'Padmaavat' episode can't make us extra cautious, says co-producer

PadmaavatThe controversy faced by Padmaavat has not deterred banner Viacom18 Motion Pictures its coproducers from making films on stories that deserve to be told says a top official of the company In a big and diverse country like India we never know what will offend whom which community will get disheartened by watching a film In Padmaavat we celebrated the bravery of a community and they only protested to stop releasing the film I think the Padmaavat episode cannot fear us to go three steps back and make our creative mind extra conscious to make a filmIt should be treated as an incident that was an exception Viacom18 Motion Pictures Chief Operating Officer Ajit Andhare told IANS in an interview Padmaavat a period drama directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali was caught in a longstretched row after Rajput organisations opposed its release by protesting over alleged distortion of history facts The film finally released on January 25 with the audience praising it for its visual exuberance and impactful performancesAndhare said as a company their basic criteria of approving a project is a good story that can potentially connect with the larger audience I think now with the success of Padmaavat the fact has been proven There are stories that deserve to be told As a responsible filmmaking company we were cautious about the subjects that we chose even before Padmaavat but we do not want to add an extra lens of caution thinking which political wind will blow or which section of the community will get offendedThat is certainly not the right way to choose a film added Andhare on the sidelines of the Ficci Frames 2018 here Viacom18 Motion Pictures has produced popular biopics in Bollywood from Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Mary Kom to Manjunath and Manjhi The Mountain Man Considering how most biopics tend to fictionalise certain parts of an individuals story to bring out the drama in a feature film does it justify the truth of someones lifes journeyI think that depends on who is telling the truth When we make a biopic and we have done quite a few of them we take the permission of that individual or their family That is how one can authenticate facts Beyond that if XYZ startS painting a truth then it is difficult to explain Truth is not based on others perception or imagined reality it is what the source of authentic information provides us he saidIn a retrospect of 20172018 of the films that the company produced Toilet Ek Prem Katha and Padmaavat managed to be commercially successful Whereas films like Rangoon and Lucknow Central failed While small budget films are recovering the money faster isnt it better to budget movies wisely to avoid commercial failureI do not subscribe to the idea that a budget is responsible for the commercial failure of a film That is a myth and simplification of failure A film is successful if only our audience gets connected to the story There is no other formula than the human connection to a narrationBudget has everything to do with how we are mounting the film If our audience dont connect to the story no matter how small the budget is the film fails or how big the budget is the film succeeds We have examples of both sides of the story Will he commission a film like Rangoon or any experimental film with a risk of recovering the moneyYes we will do that because when we heard the story of Rangoon we loved it It was a beautiful story Maybe the audience could not accept it but such things happen in our business Our discipline is making a film on a good story That remains the sameCatch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever