“When I heard the rumors first, I cried hoarse, though today I take rumors about me and Puri saab with a generous pinch of salt and laugh them off” Says CHARMY KAUR

In this exclusive free and frank interview for bollyy.com and Mayapuri, CHARMY KAUR, the charming producer of Liger tells JYOTHI VENKATESH that Karan Johar is a sweetheart and there are times when he had called her even at 1 am in the morning.

Excerpts from the interview

You are the producer of the film Liger which has been made as a PAN India film in five languages like Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada and though you have acted in around 20 films in Telugu as well as Hindi over a period of 13 years, you are not acting in Liger. Why?

Though it is true that I had acted in Puri Saab’s Buddha Hoga Terra Baap, I am not a part of his film like Liger as an actress for the simple reason that I am no longer enamored of acting. I frankly do not feel that I am as young as say Ananya Pandey or for that matter Janhvi Kapoor to be able to play the leading lady with effortless ease as I could say a decade and a half ago.

Why did you decide to produce the film Liger under the banner Puri Connects?

That is only because Puri saab considers me his lucky mascot. I too feel that not only is he a great mentor as far as I am concerned but also the fact remains that he is my lucky mascot.

I think Puri saab is an extraordinary supporter of women’s rights and encourages women a lot. He says that as and when a woman makes up her mind, no one else has the right, not even a Man to make her budge even an inch.

Yet you have not answered my question!

I am coming exactly to that. Belonging to the female gender has helped me a lot as a person. When I was acting in his film Buddha Hoga Terra Baap, Purisaab observed that side of me as an able administrator when the film was being produced even though I was only an actor and not a producer at that point of time.

My journey as a producer with Purisaab started from two crores to 200 crores in the last seven years, as far as Telugu films are concerned.

Why did you approach Karan Johar to produce the Hindi version of the film Liger?

Who better than Karan can we hope to produce a film like Liger which has a massive budget? As far as Telugu versions are concerned, we honestly as Puri Connects want to produce films. It is a decision that Purisaab and I had taken. We thought that with Karan Johar as our partner, we should set out to make a PAN India film

You just said that in your case, belonging to the female gender has helped you a lot. How can you explain this?

Yes. I stand by that. Whether I was just an actress or a producer, I have seen some males look at me as a strong minded administrator, some look at me fondly and wish that I was a daughter of his.

How do you feel when you are subjected to trolls and accused of having an affair with Puri Jagannadh?

When I heard the rumors for the first time, I cried hoarse at my house and my father consoled me and said I should not bother about the trolls and continue to be honest towards my work, whatever the circumstances may prove to be, if I have to be successful.

Today, I take all the rumors about me and Puri saab with a generous pinch of salt and laugh them off and do not bother or take them to my heart.

How would you describe Karan Johar as a producer?

Puri saab and I had taken the decision of making Liger a PAN India film in August 2020 and in September 2020 we had met Karan in his office to make plans to make Liger as a PAN India film.

I would say that Karan Johar is frankly the easiest person to work with. Karan is just one call away.

Most of them do not know his personal side and just have a professional relationship with him but I know him quite closely and do not have just a professional life with him.

Can you elucidate?

Look here. I have been in Mumbai for the last three years ever since the pandemic had set in and I have always seen Karan as a family member for me.

I was afflicted and down with the Delta version of Covid for nearly a month during the pandemic but it was Karan who took pains to see to it that the doctors attended to me. I can call Karan at any time of the day or night. There are times when he has called me even at 1 am in the morning.

Why did you take the decision to make Liger as a PAN India film?

Look here. I frankly treat the film as a product. It will sell in U.P, Bihar and also Kerala and Telangana but we decided to cater to the entire country in one go, because Puri saab is the original gangster of massy commercial mainstream films.

Look at his Pokkiri remade by Boney Kapoor as Wanted and Simbba remade in Hindi as Simbba by Rohit Shetty. The term PAN India has emerged only now after the pandemic. Look at Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge.

Was it not a PAN India hit? Look at filmmakers like Aditya Chopra,Mani Ratnam, Kamal Haasan, Ramgopal Varma or for that matter Rajinikant. They all had made PAN India films in all languages but didn’t bracket them as PAN India films two decades ago.

How confident are you of the film winning at the box office?

I feel that Liger will definitely have a great impact at the box office all over the country, including up there in the North, because after Arjun Reddy was remade as Kabir Singh, the entire country has started knowing who Vjay Devarakonda is and there is an increasing curiosity to see him in a Hindi film as people have not seen his straight Hindi film till date and have seen only his Telugu films which have been dubbed in Hindi on satellite television channels.