AndhaDhun, Now A Successful Film, Was Just A 'Little Mad Idea,' Says Director

Ayushmann Khurrana in AndhaDhun, directed by Sriram Raghavan. (Image courtesy: YouTube)

Filmmaker Sriram Raghavan told new agency PTI that his latest film AndhaDhun, which stunned film critics and audience alike, was a "little mad idea" that he wanted to try out after Badlapur. The filmmaker told PTI that he wanted to make a 'hassle-free' follow-up to Badlapur. "I wanted to do this one (AndhaDhun) almost like that. Take a little mad idea and make a movie," Raghavan told PTI. "When I was doing this, we were not like, 'let's do it for more money or popularity'. You can't plan all that. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't. Now, I just feel 'so far, so good'. Next one is again a new mountain to climb," he added.

AndhaDhun stars Ayushmann Khurrana, Radhika Apte and Tabu in lead roles. AndhaDhun, reportedly made on a budget of Rs 32 crore, collected over Rs 100 crore worldwide.

Sriram Raghavan also revealed that AndhaDhun is partly inspired by a French short film, the rights of which he acquired and also from a song sequence from his 2013 film Agent Vinod, which featured Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor in lead roles. "Many people have not seen Agent Vinod. I tell them, 'Ok, it is a little exhausting, a little long, almost a three-hour film but generally they are all binge-watching mini-series, so you can watch it like that'."

Sriram Raghavan, who is known for films such as Johnny Gaddar and Ek Haseena Thi, said that does not believe that he has a signature. "The only thing, I think, is that I try to tell the story as economically and as interestingly as possible," he told PTI.

AndhaDhun, which released in October, is touted be a favourite this award season. It won in four categories at the recently concluded Star Screen Awards, which started the Bollywood award season.

(With inputs from PTI)