We aren’t a cinema-savvy country: Vivek Agnihotri

One is as old as one’s last film, say industry insiders. But the last thing that one-film-old director Vivek Agnihotri wants to do is rest on his past laurels. His last film, De Dana Dan Goal, was lapped up by a soccer crazy nation but this time around, Vivek has something more serious up his sleeves.

“Buddha In A Traffic Jam belongs to a different zone and one needs to belong to that space to relate to it. If we’re talented and want to do something for our country, we’re invariably stuck and the Buddha here could be any of us. This film is on intellectual terrorism and how the common man’s mind is being used for terrorist activities,” informs Vivek.

Set in a B-school, Vivek shot the film at ISB, where he is a faculty member too.

“In fact, we stayed in the campus hostel, the cast attended classes and apart from a few known names, there are 570 budding CEOs as extras,” states Vivek.

Buddha has Anupam Kher, Mahie Gill, Arunodoy Singh and marks the comeback of Pallavi Joshi. Quiz Vivek on why he chose a grave subject as this and he retorts, “Every subject has its own audience. Buddha is a niche film for those who want to watch cinema as cinema, not entertainment. There’s a lot to ponder over in this one.”

The film-maker adds that Buddha consists of a few true life incidents too that happened to him when he was in college. “And what I realised is that nothing has changed over the years. I’ve also travelled across the country to get insights before I started scripting,” he states.

Unlike his earlier outing, this film has a seemingly lesser known cast. “Heroes are macho bodybuilders. I wanted convincing and good actors,” says the film-maker, adding, “I’ve often been asked why I decided to make Buddha after Goal. A maker is a maker, whatever the story. We aren’t a cinema-savvy country and anything different gets questioned. Moreover, I’ve grown up since Goal.”