Last Update: January 13, 2023, 08:15 AM IST
Lakdbaggha and Kutty are clashing at the box office.
Anshuman Jha, who is coming to the Lakdbagga headlines, is hopeful that both the films have the potential to do well at the box office.
This Friday sees the release of the first two Bollywood Movies of 2023 – Kutty, an action thriller, and Lakdabagha, the story of an animal vigilante lover. It is also the first box office clash of the year between two Hindi feature films. In an exclusive chat with News18, actor-producer Anshuman Jha, who headlines Lakdabagga, is hopeful that both the films have the potential to do well at the box office. He says, “We are a small release and I don’t think they (Kutty) are too big a release. I think there are enough screens to accommodate two films of this size easily. Which film would be better Will do. Sometimes it happens that two films releasing on the same day do equally well. Anything can happen.”
Without revealing the budget of Lakdabagga, Anshuman explains that Kutty being a slightly bigger film bears the burden of recovering its costs. He says, “I believe you cannot have broad strokes for films. Films never fail, budgets do. This is the mantra we follow as a company. In terms of budget, that film has a lot more to lose, purely in terms of value because it’s a little bigger than us, given the cast and the scale. Hence, the pressure on them to recover will be high.
Lakdabagga is Anshuman’s third film as a producer under his banner First Ray Films after Mona Darling (2017) and Hum Bhi Akele Tum Bhi Akele (2021). For him, budget is an important aspect of filmmaking and he ensures that his production ventures are cost-efficient, but aesthetically pleasing at the same time. “As a company, we play our cards in a way where our films are short and tight but very strong aesthetically, which is why we work with the kind of people we work with. We do. I don’t worry too much once I have made a decision. I think first and then I act, I don’t think after I act. That’s how I live my life and that’s how it should be. All the stress is when you live your life as decided in the moment and then you think why did I decide like that,” he elaborated.
But being an optimist, he is hopeful that the release of both the films can make up for the sluggishness at the box office. Talking about it, Anshuman says, “The focus should be on getting the audience back to the theatres. That’s what has stopped – at least people are coming to the theatres. The responses to the trailer have given me confidence that hopefully some will come back. I hope they (Team Kutty) see our film and they invite us to watch their film. I also hope that the audience will enjoy both the films.
While Lakdabagga, which also stars Milind Soman and Ridhi Dogra, boasts of a novel concept, some are comparing it with films like Bhavesh Joshi Superhero and Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota (both 2018). Reacting to the comparison, the 37-year-old comments, “I haven’t seen Bhavesh Joshi Superhero, and hence, I can’t comment on it. But I think it was about a routine vigilante. What’s different here is that It is an animal lover film.
He further adds that even though Vasan Bala explores guided martial arts as a main theme, Lakdabhaga explores lethal Krav Maga. “I have not seen a man in pain. I love Vasan and his school of filmmaking. His movies are very quirky and he loves martial arts. I also like martial arts. I was waiting to show this film to Vasan. But in Hyena we found the team of Ong Bak 2: The Beginning (2018), which is why this film is very different. It is about a simple boy named Arjun Bakshi, he is not a hero. The point we are trying to make is that if a normal guy can do it so can the audience. Simplicity is a superpower and that is what the film is about and I think it differentiates it from Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota,” explains Anshuman.
Says in English (2018) and Yeh Hai Bakrapur (2014) actor further adds, “Tsahi (Shemesh; Krav Maga instructor) said action heroes are well built, tall and strong but when I train with them I realized that size is irrelevant. In fact, I can take down four to five people who are much bigger than me. I am a huge fan of Bruce Lee (martial artist and actor) and he is all about his core strength and Woodcut is a tribute to him in many ways.
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