Won`t use star power to promote `Bombay Talkies`: Producer

Mumbai: Producer Ashi Dua, who is looking forward to the release of `Bombay Talkies`, which boasts star cast like like Amitabh Bachchan, Katrina Kaif and Rani Mukerji, says she will not use the star power to promote the film.

`Bombay Talkies`, which is a celebration of Indian cinema completing 100 years, is a collection of four films directed by Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee and Karan Johar. There are four different stories and will showcase Bachchan, Kaif, Mukerji, Randeep Hooda, Ranvir Shorey, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sadashiv Amrapurkar and Saqib Saleem in different films. "We will not use stars to promote the film. We will use the four directors for promotions. They are the face of this film. We will reach out to print, electronic media, have events, etc," Ashi Dua said. Commenting on the industry being star driven, Ashi says, "It is true that the industry is star driven and will remain so. But this is one step on our part to promote the film in the name of directors. We have great stars who are ruling for over 25-30 years. "The star driven phenomenon will continue to exist in the industry. But we also want audience to watch a film entirely because of the content it has and the director who has made it and not because of a star alone," she said. Ashi states that it was the requirement of the film to rope in stars. "We have an ensemble cast in place. We are happy that they all agreed to do the film," she said. "It was the story that prompted the makers to cast these actors and they fitted the bill as well. Like the story that Anurag Kashyap has done is about fan following and hence it has Amitabh Bachchan," she added. As Ashi knew Anurag Kashyap, it was relatively easy for her to rope him for the film. Later Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and in the end Karan came on board. "I was sure that I would make the film with four directors, presenting different stories. With Karan I was a bit intimidated initially. I sent him a message explaining the idea, he agreed to meet up. But as he was busy with `Student of the Year` we couldn`t have a meeting soon. Once he finished we met and he liked the idea and came on board," she said. The first trailer of `Bombay Talkies` has been out and is garnering good response. "The theatrical trailer is out and we are getting good response. We are extremely happy that we have pulled up a film like this. We hope the audience will like it," Ashi said. `Bombay Talkies` is set to release on May 3, exactly hundred years after `Raja Harishchandra` (the first Indian feature film that was directed by Dadasaheb Phalke). But Ashi clarifies it is not a tribute to the late legendary filmmaker. "It is not a tribute to 100 years of cinema. It is about the celebration of cinema. We want to celebrate the contribution of cinema," she said. "Cinema has had an impact on everyone`s life. Even common man gets influenced by cinema be it the story, character or music. My parents were a big film buff and I eventually happen to watch lot of films. My love for cinema kept growing," she added. PTI