'Baby' Authentic take on Real Danger to Global Peace: Director

Jan 22,2015

Mumbai, Jan 22 (IANS) Neeraj Pandey's two directorial ventures so far -- "A Wednesday" and "Special Chabbis" -- displayed his ability to take the language of Hindi commercial cinema into unexpected territory. He says his new film "Baby", on terrorism, is his effort to create awareness about the existing danger to peace.

In an interview, Pandey spoke about "Baby" and the dynamics of making films on sensitive subjects.

Excerpts:

Q. "Baby" is about international terrorism. Post the ghastly terror attack in Peshawar, do you feel cinema must become more responsible in its projection of the issue?

A. Speaking for myself, I'd like to believe I'm a responsible filmmaker. I don't have solutions. But I hope to create a renewed awareness about the situation. Any filmmaker who talks sense should be taken seriously.

Q. Your trailer tells us that "Baby" is about the efforts of a covert Indian intelligence team to nab an international terrorist?

A. The trailer had to tell us the film's DNA. We wanted to be very clear on this.

Q. You've cast actors who belong to the country of the characters' origins?

A. Yes, and that was not easy to do. Communication was difficult. What would otherwise have taken a couple of days took much longer. But having a competent casting director Vicky Sidana on board was a big help. He kept following up on all the actors from whichever country we wanted.

Q. You also shot in many foreign countries, which you haven't done before?

A. Well, I like to travel. So it isn't as if I'm not familiar with international locations. But travelling with a film crew is something else. The film needed to be shot in various countries. So we travelled to Delhi, then Nepal, Turkey and Abu Dhabi to shoot. The conditions were different at each location. But it was a great deal of fun and big challenge.

Q. You've cast a Pakistani actor as a terror mastermind. Isn't that a clear indication of where the terror hub is?

A. Terror is prevalent everywhere in the subcontinent. Let's not fool ourselves into believing it's not present in India. Just the other day we had another terror attack in Bangalore. I chose the Pakistani actor Rasheed Naaz to play the main terrorist because I wanted someone with an oratorial skill, who could sway audiences into hatred and violence. There are two villains in the film -- an Indian played by Kay Kay Menon and a Pakistani played by Rasheed Naaz. I wanted a particular accent in the speech in my Pakistani villain.

Q. Your earlier films generated curiosity but they didn't create the widespread interest that "Baby" has. Does that make you nervous?

A. Not at all. When we cut our trailer and put it out, we wanted to generate interest and curiosity. And I think we managed that. We understood that it wouldn't happen with "A Wednesday" because I was new and the trade didn't trust my ability to generate revenues. We had cut a very interesting trailer for "A Wednesday" as well. But at that time I was not equipped to put my idea into a perspective.

Q. When you came to your second film, you were much better placed in the film mart?

A. It was slightly better during "Special Chabbis". Budget-wise, and in terms of scale and scope my two earlier films were smaller. I feel the scale of a film must match the plot. I took 'baby' steps to get to my new film from where I started in "A Wednesday".

Q. There is the danger of a big film like "Baby" being perceived by the audience as a documentation of real life terror-politics. That would limit the viewership?

A. But "Baby" is an authentic take on a very real and disturbing danger to global peace. There's no room for flights of fancy here. It's set in a real incident. The purpose of the film is to recreate a specific real life situation. We can't control the take-outs from the plot. It's up to the audience to carry home what they like. We have a very real story to tell. How it is perceived is not in our control.

Tags:

'Baby' Authentic take on Real Danger to Global Peace: Director Neeraj Pandey in news news about Neeraj Pandey

Priyanka Chopra: Kareena, who was the enemy in 'Aitraaz', praised Priyanka, wrote- 'Made to rule the world'

Jul 18,2025

Priyanka Chopra is celebrating her 43rd birthday today, i.e. on 18th July. On this special occasion, the actress has been congratulated by her film 'Aitraaz' co-star Kareena Kapoor in a different style. Kareena shared an old picture of an award show on Instagram Stories and wrote that Priyanka w

Vidyut Jamwal: Vidyut Jamwal is ready for his Hollywood debut, will play a strong role in this film

Jul 15,2025

Actor Vidyut Jamwal, known for his action, is now going to make his entry in a Hollywood film. He has joined the star cast of the live-action film 'Street Fighter'. It is a film based on an iconic video game franchise.Vidyut's Hollywood entryAccording to a Deadline report, Vidyut will be seen i

Vijay Deverakonda: New update on Vijay Deverakonda's film, Kingdom's new release date will be announced today

Jul 07,2025

Vijay Deverakonda has joined hands with famous director Gautam Tinnanuri for the action drama film 'Kingdom'. There is a lot of excitement about the film since its announcement. The recently released teaser has further increased the expectations of the fans. The new release date of the f

Dhurandhar's heroine Sara Arjun's father is also a top Bollywood actor, and has worked with Shah Rukh and Aamir.

Jul 07,2025

Sara Arjun, a well-known child artist of Indian cinema, is now going to rock the big screen with Ranveer Singh, who is 20 years older. A small glimpse of Sara in the first look of the Dhurandhar movie filled the audience with excitement.Ever since Dhurandhar was announced, it was believed

Panchayat 5: Now there will be a fight for the post of Deputy Pradhan in Phulera, the makers announced 'Panchayat 5'; know the update

Jul 07,2025

Last month, on June 24, the fourth season of 'Panchayat' was released on Amazon Prime, which the audience is loving a lot. However, in this season, Manju Devi loses the election of Pradhani, which disappointed the audience. Now everyone is waiting to see what will happen in its fifth season. See

This flop film's luck changed as soon as it came on OTT, got included in the top list.

Jun 30,2025

The year 2025 has proved to be lucky for most of the Big Star films. At the same time, the story of some stars' movies was not liked on the big screen. Today we are talking about a film that proved to be a flop at the box office, but when the movie knocked on OTT, it got immense love. Let us know

Harshvardhan Rane: The poster of Harshvardhan Rane's upcoming film was released, actor was seen covered in blood; Know the name of the movie

Jun 30,2025

Actor Harshvardhan Rane, who won everyone's heart with the film 'Sanam Teri Kasam', is now going to be seen in a great film, whose poster and title have been revealed. Recently, the actor was seen preparing for this upcoming film. Let's know about this film.The first look of the film releasedT

Panchayat 4: Neena Gupta is known not only for Manju Devi of Panchayat but also for these characters

Jun 26,2025

Recently 'Panchayat 4' has been released on OTT. This series is getting a lot of love from the audience. In this, actress Neena Gupta has played the character of Manju Devi, who is the head of Phulera village. She is very much in the news at this time. Know about those films and web seri