Director Sujoy Ghosh, who is best known for making the Vidya Balan-starrer Kahaani, was going through a rather difficult phase at the time, as no one was willing to back the project. At the time, Sujoy had delivered a massive flop called Aladin, which starred Amitabh Bachchan, Riteish Deshmukh, and Jacqueline Fernandez. Sujoy, in a recent interview, recalled that despite putting in everything into Aladin for four years, the film failed massively, and while it shook his confidence a bit, Amitabh Bachchan stood by his side despite it all. After the film’s failure, Amitabh told Sujoy that he could do whatever he wanted next and that he would support him no matter what.
Talking to Mashable India, Sujoy recalled that he went to everyone with the script of Kahaani, but the failure of Aladin had damaged his reputation. “Everyone just told me ‘Yeh bakwas script hai (this is a terrible script)’. A pregnant lady is running around in the streets of Kolkata, nothing is happening,” he recalled. Sujoy then shared that the failure of Aladin had been quite tough on him, as he had invested four years into making it. “In all, 17 people must have watched Aladin, and out of that, 15 were of my own family,” he said, and added, “Either a film works or it doesn’t. If it works then it is a good movie, if it doesn’t then it is a bad film. So if it didn’t work, then probably I made a bad movie. You have to just accept it and move on.”
Sujoy then shared that through it all, Amitabh Bachchan was his “biggest support.” “I went to him with Aladin. He agreed to do it. I have no idea why, and I didn’t want to question also. He said yes, and that was enough. When Aladin didn’t work, I think sir was the first person who told me that you do whatever you want to, I am with you. And he did it,” he shared.
The director said that this is primarily why Amitabh’s influence can be felt throughout Kahaani. “Amit ji is everywhere in Kahaani. His song, his voiceover, he did everything. They say that when God is busy, he sends someone. God must be busy and sir showed up,” he said. The filmmaker later collaborated with Amitabh on Badla.
