Mumbai: Amar Kaushik has said that when people started alleging that his latest directorial ‘Bala’ looks like a copy of the recently released Ujda Chamanit disturbed him but the filmmaker ensured the controversy didn’t affect the film. Bala stars Ayushmann Khurrana as a young man with receding hairline.
Ujda Chaman, featuring Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety star Sunny Singh in a similar role and backed by Kumar Mangat Pathak, is a remake of the 2017 Kannada film Ondu Motteya Kathe.
Asked if he was perturbed by the comparisons, Amar Kaushik said he had been affected. “If I say I wasn’t, it would be wrong. I was (disturbed) for two days. Before going to shoot, Kumar ji had met Dinesh and said he has rights of some south film. Our script was ready and we were just about to go on floors,” informed Kaushik.
“I then saw the movie (Ujda Chaman) and told him that my film is totally different from that even on paper. Only similarity was that the character was bald. We then went ahead and shot our film. Then 20 days later I heard they’re shooting their film. I was okay with it because both the films are different,” added Kaushik.
Kaushik said things took a turn when all of a sudden, the trailer, poster and announcement of Ujda Chaman were out.
“We were a bit taken aback. Then people said we copied them and I was obviously disturbed. We had worked hard on the film for months. The story was different, just because there’s a shot of a bald man looking in the mirror and both the characters go to doctors, on that basis when it is said the entire film is similar, I obviously felt bad,” informed the director.
“But then I thought if I let this affect me, I won’t be able to work on my film. It was important for me to concentrate. After two days, I got over this,” added Kaushik.
Also featuring Bhumi Pednekar and Yami Gautam, Bala is scheduled to be released November 7.
PTI
