Advait Chandan is all set to make his debut as a director with Secret Superstar, featuring Zaira Wasim, MeherVij and Aamir Khan.
Interestingly, before he sat in the director’s chair, Chandan Was Aamir Khan’s manager. Recalling the moment when he met Aamir for the first time he said, “I remember his first message, his first instruction and also the moment when I was introduced to him. I distinctly remember his first instruction during the shooting of Taare Zameen Par when he called me by my name and requested to arrange ice cream for the whole unit. My next call was to my mother.”
Apprehensive about reaching out to Aamir for the narration of Secret Superstar, he narrated the idea first to producer and screenwriter Kiran Rao. It was during an outdoor shoot for the film PK when Kiran heard the story and gave Advait the go ahead to write the screenplay.
Advait shares when the time came to give Aamir the narration he was incredibly nervous. “It was in front of my eyes that Aamir had okayed Dhoom 3, PK and Dangal after their narration but there were also close to 40 to 50 other projects which he had rejected. I had already practicesd eight times. When I was past 15 pages, he told me to stop as he was unable to follow anything since I was narrating so fast. That really broke my confidence and I saw my career vanishing in front of my eyes. Thankfully, he heard it again and when it got over, he had tears in his eyes. He [then] only asked me to find a new manager and said when do you want to make the film.”
Secret Superstar releases in cinemas on 19th October 2017.
ICYMI
