“UUNCHAI GOT ME OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE”

Barjatya is known for helming dramas like Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, Hum Saath Saath Hain and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo and now After delivering family-friendly blockbusters, filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya says he gravitated towards the quieter world of Uunchai–a film about three friends in their 60s on a mission to scale Mount Everest– as he wanted to break free of the box office trap. In an exclusive conversation with Ashish Tiwari of First India, he shared what went behind making the film and more. Sharing about the content of the film being so different from his earlier dramas he shared, “Actually if you look at it it’s a typical family drama but the way you look at it is different. I liked the story but I was never an outdoor director during the pandemic I felt I needed to do the BreakThrough. And then I thought this story of 65-yearold heroes needed to be shown on screen. I have made this film without any expectation but I have made it from all my heart for entertainment.”

A journey that started from the blockbuster Maine Pyar kia to Uunchai now has been splendid sharing about that he said, “I have learnt a lot from the times of Maine Pyaar Kia but at that time my family took chances and now we know how much effort one needs to put to be successful and we need to respect that and always keep your voice out there. A film needs to be made not to be a hit or a flop but in a way that the story you want to share it’s put forth to the audience in the best way possible. Similarly in Uunchai as well we haven’t included any love angle or young start cast the crux of the story needs to remain intact.” Sharing on casting 65 year old for such a different and difficult movie he shared,” When I thought of doing the film I knew I had these beautiful characters and we needed to speak about them. I am sure the people will identify with the characters of Uunchai. All the artists wanted to do the film because they could relate to the characters. Had Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani and Danny not agreed to do this film, then probably I wouldn’t have been able to do this movie so peacefully. For any director, the cast is like a dream and I would say having all these brilliant artists together was my dream.”

“We shot during the pandemic. There were locations that we fixed but had to be cancelled because of the lock down. We took all kinds of precautions, and I sent a team of experts just to analyse what kind of risk factors were present. It helped the actors with their p e r f o r m a n c e . Then I went with my team of technicians for a recce, and finally, we took a crew of 300 persons and the cast, with doctors and oxygen cylinders. We took small steps and stopped to acclimatise at every location. I give credit to the actors that they trusted me. It also shows their love for the medium and the characters” shared Sooraj on the challenges he faced during the shoot. He added, “The major challenge was to do this film but the story kept calling me and in every step, there was a different challenge but everything just fell in place eventually." The director is grateful for his cast and crew, who trusted his vision and followed him to the rough Himalayan terrain.