Mumbai: Film producer Karnesh Ssharma has said that his actor sister Anushka Sharma was the obvious choice for their upcoming film Chakda Xpress. The film is inspired by the life and times of former Indian cricket captain and fast bowler Jhulan Goswami.
The siblings co-founded ‘Clean Slate Filmz’ in 2013. The company is known for churning out critically-acclaimed films like NH10, Pari, Phillauri, Netflix’s Bulbbul and Prime Video series Pataal Lok.
Their upcoming projects include Netflix original series Mai featuring seasoned actor Sakshi Tanwar. Also in the pipeline are the debut feature film Qala of late Irrfan Khan’s son ‘Babil’ and Anushka’s Chakda Xpress.
Chakda Xpress is helmed by Prosit Roy. It marks Anushka’s return to movies after a gap of four years. Her last released movie is Zero.
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“Anushka is the obvious choice purely because the story spans across 12 years, so it needs somebody (bigger). It is a big budget film and you need a bigger actor to mount it and put it out there to justify the budget. From acting, to star value, (to) reach, there is no doubt about Anushka,” Karnesh said.
Karnesh was asked about the criticism that Anushka received when the first look of Chakda Xpress was released. Some social media users praised the actor’s look while others stated that she did not look like Jhulan Goswami and her Bengali accent was not good. Karnesh said he welcomes all the reactions both good and bad.
“You accept that because we also felt good about the good reactions that came. It is art and it is open to debate and discussion. As long as it doesn’t get violent and belittle (people), we accept it. And because of that, we work harder on things, which you will see in the film. It is all positive. It is how you look at it,” Karnesh informed.
Karnesh was also asked if there were any tips from Anushka’s cricketer husband Virat Kohli for the film. “He has been very helpful. He has helped us get coaches,” Karnesh stated.
The producer said the movie is about women’s cricket, their struggle in the popular game and what they go through.
“It is not just (about) Jhulan and her teammates, Jhulan is the face of it, but all of these women who have tried to create difference, all they want are opportunity and respect. They didn’t get money and opportunity yet they played,” Karnesh said.
The shoot of Chakda Xpress will commence from June and the team is looking forward to releasing it early next year on Netflix.
