Shoojit Sircar Opens Up About His New Movie With Abhishek Bachchan, Calls It Actor's 'Finest' Work

Filmmaker Shoojit Sircar says his yet-untitled Abhishek Bachchan-starrer is a story that looks at everyday life with a smile, much like his previous films.

Sircar, who has worked with megastar Amitabh Bachchan on multiple films including "Piku" and "Gulabo Sitabo" and "Pink", which he produced, has teamed up with his son Abhishek Bachchan for first time.

Set to release in atres on vember 15, film will once again explore a far-daughter relationship, similar to 2015's "Piku".

It was a collaboration long in making and is one of Abhishek Bachchan's finest works so far, he said.

"It's a very simple observation of life with a little smile. When I watch film, its post-production, it brings a smile (to my face). And, I can guarantee that it is one of finest of Abhishek Bachchan films. We always wanted to work toger but we were t getting right kind of script," filmmaker told PTI in an interview.

Asked about long gap this time between his stories considering "Gulabo Sitabo" (2020) and "Sardar Udham" (2021) released on streamers during pandemic, Sircar said he did t have a script.

"When I have a script and when I kw that this script is ready to move on to floor, that's when I do it. Because of Covid and 'Gulabo Sitabo' and 'Sardar Udham Singh' releasing back-to-back, I didn't have time to focus on a script," he said.

director said he rmally takes a year and sometimes more to finalise a story. His last big-screen release was 2018's "October", starring Varun Dhawan and Banita Sandhu.

"I make very few films and my subjects are very offbeat but it's usually stories of everyday life that I see. Some love m and some don't but I am okay with it. I'm thankful to those who appreciate m," he said.

Despite slice-of-life nature of his films, Sircar has mand to strike a balance between commerce and story with his releases, which he believes is important for any director to stay in business for long run.

"I try because somewhere se films are expensive and y need recovery. As a director, I have to take that responsibility. That recovery lies on me. I can't go absolutely offbeat, where I kw that this film is t going to recover... I have to be responsible for it." Sircar, who studied in Delhi and formed his own atre group called Act One before shifting to Mumbai to pursue filmmaking, believes his n-film influences may be responsible for kind of stories he tells which don't necessarily follow typical film formula.

"My understanding of cinema, atre and art was quite fragmented. I didn't kw that I would become a director, or that I'd even reach Mumbai. Sitting in Delhi, I used to think about going to Mumbai - it was a dream. But when I landed in Mumbai, it was, in itself, like an achievement. What I'd do or t was far too much," he said, recalling his early years.

filmmaker, who made his debut in 2005 with romantic war film "Yahaan", said when he was in Delhi he worked in atre across departments like music, art and direction.

"I was also into a lot of documentaries in Delhi so that was also my upbringing because re were a lot of documentaries at that time in '90s and 2000s. And n, I got inspired by Satyajit Ray and he is Bible on everything (related to cinema). I think that influence was re. (n re was) golden cinema of India... 1950s to 1980s, films by Tapan Sinha, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Sai Paranjpye," he said. 

PTI ---