“It was a challenge for me to prove that Sunny too can act in a tough role. I was elated to see her evolve as an actor in ‘BEIIMAAN LOVE’!
Film trade analyst turned filmmaker talks about his ambitious film ‘BEIIMAAN LOVE’ starring Sunny Leone, Rajniesh Duggall, Daniel Weber, Rajiv Verma, introducing Yuvraj Singh and Zeisha Nancy and tells us on his future plans
What is ‘‘BEIIMAAN LOVE’ all about?
Ans: ‘Beiimaan Love’ starring Sunny Leone and Rajniesh Duggal with Daniel Weber, is a musical dark romance depicting the imperfect love of today’s times. Both Sunny and Rajniesh have tremendous shades and colours in their roles. They have acted brilliantly and the chemistry between them is intense and palpable! ‘BEIIMAAN LOVE’ is a love story exposing the ‘beiimaani’ of today’s love! It is based on the women of today who prioritize work and career over love and miseries of emotions and domestic slavery! Today, no woman likes to get trapped in emotional cobwebs; hence every woman will be able to identify with the character that Sunny plays in ‘BEIIMAAN LOVE’
But with the image that Sunny carries, especially post a film like Mastizaade, do you think she will be able to do justice to your film? Don’t you think an actor like Priyanka or Kangana would match this kind of character? Don’t you think it’s risky?
Ans: “It was a challenge for me to prove that Sunny Leone too can act even in a tough. I was elated to see her evolve as an actor in ‘ Beiimaan Love’. Sunny has performed brilliantly in this thought provoking challenging role and has done an extraordinary job in my film. She is as good as Priyanka Chopra or Kangana Ranaut in acting. “ I was not at all surprised to see her perform so immaculately on the sets of my film, as this is exactly what I had visualized about Sunny as the heroine’s character in ‘BEIIMAAN LOVE’”! She lived up to my expectations in performing the role so well!”
Everybody, including critics, will be amazed to see this new side of Sunny. And it is not at all risky; on the contrary, it will be a great novelty and beautiful surprise for Sunny Leone fans and audiences all over to see her as a real mainstream heroine!
In my film, the audience will get deeply involved with the actor Sunny Leone, who is intensely immersed in her character, that they will start seeing Sunny in a brand new light. You will start falling in love with this actor Sunny, who is radically different in “BEIIMAAN LOVE”.
‘BEIIMAAN LOVE’ talks about the power of woman. What made you sign Sunny Leone for this strong headed woman’s role?
“I think Sunny is very intelligent and strong headed. After seeing her in Ragini MMS, I sensed the strength of Sunny and was convinced that she can act in a powerful role like this. The best part is that she can look very innocent, pure and, at the same time, very strong and matured. I just narrated this role to her and she immediately gave a letter of consent for doing this film! And I must say, the role of ‘Sunaina’ in my film fits her like a glove!”
Does “BEIIMAAN LOVE” have sex and oomph in it like all other Sunny films?
‘BEIIMAAN LOVE’ is different! It is a very rich romantic film with very strong content revolving around today’s independent woman. There is no so called substandard sex element in it. ‘BEIIMAAN LOVE’ has passionate and intimate scenes with adequate dose of love making,
but they are in sync with the story and are very aesthetically picturised. Nothing is cheap or vulgar in ‘BEIIMAAN LOVE’!
Is a Sunny Leone film, sans any big stars, a safe bet at the box office?
Ans: Sunny Leone can be termed as the female version of Salman Khan. In all her films, she has carried the burden of box office on her shoulders. There has never been a saleable hero cast opposite her till date and, despite that, she has managed to draw huge box office opening collections. A Sunny Leone film, if made with proper, controlled budget, is a sure-shot winner and this has been proven time and again in all her films!
Moreover, our film’s winning point is its powerful subject that is bound to create the difference!
The buzz around is that there are various hot lovemaking scenes between Sunny and Rajniesh in your film. Don’t you think the Censor board will give you a tough time over this?
‘BEIIMAAN LOVE’ will be the first Sunny Leone film that will get a U/A certificate because all the lovemaking, intimate scenes have been shot aesthetically and artistically! Furthermore, the script and spirit of the film is so relevant and purposeful for today’s society that the Censor board will go out of the way to give Beiimaan Love a U/A certificate so it reaches out to one and all.
Why did you choose to cast Rajniesh Duggall opposite Sunny Leone in your film?
Ans: When we were still in the initial stages of casting for ‘BEIIMAAN LOVE’, I met Sunny on the sets of one of her upcoming movies. While discussing whom to cast as the male lead, Sunny recommended Rajniesh’s name and showed me his picture from the sets of Leela. Daniel (Weber) told Rajniesh to come and meet me. After seeing his pictures and meeting him, I thought he was perfect for the role.
Is your film a musical romance, because there is a lot of praise in the industry about your soundtrack?
Ans: Yes, I must mention here that I have worked very hard in selecting the music for ‘BEIIMAAN LOVE’. I heard countless tracks from various music directors before zeroing in on Ankit Tiwari, Raghav Sachar, Kanika Kapoor, Sanjeev Darshan, Amjad-Nadeem, and Assad (A.R. Rahman’s associate) Asees Kaur. The latest addition to music and songs is Internationally acclaimed pop singers Raftaar, Manj and Nindy Kaur. Our music is quite varied – every song has its own mark. All the tracks are going to rule the charts! Music is by Zee Music and I must credit Anurag Bedi of Zee music for giving us such great numbers!
What is your background?
Ans: After working for a popular trade weekly as a journalist, I ventured into Film PR business and have handled PR for many big films, including Rajshri’s ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’(starring Salman Khan),Dev Anand’s ‘Awwal Number’ etc.I later got into film and ad film TV production.
So you also did a lot of TV serial production?
Ans: I wrote and directed the TV show ‘Aaj Ki Taza Khabar’ for Doordarshan, through Amit Khanna’s Plus Channel, the travel show ‘Around The World’ and ‘Shop N Sing’ for DD. I was the first one to produce India’s first film-based show called ‘Bollywood News’ for TV Asia UK, and then later made TV shows like ‘Filmi Baatein’ for Zee TV and ‘Intequaam’ for El TV, followed by ‘Shop n Win’ for NEPC channel. After that, I exported the TV show ‘Bollywood to Ajman’ to Ajman TV UAE. Besides above, I have directed several ad films in India and USA.
Tell us about your production house.
Ans: My production house is called ‘Avanti Films’. My father-in-law, Ustaad Ali Akbar Khan, founded the Indian classical raag, ‘Dayavanti’. He had christened my wife with the name Dayavanti and we used this as the inspiration to name the production house ‘Avanti Films Pvt. Ltd.
BEIIMAAN LOVE’ is produced under the banner of AVANTI FILMS PVT.LTD. in association with CRYSTAL MOVIES and is written-produced and directed by Rajeev Chaudhari, Co-produced by Roshni Chaudhari and Vijay Valbhani and slated for early September 2016 release.
What next, after ‘BEIIMAAN LOVE’?
Ans: I am planning another film called ‘Ishq Firangi’ with Sunny Leone again, under my production house banner, Avanti Films Pvt. Ltd.Besides that, I am working on a film in USA called ‘The Inner Storm’. It will be in English and has been written by me. American writer, Miguel Duran, has written the dialogues. It will be a crossover festival film, which will be shot in Los Angeles and New York.
