Arindam Chaudhuri is proud of his filmi casting coup

The sailing wasn’t too smooth for Professor Arindam Chaudhuri who ventured into film-making a few years ago, but the management guru-cum-producer is glad that things are finally looking up.

“There’s been a slow, but steady progression and we’ve seen our film budgets grow from a few lakhs to several crores now. And from getting lesser-known stars to the bigger names. For someone with no film background, I think we’ve progressed fairly well. From baby steps to giant leaps,” says the professor of his Bollywood journey of eight years and nine films. “The mantra,” he adds, “is to not stick to formula films at all.”

Explaining further he says, “We pick stories that we believe in.” And Do Dooni Chaar is one such story that the house was convinced about. “It’s a film that people at all levels will be able to relate to. So we were sure about the script. The challenge was to get our lead pair — Rishiji and Neetuji — to agree. And it was a surprise when Neetuji gave a thumbs up inspite of Rishiji’s apprehensions that she may not agree.When director Habib narrated her the story, she was simply floored. That was an encouraging sign for us. Though she was unsure of being able to do justice to the role of a middle-class simple housewife from Delhi initially, she got into the character so beautifully that everyone unanimously agreed that her performance was simply outstanding.”

Arindam reveals that the film is also very close to his heart for personal reasons. “I come from a middle-class background where my dad was a professor. We have seen how the students often start their careers with cars, while the teachers still take a bus back home.”

And what’s on the cards post this sweet family entertainer? “Good cinema and great projects hopefully,” smiles Arindam.