‘Kaagaz is my reinvention as director,’ says Satish Kaushik

Filmmaker Satish Kaushik has said that actor Pankaj Tripathi’s brought a ‘renewed energy’ to his latest project ‘Kaagaz’, which allowed him to reinvent himself as a director.

Produced by Salman Khan, the film is based on the life of Bharat Lal from Azamgarh, who fought a legal battle for 18 years after he was declared dead on official papers.  In a virtual press conference, Kaushik, said he wanted to ‘push himself as a director’. 

“When a new generation comes in, everything changes, the way we work, our atmosphere. We then become old. But I wanted to do something new. As an actor, I keep showcasing that I’m updated, but as a director, I wanted to update myself. Pankaj has played a huge part in that. The moment I met him, I realised how I can update, innovate and reinvent myself through ‘Kaagaz’ with Pankaj,” said Kaushik, who is known for movies such as ‘Tere Naam’ and ‘Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain’, said as per PTI reports.

The drama, which was earlier scheduled to release in May, will now be releasing for online streaming on ZEE5 in January.

Kaushik had read about Lal’s story back in 2001, when he was shooting for his romantic-drama ‘Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai’.  Two years later, Kaushik bought the rights to make a film on the subject. A decade later, things began falling into place for him.

“Back then, no would even think that it’s possible to make a film based on a true story. It’s only post 2010 that the trend (of biopics) started. For seven years, I would tell people my plan to make the film, they’d appreciate but wonder how will it be possible,” Kaushik said. 

After several rewrites with his team of writers, in 2016-2017,  Kaushik had a breakthrough.

“Then a big producer came on board and had also signed an actor. But I didn’t find him suitable. I was still finding my Bharat Lal. When I saw Pankaj, I felt he was so understated and was doing consecutive remarkable work. My struggle came to an end the moment I approached him and he loved the narration. His confidence encouraged me to make the film any how,” he added.