Filmmaker KC Bokadia will begin shooting for his next film in Uttar Pradesh in August. After shooting three projects, Teesri Begum, The Signature and Zindagi Namkeen Hai in Lucknow, he has zeroed upon two projects that he will begin in Varanasi and the state capital.
Speaking to HT City, the filmmaker says, “After shooting three back-to-back films in Uttar Pradesh, it has become my favourite shoot destination. Cop-based film Police Dairy and rebirth drama Phir Janam Lengey are next lined up and we will start shooting them in August in Varanasi and Lucknow. I won’t be directing the films.”
His directorial film Teesri Begum, starring Kainaat Arora, Mugdha Godse and Rachna Shyam, was released recently and is now releasing on OTT. Anupam Kher-starrer The Signature had already been released on OTT and Zindagi Namkeen Hai with Shreyas Talpade and Manjari Fadnis yet to release.
“Throughout my career I have never shot in UP. And, after my shoot experience I just want to shoot here. It’s beyond the subsidy which other states are also giving. Maharaji’s (Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath) blessings and his team’s support make it very welcoming for filmmakers. The blend of realistic locations we get is very unique,” he says.
The filmmaker says that he had recently met the Chief Minister.
His last release first got stuck in controversy and then was released in limited screens. “I had released the film in single theaters and a few cineplexes. None of these big chains released it as they wanted undertaking that we won’t release it on OTT for three months. So, we are releasing it on Waves OTT on July 18,” he says.
Bokadia justifies giving multiplexes a miss. “We have good experience and relations with Doordarshan after our TV series Sadar: The Game Changer. See, cinema is business and since there is a buzz about the film and encouragement from the female audience,” he says and adds, “It’s a calculative move to release it on OTT rather than falling in trap of multiplex chains for a few screens. We know on a revenue-sharing basis we will earn well as it being a free-OTT channel has enormous reach and as filmmakers we want maximum audience to watch the film and it earns well too!”
He will be releasing Teri Meherbaniyan Part 2, a franchise to 1985-blockbuster film, in August and this multi-starrer show Sanskar featuring Rakesh Bedi, Mugdha Godse, Aman Verma, Darshan Zariwala, Zarina Wahab, Mahesh Thakur and other will start airing soon.