Zayed Khan, who has completed two decades in the film industry, recently celebrated the 18th anniversary of his thriller movie, Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne, which was released on March 21, 2003. The actor shared a stunning picture on his Instagram handle and informed his fans that his next release is just around the corner.
After receiving immense appreciation for his post, Zayed Khan spoke about his next. The actor appeared charming and enthusiastic as he discussed his upcoming film, TFTNW, a mockumentary in which he is the subject of ridicule. Actor Aseem Merchant came up with the film’s concept and produced it, while Zayed, Aseem, Mohit Srivastava, and Kavin Dave collaborated on the script. Mohit also directed the film.
According to reports, 15-20 prominent Bollywood personalities, including Riteish Deshmukh, Farah Khan, Suzanne Khan, Jackie Shroff, and others, will appear in cameos in the film. Zayed Khan did not disclose any information about the film’s title’s significance, which digital platform it will premiere on, or the celebrity cameos. Nevertheless, he was pleased to share how he became involved in the project.
Shah Rukh Khan Will Be Seen In Cameo In Zayed Khan’s Mockumentary
Zayed Khan’s biggest film was Main Hoon Na where he played younger brother Laxman to Shah Rukh Khan. And as well know, SRK is man with golden heart. So when he was approached for a cameo in Mockumentary, he readily agreed. Yes super star Shah Rukh Khan will be seen in The Film That Never Was in special cameo. Reportedly SRK is at his best humorous avtar and it will be a big joy for the fans.
Trailer of this Mockumentary was unveiled at Jio Studio event and it should be out on Jio Cinema app probably in June. After historic blockbuster success of Pathaan, Shah Rukh will be next seen on big screen in Jawan which got postponed to 7th September and Dunki at Christmas. He will also be seen in Tiger 3 in a cameo which will release in Diwali.
Background Of Mockumentary:
“For the first 10 years, I gave it my all. I lived out of the suitcase as I went for shoots, events, performances, shows etc. I also had children at a really early age. I read the biography of a very famous gentleman who stated how he missed out on the growing years of his children. It just struck me that my kids are growing up and I want to spend time with them. I consciously decided to step back. That’s the worst thing to do! On one level, it was really nice as I got to experience a lot of things I wanted, as a father. I took them on holidays. I am a sportsman myself and introduced them to sports like diving. But when you completely disappear from the radar, people forget easily,” Zayed said.
“When I wanted to come back into the industry, I realized that it was very hard. Of course, you have friends and people who can help you out. They are, however, not the ones who take the call. The audience is the one who makes the call. The studios represent what the audience demands. Also, things had changed a lot. People don’t have the time and patience to watch a 2 ½ hour-long film. Many will of course ask, ‘Who the hell is Zayed Khan?’ Also, my kids had never really seen me in action, on a film set. Everytime I go out with family and friends, there’ll be people taking pictures with me. They didn’t really get why this frenzy was there around me,” he added.
Zidaan and Aariz Khan, Zayed Khan’s children, played a crucial role in motivating him to resume his acting career. According to Zayed, one day his kids approached him and asked him why he doesn’t act anymore. Initially, Zayed was hesitant and told them that he wouldn’t have enough time to spend with them if he resumed his career. However, his children insisted that they would love to see him work in movies and encouraged him to pursue the idea.
“Then, I met a lot of people and tried to produce. But the warmth that was given to me when I was a star was very different. It dawned on me that this is a star-based system. One can believe that writing is now paramount and things are streamlined. But at the end of the day, everyone wants to know who’s starring in your film or show. You can write a work as great as that of Shakespeare but nobody will give a damn if a star is not mouthing your lines,” he continued.
He stated, “One day, I was a little low. A friend, Aseem Merchant, walked in. He looked at me and asked, ‘You are such a lovely, good-looking guy. Why the hell are you not doing anything?’. It’s an easy question to ask but very difficult for me to answer! How do I tell him that I tried, went to a lot of places and irrespective of where I come from, it didn’t work out? I didn’t say that. I replied, ‘I don’t know, man. Let’s see what happens’. This is when he said that he has an idea and wants to cast me. I looked at him with dodgy eyes and asked, ‘Why do you want to do a film with me?’! Aseem simply said, ‘The best is yet to come from you’! It was nice to see somebody having some faith in me.”
Zayed further said, “Aseem then narrated the idea of TFTNW. On the face of it, it sounded promising. But I was apprehensive. I mean I was already down and then I do a film where the butt of the jokes is on me. What if things get messed up at the execution level? However, I have been brought up with the attitude that ‘No risk, no reward’. I also asked, ‘What do I have to lose?’”
Zayed explained the writing process and stated, “When I read the first script, I could see that the writers (Aseem Merchant, Mohit Srivastava and Kavin Dave) had a lot of reservations about not trying to hurt me too much! I told them to push the envelope. I was ready to be the butt of all jokes. I told them, ‘If you feel some jokes are going to hurt my sentiments, make it f*****g funny while you do so’! That’s when they cleared their feathers out and came back with another draft. From here on, the writing went to another crazy level.”
Zayed applauded Aseem Merchant, “I’d like to make a special mention of Aseem and his daughter Sasha. They both are an incredible team. They made a blind bet by signing me. I want to also specially mention Mohit Srivastava, the director. He is very sound technically and never bogged down under pressure. The whole unit was like one big happy family. So overall, it was a great journey. I discovered so much about myself all over again.”
“We had a focus group screening. It had 100 people from the ages of 10 to 90 years old and different walks of life. My kids also attended the screening. Their response blew us! My kids watched it 7 times. They have never seen any of my films 7 times besides probably Main Hoon Na (2004)! Every time we’ll have a focus screening, they’ll ask me, ‘Papa, can we watch it again?’. I asked, ‘Do you really want to watch it or are you saying it to make me feel good?’. But they assured me that they loved the film,” he said.
He concluded, “It was so heartening to see not just children but even teenagers, the elderly, and middle-aged people – all loving TFTNW. It’s very hard to achieve this feat. We are all gearing up for the final phase, that is marketing, PR etc.”
Stay tuned with us for latest news, Hindi box office news, Hollywood news, OTT news, latest bollywood news and latest box office news
