Veteran actor Anupam Kher came up with his second directorial venture Tanvi The Great, which released on Friday July 18. He is happy with the appreciation the film has received in its first weekend. “There is a heading on Bombay Times today, which I loved. It says, ‘Anupam Kher’s Tanvi The Great opens to a thunderous applause’,” he said in an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama.
EXCLUSIVE: Anupam Kher says, “After Saaransh, the kind of appreciation I have got for making Tanvi The Great is phenomenal”
He elaborated, “I have been in movies for 40 years. I have had some great films in my career. But after Saaransh, the kind of praise, appreciation and thankfulness that I have got for making this film is phenomenal and amazing. Right from Cannes to London to America where Mr (Robert) De Niro came to see the film for 10 minutes but stayed back, to National Defence Academy, to the President to the Chief Minister of Delhi. But the 2500 people who came to see the film at NMACC are sending videos, which I am posting and sharing with everybody. It’s a great thing.”
But Kher pointed out that films are judge a lot over here through box office. “Unfortunately, the problem is that over here a movie is judged by its box office performance, which is fine and important because the money has to come to the industry, so that we can make more movies,” he said. “But the point is that if I ask anybody which are your five favourite films, none of them will say that this film made Rs. 300 crores or Rs. 200 crores. They will name the films that touched them. If you ask those people who have seen Tanvi The Great, which are your favourite five films, Tanvi The Great will feature in it. So, that’s a great feeling.”
He added, “Also, it takes a little bit of time to change the perception of the world. It’s a film about goodness. And I am not saying it defensively, I am saying it as a matter of fact. Nobody has made a film on goodness, on the superpower of an autistic girl. So (after watching the film), people feel we are actually living in a good world. So it is serving its purpose. According to my distributor, the second day was 100% more than the first day. So, it is a word-of-mouth film. It’s like how Rajshri (Productions) and so many other films.”
When asked about the biggest challenge he faced while making the film, Kher said, “Sometimes you get entertained by laughter and sometimes by crying. This film had both. You don’t cry because there is a tragedy. You cry because there is goodness and belief in this girl that she should achieve her aim and her not-giving-up attitude. To tell the film truthfully was a difficult thing.”
Tanvi The Great sees the debutant Shubhangi Dutt play the central character of an autistic girl. She has been a student of Kher’s acting school Actor Prepares. “There is this whole nonsense of certain people that acting cannot be taught,” he said. “I have been running an acting school for the last 20 years. She came from nowhere. She has no background (in acting). She is like what I was in Saaransh. She rehearsed for six months. We didn’t even tell her that we are considering you for the lead role. She used to give auditions and then we used to change it a bit. When the critics say that she has given a tough fight to the other five great actors (in the film), there is nothing more that can make me proud and happy.”
Kher’s first directorial venture Om Jai Jagdish was made back in 2002. Sharing the reason for such a major gap between his two projects as a director, he said, “I didn’t make a film for 23 years because I didn’t have anything to tell. I could have made a film but I didn’t have anything to say. For this film, I had something to say. It’s close to my heart because it’s based on the life of my autistic niece Tanvi.”
Kher pointed out that there is a lot to learn from specially challenged people. “There is goodness and non-manipulation of people in those with Autism,” he said. “Otherwise, the world is full of people who manipulate or lie or cheat. When I gave a speech to 240 people (from the crew of the film) on the first day, I said that for 70 days (during the making of the film) we will only think about goodness. There will be no shouting, nobody will get angry. It did change the lives of those 240 people for a lifetime. It is also a life-changing experience for those who are watching it.”
Kher’s wife and veteran actress Kirron Kher has been under treatment for Cancer for years. She made a rare public appearance for the premiere of Tanvi The Great. “She is always under medications and chemotherapy for the last so many years,” he said. “So, I was happy that she came. It was a nice family affair. The film says special thanks to her. I was happy that she liked the film very much.”
Tanvi The Great ends with a slight hint of a sequel. So, is there is sequel in the offing? “I have thought about it but it’s too early to speak about that,” said Kher. “Right now, let’s enjoy the growth of this film.”
More Pages: Tanvi The Great Box Office Collection
, Tanvi The Great Movie Review
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