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EXCLUSIVE: Prernaa Arora on Toilet: Ek Prem Katha: There couldn't be anything more perfect than working with Akshay Kumar back to back
KriArj Entertainment's Prernaa Arora gets candid about Toilet: Ek Prem Katha and Akshay Kumar.
KriArj Entertainment, under the leadership of Prernaa Arora and Arjun N Kapoor started their journey with Rustom and since then, they have been associated with some of the most talked about projects in the coming two years. These projects include Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran (John Abraham), Fanney Khan (Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan), Pari (Anushka Sharma), PadMan (Akshay Kumar, Radhika Apte, Sonam Kapoor), Kedarnath (Sushant Singh Rajput, Sara Ali Khan), Vishal Bhardwaj's next (Irrfan Khan, Deepika Padukone) just to name a few.
In a recent tête-à-tête with Pinkvilla, Prernaa spoke candidly to us about KriArj's latest outing Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, which is slated to release this Friday, her upcoming projects and how Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan are on her wishlist:
Read the full excerpt of the interview below:
With KriArj bagging big projects like Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, PadMan, Fanney Khan to just name a few, does it ever get difficult to multitask such big projects all in one go?
The movies under KriArj are extremely high content-driven films. They are films which are working today. It's like you have a season or a flavour, sometimes. Then there is a current in the country. These films for two years are safe because this is the time in the country which is looking at films like these. It's a flavour right now. And, with KriArj, we are going with the flow and the time as well as the right mindset of the audience. It's been sheer luck that we have met what the audience is looking at. We have chosen and handpicked the movies like couture. Every script, the movie, the filmmaker that we are associated with are from our heart. We have personally chosen to work with Vishal Bhardwaj or with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Abhishek Kapoor. They are people with high passion and who are fearless. The people who have completely nothing else in their life but films. They are not here for anything else. Like Vishal Bhardwaj, he is an inspiration. He's not a difficult man at all. I have heard that he is very strict but he is one of the nicest people and I have so much of love and respect for him. I want to continue working with him.
Multitasking is not difficult. First of all, if you are extremely passionate and in love with what you are doing with your career and that becomes your life, it's not difficult. Secondly, we have great collaborations with each film. We have our studio partners in place, the co-producers, etc in place. Hence, that heaviness and workload does not really come on KriArj because we have every collaboration in place and fixed. We are not trying to do everything, we are learning. Honestly, it is a learning phase and we don't want to be doing things which we are not good at.
Do you think being a producer in Bollywood is underappreciated?
100 percent. There is no doubt about it. For someone like Karan Johar, he is a star, he is a business man - things are very different for him and the world has accepted him in that power. For me, Karan Johar is the biggest star in the film industry. I think he is above the actors, for me. So there are people like Karan who have made their mark. However, where are the other producers? We have Ramesh Taurani - we have so many big producers in the film industry. There is Vashu Bhagnani, there are so many but people really don't talk about them. I think every body should get their due out here.
In today's times, commercial movies make the money. But when it comes to Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, it looks as a commercial film with a strong social message. Is that your intention as well as a producer, to make such movies that have both the commercial and content driven value?
Toilet: Ek Prem Katha is completely an entertainment film. It is a very commercial film with a social message. Akshay Kumar comes from a school where he makes films which are also entertaining to the audience. He does not want to bore the audience, firstly. We have learned that from him that yes, commercial works. It's very important because people are not looking at documentaries. We have lots of documentaries and art to really appreciate in our country. We can go to the theatres and there are other mediums to watch and appreciate that kind of work. But when you watch your visually Hindi films, you need that masala and entertainment for sure. So Toilet: Ek Prem Katha is that. It's commercial and it is 100 percent an entertaining film. It's a comedy and satire with a social message but it's talking about something which is a world power today. It's talking about an important subject which has not been exploited and is the truth of our country where we all know that we don't have toilets. I sometimes wonder, that we have reached the moon and we have climbed Mount Everest but we don't really have toilets in our own country.
Recently, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha was a possible victim of piracy however that was curbed. How did you feel about the overwhelming support from the industry?
We are extremely thankful to the crime branch more than anything else and also the industry's support as well. But, the crime branch sorted it immediately.
First Rustom, then Toilet: Ek Prem Katha and now PadMan whose release date was just announced. How has the journey and equation progressed for you with Akshay Kumar?
It's a blessing and extremely delightful. There couldn't be anything more perfect than working with Akshay Kumar back to back. We have been very fortunate and I'm really hoping to do many more films with him. PadMan for me is special as it Twinkle Khanna's debut and completely his creation. It's her story. This is her journey to wanting to make a film like this. KriArj is very fortunate to be associated with her production house, Mrs. Funnybones in this film. It's different. It's not Akshay Kumar this time, it's Twinkle ji's company that is making the film. It's extremely overwhelming. I think she is a woman of substance. She's a very dignified person and I'm a diehard fan of Twinkle Khanna personally. She's witty and even the subject, this is her story, she wrote this story. Hats off to her and Akshay sir personally, to be essaying such a role which is again talking about such a bold subject. Something which people are not okay to talk about, women especially. So imagine a whole country sitting and watching a film like this. It has never happened in this industry. So I think it is something to learn from them.
You are also collaborating with Vishal Bhardwaj for his next that stars Deepika Padukone and Irrfan Khan. Are you looking forward to working with Deepika and Irrfan?
I'm very excited because I think Deepika is a beautiful person. She's extremely talented. There is nothing better than having Deepika Padukone and Irrfan sir in the film. We start shooting in January, next year. We plan to release the film on October 2, 2018. Personally, I'm excited to start the journey with them and more to work with Vishal ji on set. Right now we are prepping and a lot of work is going on. Right now, we are looking into the music and the arrangement that we are planning for the film. So we are prepping right now.
We are also starting work on Kedarnath by the end of this month and we will be shooting in Kedarnath, something which is very exciting to look forward to.
Rumours are rife that Vicky Kaushal and Rajkummar Rao are in the running to star opposite Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Fanney Khan. So who has finally been chosen?
We were looking at casting. This was our wish list that we were looking at. These were the names that we thought of, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra thought of. Yes, this is not false but this is not something that we have gone ahead with. We are looking at somebody who will suit the character perfectly. So that is something that is going on and soon we will be able to come to a conclusion of who will be casted and in another 10-15 days, we should be done with it.
A movie that you have produced, which has stayed with you?
Toilet: Ek Prem Katha. I can't get over the thought of Toilet: Ek Prem Katha. There is so much in it and so much to talk about. The thing that attracted me to the movie was hygiene. In a way, it's not about cleanliness completely, it's about building toilets but to keep your country clean as well.
The way Akshay and Bhumi Pednekar promoting the movie is very different from the regular promotions of movies that we are used to. What is your take on that?
A: It's true to what the content of the film is, talking to and about women. It's not about going from city to city and dancing. This is not that film and hence it does not make sense. Akshay sir has planned his promotions in a very accurate manner and he's sticking to what he's speaking which is the campaign of the film. So, that's the reason the promotions are a little different from normally what we would do or he would do for other films.
Is there a movie from the recent past that you wished to have produced?
A: Yes, Dangal. I will be envious of all the producers till I don't get to work with Mr. Aamir Khan because I think all the producers are extremely lucky who get to work with him. He's perfection for me, Mr. Aamir Khan and I envy that. I'm counting days and time and praying to God to work with Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan. It would be a dream for me. Both of them. I will make sure that hopefully by next year, we'll have something solid for approaching them. We will be looking at a collaboration with Mr. Shah Rukh Khan first because I understand, Mr. Aamir Khan takes two years to approve so I will be on the waiting list till then.
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