Exclusive! Ghudchadi Director Binoy Gandhi On Parth Samthaan, "I Didn't Know Anything About Him"

Ghudchadi starring Sanjay Dutt, Raveena Tandon, Khushalii Kumar, and Parth Samthaan is all set to premiere on Jio Cinema on 9th August 2024. The film is directed by Binoy Gandhi, and with Ghudchadi he makes his directorial debut. Filmibeat recently interacted with him and spoke to him about the movie, casting and more...

Just a few days left for Ghudchadi to premiere on Jio Cinema. What kind of a feeling you are having right now; are you nervous or excited?

The feeling is very surreal. I am getting so many positive responses about the songs and the trailer. People, who have not spoken to me for many years, are calling me. So, I am very happy, and it is finally releasing. It feels great, it is too surreal and it is very special for me.

The trailer promises that your film is a family entertainer. But, we live in a society where people might say that 'this is against our culture', 'how can this happen?', 'how can father-mother and the kids have fallen in love?'. So, was there anywhere in mind that this might backfire?

Firstly, you need to understand who you are making the film for and what audience you are making it for. I am not making it for the audience who are 18-25 years; they are very cool, and Instagrammers. Whereas backfiring of the story is concerned, you know it is a very real message that I am trying to show in the film. The trailer obviously doesn't give out the entire film, but when you see the film, you will realise that what the actual content is. The message in the film is very important. In today's day and age, a single parent, at 60, who has lost his partner at a very young age, is alone. Today, youngsters are getting married and getting divorced in two years, and getting married again. But, for parents everyone thinks that my dad should only get married once. We as children are selfish, but our parent also needs a companion whom they can call up and say, 'how are you?'.

Raveena Tandon and Sanjay Dutt, they are very choosy when it comes to films. How easy or difficult it was to get them on board for Ghudchadi?

Sanju and Raveena go back a long way. They have done many films together, and they were supposed to do my father-in-law's (JP Dutta) film called Chudiyan. They had shot a few songs also for the film, but later it didn't happen. So, when I was writing the script, Nidhi (Dutta) was like why don't you get Sanjay & Raveena. When we met him, it was a sureal moment for me, and he heard the one line and said, 'I am doing this and because you are a family, I will have to do it'. He had done a lot of negative roles at that time, so he liked the character, and maybe he wanted to portray through this film that he is still cool-fun guy. Raveena is also a family to my in-laws, and when I narrated the script to her she was in tears by the end of it. So, I am blessed to have this cast.

What about the young actors, there's Khushalii and Parth, so how was it to work with them?

Khushalii and Parth are really the young dynamic couple in the film. So, when we signed Sanju and Raveena, T-Series was producing it at that time and when we went to them, Khushalii was this upcoming actress; I had seen her work in Dhokha. We wanted Sanju and Raveena to be in the focus, so we didn't want to cast any stars or A-List because then the charm of the film goes away. Khushalii auditioned for it and she was great. She and Parth had just done a music video together, and she told me to meet Parth. When I met him, I gave him somes scenes to do and he completely nailed it. I didn't know anything about him before. He has a huge body of work and huge fan following, I got to know all that once we announced the film. Even now if you see, every comment is about Parth. So, I was lucky to cast both of them in this film.

This is your first film as a director, and it is coming on OTT. But was it earlier planned to release in theatres and later you decided for an OTT release because when we look at the trailer it looks very grand?

I have been in the industry working for a very long time and I have worked with Yash Raj Films, Siddharth Anand, Kunal Kohli, and all I learnt was scale. I don't agree that if a film is coming on OTT it becomes smaller or you should shoot it in a particular manner. I shot this film the way I wanted to irrespective of it would come to OTT or theatres. Also, why not theatre and why on OTT, that was producers' call. You also know how market is, certain films do well and certain don't. Obviously, I am disappointed as its my first film and I wanted to see it in a theatre, but also excited as it is coming on Jio which is a humongous platform.

Has JP Dutta (Binoy's father-in-law) sir watched the film and what he has to say?

I got a great feedback from him saying 'your songs are all over', 'your trailer is great'. He said all the best and don't worry your film is going to rock. So, he telling me all these things made me really at ease.

We have been hearing a lot about Border 2, so are you going to be a part of it in anyway?

I am co-producing Border 2 with Nidhi (Dutta), my wife, who has also written the film. She is taking the legacy of her father forward. When she wrote the film, I couldn't believe that she has written it because she is a sweet Disney going girl. Border is a very different emotion, and she has nailed it, and she has managed a great cast. Also, I am writing a couple of films.

Are you excited about Ghudchadi?