Anand Pandit on his latest production 'Days Of Tafree'!

Anand Pandit, a well-known real estate player and owner of Lotus Group, has been associated with showbiz for a decade now and has pooled in money in a number of films for his friends in the industry, but the visionary man decided to fully venture into filmmaking business last year only when he laid the foundation of his banner Anand Pandit Motion Pictures. ‘Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2’ was the first co-acquisition of his company. After co-producing a few films since the inception of the company, he is now gearing up for the release of his much awaited youth based movie ‘Days of Tafree,’ which he has co-produced with renowned television producer Rashmi Sharma. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood & TV Reporter, Mr. Anand talks about the film and upcoming ventures.

You have achieved a lot of name and fame in real estate sector, then what gravitated you towards film production?

I am a very firm believer of the fact that there are only two religions in our country, one is cricket and another is entertainment. When I talk about entertainment, I basically talk about Bollywood.  I have been associated with Adhikari Brothers for more than twenty years. It helped me gain a lot of knowledge about the entertainment industry. I produced my first film in 2004 with Adhikari Brothers. After then I helped many other people by financing their films. Since last two years I started producing films with more seriousness. We distributed ‘Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2’ worldwide with Kumar Mangat. After this much of experience I thought my team and I were fully ready for film production, so we floated our own production house.

The trailer of your upcoming film ‘Days Of Tafree’ has created a lot of buzz among the audience, especially the youth. So, how did this film happen?

It is a beautiful journey of college students. It is very hilarious. It is not a comedy movie, but even then it is very hilarious. This film is the official remake of Gujarati film ‘Chhello Divas,’ which is the highest grossing film ever in Gujarati cinema. The film was released in October last year. Everyone enjoyed it thoroughly. Not only the youth, but the family audience also liked the film a lot. Seeing the huge success of the film, we thought of remaking it for the Hindi audience.

Please, tell us how did you come about casting all the artistes for the film?

When we decided to remake the film, we first thought of roping in established actors. But then I decided to cast all new people. I thought it would have been a tad difficult for the audience to relate to established actors in a youth based film. We handed the responsibility of finding new people in the hands of Krishnadev Yagnik, the director who directed ‘Chhello Divas.’ He has directed the remake also. He has done the entire casting for the film. So, this is how we got ours actors onboard for the film.

You could have easily made a big film with the biggest stars of the business, then why did you choose to make a medium budget film with new star cast?

See, there are two kinds of people in this industry, ones who have creativity and the others who have money. Fortunately, I have all these two things. I have resources as well as creativity. I don’t make films for the sake of making films, I want to make good cinema. I believe in content more than stars, because content is king. The budget and star cast of the film does not matter for me, content does. I work for rewards, not awards.

You are co-producing the film with Rashmi Sharma. How did this collaboration happen?

I had got the rights of the film well in advance. Pawan and Rashmi Sharma are like a family to me. We share a very strong relationship since four years now. We have our offices in the same building. When I was planning about this film in my office, Pawan came to me and expressed his desire to be associated with it. I welcomed him with open arms. The industry has come to a point where it is not safe to produce a film all alone. Today, even big producers like Karan Johar and Sajid Nadiadwala make films together. They are such huge producers even then they collaborate to minimize the risk.

What are other upcoming projects under your banner?

I am doing the third part of ‘Dhamaal’ with Indra Kumar Ji. I have also locked a few mid-sized projects. I will let you know about them soon. I am also doing a remake of another Gujarati film. One film I am doing with Adhikari Brothers also.