Netri’s role in Armaan is like Arjun in Mahabharat

A non-Gujarati director directing a

Gujarati

movie is not a rarity in Dhollywood. Rehan Chaudhary first time director is excited for his first release. Rehan who has already started writing his next script talks about Armaan- Story of a storyteller, how he got the actors on board and why he ventured into Gujarati movies. Excerpts:

How did you think of making a Gujarati movie?
While writing the film I never thought which language it will be made into but while looking at other releases around I found that such a kind of movie is never produced in Gujarati so then I zeroed on the language plus taking that I am a first time director it is easier to make one in regional language than in Bollywood. I wanted to make a film for people around me, mostly importantly my people.

How did you get Poojan (Trivedi) and Alisha (Prajapati) to do the film?
Alisha and I started off together in the industry. She was a model then and I an assistant director. While writing the role of Alie I was very sure that I wanted Alisha to play her since I there couldn’t be her replacement. Alie is in many ways like Alisha. About Poojan (

Armaan

) I had seen him in a short film that he had acted in. So when an editor friend of mine suggested him and we met I immediately in the first meeting knew he was the lead I was looking for.

Netri

(Trivedi) has gone to lengths for her role. How did she prepare for it?
Netri is playing the role of Biyara who shows path to Armaan like Krishna has shown path to Arjun in Mahabharat. She has gone to the lengths of actually smoking to get into the role.

How is the movie different from other Gujarati movies?
Armaan is a realistic motivational drama and not just a drama. For the first time in my knowledge a female second lead is playing the role of agori in Dhollywood which is again a uniqueness of this film. Plus the screenplay of this movie is a nonlinear which is a rarity in Gujarati cinema.

The movie is shot at various different locations. What places is it based in?
It is based in Ahmedabad, Vadodara and bits are also shot in Chanod.

You had a very different schedule of the film. Tell us about it.
Because our lead is a professional who had to juggle between his current work and shooting, we shot only during weekends during the first three months. We would plan during the week and shoot for 18 hours during the weekend. That’s exactly how Christopher Nolan also shot his first film, so we followed his footsteps during the shoot.

How many screens are the planning to release the movie in?
Initially we were planning for 60 but now were are releasing it in 100 screens. In the second half of this year we are also planning to release the movie at various screens in Mumbai and later we wish to take it to USA.