With ZEE5’s Kadak Singh, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury wanted to create a film that is more than a thriller. The director of Pink and Lost chatted with The Telegraph Online about his zest for life and channelling that in his films.

Unlike your other films, the idea for Kadak Singh wasn’t yours. What was the starting point for the film?

Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury: Kadak Singh is the first time I worked on someone else’s idea. Normally I come up with an idea or it is based on a literary work, like Sunil Ganguly’s Dui Nari, Hate Torobari (Aparajita Tumi) or Samaresh Majumdar’s Buno Haansh. Viraf Sarkari (producer of Kadak Singh) and I met at the end of 2016. I told Viraf that I wanted to work on things that are happening around me. The scam was a heavy-duty thing at that time.

Kadak Singh at that stage was a Bollywoodish cop story. What I loved the most was the confrontation between the father and the daughter. I called (writer) Ritesh Shah over to Kolkata, started the research work, spoke to government officials, got a lot of data and it became a different film. There’s also a man and woman relationship in Kadak Singh. Otherwise it becomes just a thriller. It needed to go beyond a thriller. Whatever I have seen, have come across or seen happening to my close friends, I have put it in. In all my films, from Anuranan to Antaheen to Pink, I have incorporated similar elements because a film has to be real.

Your films always bring out the little things of life. How do you capture the nuances?

Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury: Yes, that is my kind of films. All of us are grey. Nobody is totally perfect or imperfect. We have cloudy days as well as sunny days. I love to listen and not hear. If we keep ourselves open, we can feel the things in between. I love to discover all that. It gives me a lot of happiness. The conviction of putting it into a film sometimes works. Some people say it’s not commercially viable or masala, but I prefer those elements.

The actors love the energy on your set. How do you keep the vibe intact film after film?

Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury: I love people. I need people around me. Sometimes I am alone, but I am not a loner. I call people whom I am not in touch with. I love the exchange of ideas. When we make a film, we make a home. We stay together, so if there’s no harmony and originality it would be fake. It can be wrong, but it can’t be fake.

Kadak Singh’s cast members are from all across India and beyond. Was it a conscious decision?

Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury: It happened to be so but it was deliberate as well. If you look at me, I live in Mumbai and Kolkata. I have a Malayali friend, a Maharashtrian friend, a Bengali friend, a probashi Bengali friend… my daughter lives abroad, she got married to an American guy.

Moreover, scams happen everywhere. When my father was in the hospital, I figured out that there were many Malayali nurses. I wanted to work with Parvathy Thiruvothu. She has a small role in Kadak Singh. I wanted to work with Jaya Ahsan. I liked Jaya’s silence; she has a depth. I wanted to explore that. Sanjana Sanghi is very young but she’s mothering the family in the film. Pankajji (Tripathi) has done something which he normally doesn’t do. Then, there’s Dilip Shankar, who has done well. We became a family. In today’s films, realism is required. It’s not geographically limited.

Pankaj Tripathi has not only talked about his admiration for you but also about his rich experience of shooting Kadak Singh. How did you bond?

Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury: While shooting, actors go through an emotional roller coaster more than the director. It’s a direct symbiotic relationship of lay, sur and taal between an actor and a director. It happened in the first meeting with him. A film is a collaboration. We bonded over our love for food and art.

Amitabh Bachchan had sent his blessings and prayers for Kadak Singh on social media…

Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury: He is a revered figure. It’s a great encouragement. It’s a huge blessing for us and our film. He supports everyone around him. I message him about what I do.

Did you always want to shoot Kadak Singh in Kolkata?

Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury: I wanted a few visuals that I got in Kolkata. The actors had a ball in Kolkata. We had Mangsho, Pabda Maachh, nolen gur sweets… we had great fun.

Your last film, Lost, was released at the theatres after a few weeks of streaming. Is it going to be the same for Kadak Singh?

Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury: It might happen. Kadak Singh was screened in Delhi, Mumbai and Goa (at recent film festivals) but I am happy with how it’s going on in ZEE5. People across the globe are messaging and calling me up. A childhood friend watched and woke me up at 4am to say how much he loved the film!

How is 2024 looking for you? We heard that you are doing a Bengali film as well as a Hindi film.

Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury: I also have two Hindi films and a web series, but I want to begin with a Bengali film in February-March. It’s also a relationship-based story.

Vijay Varma, Taapsee Pannu and Radhika Apte are doing fabulously. You had worked with them when they weren’t big stars. How do you feel about it now?

Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury: I am extremely happy. I spoke to Vijay Varma a few days ago. We collaborated in Pink and now he’s an icon. Taapsee Pannu is very hardworking. I could see her determination and integrity back then. Radhika Apte also makes me feel very happy. It’s more than happiness. It makes me feel wow.