Rahul Mittra is not just a happy
producer — thanks to his latest film ‘Torbaaz’ that is trending at number one
on OTT platform Netflix — he is also busy helping the Yogi Adityanath-led
Uttar Pradesh government reach out to personalities in Hindi cinema to
familiarise them with the opportunities of making films in the state.

Mittra was present at a meeting in
December between fraternity members and Adityanath at a hotel in Mumbai where
the Chief Minister discussed the ambitious plan to set up a film city in Noida
that is envisaged to be the largest in India.

Speaking about how this move is going to
add volumes to the Industry, the producer told Opoyi, “I had the pleasure of
shooting in UP for ‘Bullet Raja’. Also, I was the first guy to get subsidy
under their policy way back for the same film. I love UP, the state’s food,
cuisine, culture, and the whole sensibility. I am from Punjab but UP is an
important state for me and there is a lot to learn from that state, including
language culture. Since it is in close proximity to Delhi, where so many
shootings are happening, I like the vision of CM . He wants to make it the
biggest film city in India so why not.”

 Speaking about his role in the initiative,
Mittra said, “When the CM’s office asked me, I was happy to do that
because if you are coming to Mumbai to engage with the film fraternity, I
thought it was a great thing. I reached out to some of my colleagues and they
were all there. I am looking forward to the film city so that we can shoot our
films, web series there and the whole filmmaking can come under one roof.”

But what about Bollywood, which is
synonymous with Mumbai?

 “You know art is not limited to one city or
one country, one format or mindset. Art is a celebration of the human mind and
I think, it should be bereft of nepotism, and politics, and all of that. Every
city should have a film city. Why only UP? There is so much consumption for
entertainment. Mumbai has given so many people so much and that will stay
forever, they will never go but it’s not stealing an industry or taking it
somewhere else, it’s just providing an incentive or providing the livelihood to
people because when we go and shoot, it does give a lot of stuff to people at
the ground level and it should be seen like that bereft of any politics,” he
said.

 He also says that Mumbai ‘nagiri’ is going to
be as important as it always has been and the tinsel town will be there. “…but
at the same time, it is good if other states are building facilities to attract
us, filmmakers. It talks volumes about the way the industry is headed. I take
it in a very good manner,” he said.

 On September 18, the CM (Yogi Adityanath),
while addressing a review meeting, announced the setting up of ‘the biggest and
most beautiful film city’ of the country in Gautam Buddh Nagar. He instructed
officials to search for suitable land in or around Noida, Greater Noida or
Yamuna Expressway and prepare an action plan.

Talking about his movies, his new film
‘Torbaaz’ starring Sanjay Dutt was released on Netflix and is getting rave
reviews for highlighting a sensitive issue in a positive light. Directed by Girish Malik, the film
is about child suicide bombers in Afghanistan and how at a refugee camp, an
ex-army doctor seeks to bring children joy through cricket.

“See when I heard the story idea from
Girish, it interested me primarily because I have been a former journalist and
have covered beats like crime, international affairs, society, and politics so
I knew what the problem of terrorism is. What really got me interested was
managing this issue in a very humane way. The treatment of such a serious
subject was brilliant. The idea was not to make a loud film but a healthy
non-acid film. So I think that was the challenge and hence there was a lot of
work on scripts and location.. as we went all the way to kyrgyzstan.”

Mittra says that location is very
important for him. “Filmmaking is all about cheating and you know I shot
‘Saheb, Biwi and Gangster’ supposedly in UP but it was actually Gujarat- 100
kms from Baroda.  But if I would not have
selected that haveli, this sadness in Mahi (Gill) wouldn’t have come about in
the film. So for me location is very important.”

He is also happy that the film has
reached a wider audience through the OTT platform. “You know for each one of
us, including the producers, directors, and actors, the cinematic experience is
generally great. Everybody wants the film to be shown on the big screen but
when I saw the edit,  I knew that this is
the international subject that warrants an international presence, an
international release and I thought no better than OTT giant,” said Mittra.

 The producer also says that he was not scared
to stir a controversy with the storyline of the film.

 “I am not scared because I know that art
is an expression of the mind and I know that there have been controversies
earlier. For example when I was making ‘Bullet Raja’, there had been talk that
the film is based on some criminal so I am used to that. However, I was hopeful
of no controversies because we are talking about peace. We are talking about
changing and reforming through cricket. It is a triumph of the human spirit and
people will just take it as a beautiful film with a nice message,” he sums up.