Mumbai, Director Neeraj Pandey on Monday said the title of his upcoming film “Sikandar Ka Muqaddar” is inspired by the 1978 movie “Muqaddar Ka Sikandar”, headlined by megastar Amitabh Bachchan.
Featuring Avinash Tiwary in the lead role, “Sikandar Ka Muqaddar” is a high-octane crime thriller and also stars Tamannaah Bhatia and Jimmy Sheirgill. It will start streaming on Netflix from November 29.
Pandey said filmmaker Prakash Jha’s superhit film “Muqaddar Ka Sikandar”, also starring Raakhee, Vinod Khanna, and Rekha, is one of his childhood favourites.
“That was the reason why we had this title, because it’s a play on a film that I grew up on. I loved it. Our entire generation loved that film. In a way, it’s a tribute to that particular film, but nothing to do in terms of genre,” the director told reporters here at the trailer launch of “Sikandar Ka Muqaddar”.
Pandey, known for directing movies such as “A Wednesday”, “Special 26”, “Baby” as well as web series “Special Ops”, said he did regular readings with all three actors before starting shooting for the film.
“They were primed and prepped to land on set and just deliver what was asked from them. It can only happen when you are prepared to that degree. Everybody was on their toes,” he added.
“Sikandar Ka Muqaddar” marks a reunion between Tiwary and Pandey after Netflix’s 2022 show “Khakee: The Bihar Chapter” on which the filmmaker served as creator.
Tiwary, who was last seen in “Madgaon Express”, said this was the first time he worked on a project where Pandey was the director.
“This was something I was looking forward to. The limited experience that I have being an actor, I’ve never met a director who is so quick to make the decision. He is just on the go. So, when you’re on set, you’re continuously working. It’s a very focused set,” he said.
The film was completed in no time, added Bhatia.
“For him, losing one minute is like losing one diamond for him. I love that… He’s a director who makes the job of an actor really simple. You really have to just make sure you’re prepped and make sure you know everything that you want to do.
“He’s open to us coming up with what we feel. At the same time, he has very interesting boundaries about it. It’s the perfect balance an actor needs to be able to do their best,” the “Aranmanai 4” actor said.
Sheirgill, who most recently worked with Pandey in musical romance drama “Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha”, called his filmmaker-friend “a brilliant director”.
“I was excited when we did ‘Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha’. Suddenly, this thing came up and I read the script and I loved it. We had a lot of discussions and then finally the dialogue draft came. I was really excited. We all worked hard, we enjoyed it,” he added.
Produced by Shital Bhatia through Friday Storytellers, “Sikandar Ka Muqaddar” also features Rajeev Mehta, Divya Dutta and Zoya Afroz.
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