Photographer turned producer Atul Kasbekar is in high spirits with the success of his first film Neerja. He reveals to A Mishra that Anil Kapoor encouraged him to produce the film
In India, if we ever talk about any photographer, then the name which comes in our mind is either Dabboo Ratnani or Atul Kasbekar. As Kasbekar makes his debut as a producer with the film Neerja, he still finds photography to be much easier. According to him, “For me, photography is a much easier task to achieve because you shoot for two or three days and then you are done but here it is a different thing. You have to keep working for several months.”
On asking the ace photographer that how did the idea of producing a film cross his mind he said, “I run a celebrity management company named Bling! Entertainment Solutions, where we handle a lot of celebrity clients. So, we work with the film bureau and we also take contracts from people. One day, this story came to one of my partners and he discussed it with me, So, we thought of telling this story to the director Ram Madhvani and he liked the story very much and from there, it all started.”
Though the producer did not know about the story of Neerja Bhanot before this, but now he thinks that this is a story which everyone should know about.
As the film was released last week, and it was applauded by the audience as well as film critics, Kasbekar is in high spirits and is enjoying the success of the film. “We are glad that we are getting such a good response,” he said. “When you decide to make a film, you don’t think that ‘I will make an important film’ or ‘I will make a good film or a bad film.’ You just give your hundred per cent. I am glad that I have been able to tell Neerja’s story to everyone because I think people tend to forget the real heroes of the country and I think she was one of the real heroes of our country,” he pointed out.
As this was his first film, he was nervous before starting the project. He shared, “Of course, production is a huge risk but I spoke to couple of people and one of them was Anil Kapoor. He said that this is a great story to convey and if you need any help then you can call me. And after talking to him, I got the courage and assurance that chalo koi toh hai piche (atl east someone is there). It was nice to know that he was there for my support.”
Recently we heard that Neerja has been declared as tax-free by the Maharashtra government, but the photographer turned producer wants it to get tax-free in other states, too. “I hope that the film will soon be declared tax-free in all the states. It is a story which needs to be told to everyone,” he said.
During the promotions, Sonam Kapoor started a campaign called Fear vs Neerja where everyone including Bollywood celebrities shared their biggest fear, Kasbekar also shared his biggest fear and he said, “I don’t like confine spaces I am a little claustrophobic.”
Kasbekar told as that Sonam was his first and the only choice to play the role of Neerja Bhanot.