Born and brought up in Kolkata, Neeraj Pandey moved to New Delhi, where he graduated in English. He was employed in Legacy Entertainment, a company started by the Dalmia group to make television programs where he learnt his basics.
Despite a widely praised debut with A Wednesday, director Neeraj Pandey says he is no hurry to keep all the days of his week busy.
Meagre beginnings
In 2000, he moved to Mumbai, where he made documentaries and ad films. Along with his colleague Sheetal Bhatia, he formed Quarter Inch Productions, to make television programmes, ad films and documentaries. The July 11 blasts led to the script of A Wednesday. A lot of information came from the real incidents that followed.
That first script
Not many know that 34-year-old Pandey’s first attempt at feature film-making was the Basic Instinct-inspired Khaffa, with Jimmy Sheirgill, Kim Sharma and Hrishitaa Bhatt.
Recalling the time he went about casting Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah as the two principal characters, he says, “They were my first choices. So naturally, I sent the script to them. They reverted saying they liked it. So I can’t say who else I would have approached if they had declined for some reason.”
He elaborates, “Then I bounced the idea to Anjum Rizvi, whom I’ve known before. He liked the subject and the casting. When UTV heard about them film, it took over. We finished shooting in 28 days. Right from casting to completing the film, it took me about eight months.”
On his own
Reportedly, UTV which bought the film’s rights from Rizvi and him, delayed the release because of its own production Mumbai Meri Jaan, also based on the July 11 Mumbai local train serial blasts. Tell him this and he shrugs, “ That’s something only the people at UTV will be able to tell you. But from what I know, they were working out a marketing and promotion plan and released it accordingly.”
Future Plans
Pandey asserts that he will make his films for his own production banner or as co-productions from now on.
He is trying to cash in on the film’s success, and to further work on the subject of terrorism, he is planning a prequel to the Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher starrer.
The script is said to be ready, but an official announcement has reportedly been put on hold due to a legal wrangle with the producer of ‘A Wednesday’, UTV.
UTV sold the Tamil rights of the original film to Kamal Hassan without Neeraj’s consent. Now the extent of UTV’s copyright jurisdiction over the rights and material of ‘A Wednesday’ needs to be determined.
Till then the project is on hold, but plans are gearing up fast.
Despite a widely praised debut with A Wednesday, director Neeraj Pandey says he is no hurry to keep all the days of his week busy.
Meagre beginnings
In 2000, he moved to Mumbai, where he made documentaries and ad films. Along with his colleague Sheetal Bhatia, he formed Quarter Inch Productions, to make television programmes, ad films and documentaries. The July 11 blasts led to the script of A Wednesday. A lot of information came from the real incidents that followed.
That first script
Not many know that 34-year-old Pandey’s first attempt at feature film-making was the Basic Instinct-inspired Khaffa, with Jimmy Sheirgill, Kim Sharma and Hrishitaa Bhatt.
Recalling the time he went about casting Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah as the two principal characters, he says, “They were my first choices. So naturally, I sent the script to them. They reverted saying they liked it. So I can’t say who else I would have approached if they had declined for some reason.”
He elaborates, “Then I bounced the idea to Anjum Rizvi, whom I’ve known before. He liked the subject and the casting. When UTV heard about them film, it took over. We finished shooting in 28 days. Right from casting to completing the film, it took me about eight months.”
On his own
Reportedly, UTV which bought the film’s rights from Rizvi and him, delayed the release because of its own production Mumbai Meri Jaan, also based on the July 11 Mumbai local train serial blasts. Tell him this and he shrugs, “ That’s something only the people at UTV will be able to tell you. But from what I know, they were working out a marketing and promotion plan and released it accordingly.”
Future Plans
Pandey asserts that he will make his films for his own production banner or as co-productions from now on.
He is trying to cash in on the film’s success, and to further work on the subject of terrorism, he is planning a prequel to the Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher starrer.
The script is said to be ready, but an official announcement has reportedly been put on hold due to a legal wrangle with the producer of ‘A Wednesday’, UTV.
UTV sold the Tamil rights of the original film to Kamal Hassan without Neeraj’s consent. Now the extent of UTV’s copyright jurisdiction over the rights and material of ‘A Wednesday’ needs to be determined.
Till then the project is on hold, but plans are gearing up fast.
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