Exclusive Interview! What Esha Deol's Comeback Film Cakewalk Is All About?

She set the silverscreen on fire with Dhoom song and is majorly remembered for her sizzling moves in the number. After working in more than a dozen Bollywood movies, Esha Deol took a break. And now she is all set to make a comeback with the celebrated writer Ram Kamal Mukherjee's forthcming short film titled Cakewalk. In his exclusive chat with Latestly.com, Mukherjee talked about his project and why he feels that Esha doesn't need to prove anything to anyone.

Latestly: Why did you choose to cast Esha Deol in your debut film?  Is that decision the direct result of the Biography (Beyond The Dream Girl) you penned (revolving around the legendary actress and Esha's mother Hema Malini)?

Ram Kamal Mukherjee: Actually I wanted to work with Esha for a feature film, which was written by me and a friend of mine. We wanted to cast Esha and Ritesh Deshmukh in that film, it was a period film based on a novel. But somehow that didn't happen due to various reasons. Years later, when I was working on Hema Malini biography Beyond The Dreamgirl, I had to meet Esha for a series of interviews, that's when we spoke about working together. But she was very certain that she will only work on a film if she likes the subject. We tried couple of ideas, but finally this one (Cakewalk) clicked.

When you cast someone for a film, you know what you are looking at. It is also important to know that who is willing to walk that extra mile, when you are a debutante director. I am extremely happy and delighted that Esha came on board, and she had entrusted faith in me. At the same time, I had to be doubly sure about everything. I have Abhra Chakraborty, as my co-director, who worked with National Awarded director Bappaditya Bandhopadhya in Elar Chaar Adhaya. He is a very sound person, and extremely talented too. Then I am thankful to my producers Dinesh Gupta, Shailendra Kumar and Aritra Das for making it possible. It's not easy to mount a movie, be it short or large!

LY: What is the story of the film and what have you set out to achieve (with this project)? Will Cakewalk revive Esha's career?

Ram: It's a short film based on the life of a chef and a couple whom she happens to meet at her work space. What happens between the three is the main plot of the movie. I don't think that anyone any revive anyone's career. Esha is successful in her own rights. She had blockbusters under her kitty, and now happily married with a lovely baby. At this stage, I don't think Esha needs to prove anything to anyone. On the other hand, if I fail to make a good film, people might not cast me as a director, so it's the other way around.

LY: From being the editor of a popular film glossy to being the author of a biography and now a filmmaker.. has the transition come about organically?

Ram: decided to tell stories when I took a break from Stardust. As a child, stories would always intrigue me, I had written few stories, which I was published two years ago. Long Island Iced Tea, was the beginning, My tryst with visual medium started with Pritish Nandy Communications when I started working closely with creative director Rangita Nandy. Understanding the technicalities of cinema started from PNC. I worked on almost 12 films with them, and later co-produced a Hindi serial Bin Kuch Kahe with Rajshree Ojha. I must admit that Rajshree being a director (of Aisha) and an extremely creative person, inspired me a lot in understanding screenplay, dialogue and other aspects. While interacting with Creative Heads in the channel, I learnt a lot about post production

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 16, 2018 04:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).