The trailer of R Balki’s Chup once again shows R Balki to be one of the most innovative and enterprising filmmakers in Indian cinema. Never afraid to break the glass ceiling , in his debut film Cheeni Kum he depicted a summer-winter love story between Tabu and Amitabh Bachchan. In Shamitabh, Amitabh played the ghost voice of a mute superstar.
“The challenge is to do something completely unexpected. I like to surprise myself and the audience,” says Balki.
The idea to do film on how film criticism affects cinema came to Balki after his first film Cheeni Kam was trashed by certain critics. The film went on to acquire a cult status.
“Why only my film? Classics like Guru Dutt’s Kagaz Ke Phool, K Asif’s ’s Mughal-e-Azam, V Shantaram’s Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje and Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay were rubbished by critics. My film looks at how adverse reviews impact a film,” says Balki.