“Our film Flight is about a FIGHT TO SURVIVE” - MOHIT CHADDA

In this free and frank interview exclusively for bollyy.com and Mayapuri, actor-producer Mohit Chadda tells JYOTHI VENKATESH that though he was doing rather okay down South, he was not satisfied with his career because he did not know the language.

Where on earth did you disappear after your debut in Hindi films with Dulha Mil Gaya?

I did not go anywhere. I am here only after Dulha Mil Gaya. In fact, after Dulha Mil Gaya, I was also seen in a special appearance which had been reduced further in Do Dooni Chaar too.

Weren’t you slated to make your debut with the film Gabbar Singh.Com?

Yes. I remember meeting you for the first time at the press conference of that film. Unfortunately the film, directed by K. Ravi Shankar failed to take off.

What made you decide to turn a producer with the film Flight?

I do not believe in giving up. I realized that I was not getting the kind of roles which I actually wanted to do and hence joined hands with Suraj Joshi, my brother from another mother and Babita was crazy enough to join us, and so FLIGHT was born.

Go on!

I have always believed in a saying when you don't get an opportunity , you should create one and hence -Flight.

The idea is very simple and it was a kissa of Jeena Yahaan Marna Yahaan Iske Siva Jaana Kahan. No one was willing to invest on us, so we decided to invest on ourselves.

How did you hit on the plot?

It happened one Sunday when I was dropping my wife to her kathak class. Both Suraj and I love massy, big screen entertainners.

An Idea struck me one day of how a guy is trapped in a lift and how would he survive, if he is assigned some tough tasks to do.

Our thought process has always been that no one should be able to guess what's going to happen next and no one should get bored.

Three frour months down the line we releaised as interesting as it was, it was not a cinematic film, and just out of the blue Suraj said let's put him in a plane.

And inspite of knowing it would get difficult in terms of logistics and budgets but we also knew this was the film we were looking for. Flight is an out and out action packed film which also sets out to entertain the audiences.

Did you approach the stars for your film instead of setting out to make it with new faces instead of stars?

The film stars Pawan Malhotra, Zakir Hussain, Shibani Bedi, Farid Currim, Pritam Singh, Kaizad Kotwal and me in the key roles. I don't think apart from me anyone can be called a new or relativly new face.

Go on...

Suraj and I started this company to make feature films. We started out by making corporate films, ad films and animations and that work just happened organically.

We used to outsource animations initially but ultimately created our own team and slowly started making money. And saving money to make this film.

You created a role for yourself because you did not get the right opportunity. Why did you lag behind in your career after having been propelled to stardom with the super hit Telugu film Aithe?

I did not market myself properly. I am also very bad with my PR skills and used to be too much of an introvert.

In fact, I was even thrown out of a film earlier because I was an introvert and was focusing only on my work.

Please proceed!

Well I've learnt my lesson about that. When I approached producers or directors for work, they told me projects with me would not be viable.

One genlteman also told me 'I've missed the Bus!' and that's when I realised we needed to get the Bus back. So...

You have also been part of TV. Why do you not act in TV serials now?

I did not identify myself with the kind of roles that they offered to me in TV serials though I have been part of TV serials a long while ago.

Your debut film in Telugu Aithe had also won the National Award.

Aithe was shot in both Telugu and Hindi. Though the Telugu original was a cult film, the Hindi version Pachaas Lakh did not run at all, way back in 2007.

Believe it or not, I have acted in more films in Telugu than in Hindi till date. I have also been part of a Tamil horror film called Adhu in Tamil in which my leading lady was Sneha. I was even renamed Aravind in Tamil as someone felt Mohit would not work.

Though I was doing rather okay down South, I was not satisfied with my career because I did not know the language at all and hence most of my effort was spent on getting the lines, pauses and punctuations correct.

As an actor, I feel that while lines are critical, my work begins after I learn and unlearn the lines, which I can only explore fully in a language I am comfortable in.

What is the message that the film Flight sets out to drive home?

The message the film sets out to drive home is that you need to fight to survive. It is about one person’s fight to safeguard his right.

Is it true that none other Amitabh Bachchan had tweeted about your film in glowing terms!

That evening is going to be difficult to forget in this life time. It was so generous, so magnanamous of him to do so.

He doesn't know us, and my wife had sent him a message requesting him to release the trailer on social media and he did it. I think that's why he is who he is.

Are you a fan of Amitabh Bachchan?

Like I said, to me, He is God. My mother tells me the first film my parents took me to the theatres for was Kala Paththar and I was only a couple of months old. I doubt there is a single film of his that I have not seen.

Are you open as an actor for any medium?

I am open for any offer as far as it is good content the medium does not matter. Though I still maintain that compromise of content started on TV only when weekly soaps became daily soaps.

They do not make Buniyaad, Hum Log, Amaanat or Banegi Apni Baat anymore. But that is changing with the arrival of OTT platforms, and some amazing Indian content is being made.