First India Filmy: Known as an expert in the film industry for all the correct reasons! Ashutosh Gowariker and Mridul open up about their upcoming film

Mumbai (Maharashtra): Ashutosh Gowariker is a name that needs no introduction. With some of the most acclaimed movies under his name, he is known among the topmost filmmakers in the Hindi film industry. After his 2019 directorial ‘Panipat’, which he also wrote and produced, Gowariker has now stepped into filmmaking again, but this time strictly as just a producer.

Toolsidas Junior is a sports drama, directed and written by Mridul Sharma and produced by Ashutosh Gowariker. Talking to Ashish Tiwari from First India Filmy, both these filmmakers discuss their upcoming movie, pan-India film releases and late actor Rajiv Kapoor.

As Ashutosh delved into the world of production while taking a backseat from directing, the Lagaan maker said, “My team and I thought that all the films that our company made, were directed by me. So, we wanted to try solely producing films. Hence, we started looking for scripts that we thought would be a great start for this journey of ours. We met a lot of people but could not find a script worthy enough. Mridul narrated his story to me while we were working together on the film ‘Everest’. I was immediately interested in the story.”

Talking about opting for an OTT release for their film instead of theatres, Mridul revealed, “Every filmmaker dream about watching his movie on a big screen. But after the pandemic happened, we did a lot of research and came to realize that parents still are hesitant to take their children to the theatres. Keeping this in mind, we thought that OTT release is the best as we can reach every home through it.”

Toolsidas Junior was late actor Rajiv Kapoor’s last movie and he, unfortunately, passed away before its official release. The story revolves around Toolsidas played by Rajiv Kapoor, an ace snooker player who only plays for his son. But after Toolsidas loses in an important tournament to his arch-rival, his 13-year-old son, Midi, played by child actor Varun Buddhadev, decides to fulfil his father's dream. For this, he enlists the help of former snooker champion Mohammad Salam. Toolsidas Junior was released on March 4, 2022, and received a lot of praise and love from critics and viewers.

Watch the entire interview on the YouTube channel of First India Filmy.