Suneel Darshan speaks with Subhash K Jha About his newly released film Andaz 2.
How was Andaz 2 incepted?
I wrote the script of Andaz 2 in 2022 through the Covid times. This script wasn’t designed to cannibalize the original but give a similar feel. Just why I say that it has the spirit of my earlier hit hence it was decided that this one be titled Andaz 2…. The then newcomers, Priyanka Chopra and Lara Dutta, contributed to freshness of the success of ANDAAZ, hence I’m awaiting an encore.
Why newcomers?
Our existing stars have become inaccessible and the Hindi movie Industry requires constant upgradation of fresh talents which led me to bring around the fresh castm Aayush Kumar, Aakaisha and Natasha Fernandez.
How did you find these newcomers?
The casting process was initiated after the complete script with dialogues was locked and the entire original musical score by Nadeem of Nadeem Shravan fame with lyrics by Sameer consisting of eight songs had been recorded in the voices of Shaan, Niraj Shridhar, Palak Muchhal, Javed Ali, Amit Mishra, Asees Kaur, Mohd. Irfan & Shadab Faridi… It was only thereafter that the casting was initiated.
Aayush Kumar was your first choice?
Aayush Kumar walked in to audition for a friend’s role but I felt that he suited my protagonist best and he was locked to play the leading man. Aakaisha was spotted in a Punjabi song video & called from up north while Natasha Fernandez who had featured in ‘Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha’ was finalised to complete the lead triangle.
How have you ensured that the time between the first and second Andaaz is duly covered?
The past two decades have had major changes in the content that is being fed to audiences but it’s been observed that while the newer movies aren’t finding much favour with the viewers, the movies which connect with the masses (that’s a rarity) continue to have timeless appeal. The independent producers have been sifted out methodically as the reins of the movie industry have since been taken over by the larger corporate companies and similar big entities making it exceedingly difficult for survival of a free-minded single producer who is almost extinct.
