R Balki recalls first film 'Cheeni Kum', calls Amitabh Bachchan 'a character by himself'

Filmmaker R Balki made his Bollywood debut with the mature and quirky love-story Cheeni Kum which featured actors Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu in the lead roles. In an interaction with a national daily, Balki spoke about the Amitabh Bachchan fanboy in him and claimed that when he thought of making a film 13 years ago, he thought of an idea with the Bollywood megastar in mind. He revealed that he feels Amitabh Bachchan is a character by himself and that's why he could never write a story and then cast him. He would rather write a story for him and let him be like he naturally is.

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Speaking about Cheeni Kum which marked his debut as a Bollywood director 13 years ago, R Balki said that Amitabh Bachchan's sarcasm appealed to him the most. He wanted his ability to keep a poker face while being utterly sarcastic in the character, and that's why he chose Bachchan. He recalled the film's success and called it a fun film with a unique love story where the words 'I love you' aren't used at all. He shared that many people aged over 50 told him that Cheeni Kum gave them a lot of hope for themselves.

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Balki also shared that the story of his films usually borders on the unconventional — in terms of subject and casting — as seen in the 2005 film Paa, Shamitabh in 2015, Ki & Ka in 2016 and Pad Man in 2018. He believes that since a lot of labour goes into the making of a film, the idea of the film should be exciting and different enough to last that long with the audiences as well.

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The filmmaker made headlines earlier this week for his new project as a director — an awareness ad for the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation — which he shot with actor Akshay Kumar on Monday at Mumbai's Kamalistan studio. R Balki has helmed the film outdoors amid nationwide lockdown after taking the required permissions from the authorities as well as under strict compliance of the safety guidelines as advised by the government. The advertisement is a part of the Central government's awareness campaign in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in India.

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