conversation with us to celebrate 20 years of Lakshya, Farhan was asked about the possibilities of a sequel to the Zoya Akhtar directorial.
With a laugh, he said that they had already used the term Dobara in the title and asked what the title of the next part should be. He added that they have the story but not the title; hence, they are stuck and quipped that it has happened for the first time in the history of filmmaking. He, however, went into a serious tone and gave an update on Hrithik Roshan-led slice-of-life drama.
Akhtar said that they all want the sequel to happen as it’s a loved film and hope that Zoya will come up with something for the sequel as it's her brainchild.
ALSO READ: EXCLUSIVE: Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara 2 in the making? Farhan Akhtar says, “We all want it to happen”
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