| Saves producer-director Guddu Dhanoa lakhs of rupees for costume budget; asks for simple clothes in Big Brother
It's not often that a producer is shocked by his heroine's good deeds. But while shooting for Guddu Dhanoa's Big Brother, Priyanka Chopra not just stunned the producer-director with her practical suggestions, but also saved him several lakh rupees.
Smart cookie
Says Guddu, "Priyanka plays Sunny Deol's wife in the film, but there are certain flashback scenes that depict their romance before marriage. I wanted to use glamorous Western outfits and accessories designed by Simple Kapadia for those scenes, but Priyanka convinced me not to do that.
She said the expensive look she would portray in those scenes wouldn't go with the rest of her character in the film. She said it would look like a continuity jerk. So while I didn't go with that, I did give them glamorous looks in the song picturisations."
Priyanka felt that since her flashback portion was very small, it wouldn't make sense to have a glamorous look as her character wouldn't look convincing enough.
"Thanks to her, I cut down on my costume budget from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 90,000. Simple then gave Priyanka simple salwar-kameezes and saris for the flashback scenes.
I am truly grateful to Priyanka for that. Normally, heroines are very demanding and ask for lavish outfits, but in her case, she wanted to go with the character and saved me a lot of money," he says.
Family time
Guddu loved the experience of working with Priyanka. He says, "She is talented and a one-take artiste. What's more, she's also very nice to work with, a thorough professional and very undemanding.
When I narrated Big Brother's story to her, she agreed instantly as it's a family-oriented film. We completed the shooting in 59 days."
Talking about the film, Guddu says that the plot revolves around one family's rock of Gibraltar. "Big Brother is the story of a middle class family which depends upon its eldest son, Deva (Sunny).
We constantly read about dowry harassment cases, children getting raped, acid attacks, and old couples being thrown out of their homes by their children, but we tend to turn a blind eye. In my film, Deva goes out and actually takes up their cause.
He says, 'Jao list banao, and let's pick up all the culprits one by one.' The story has been written by my wife, Santosh Dhanoa, who said we should do a film taking up the cause of women."
Meanwhile, Priyanka simply says, "I did what I had to do. Big Brother is a very special film as it was the first film I signed. I will do all I can to help it." |
Anupamaa
78