Arjun Rampal reveals why it took ‘Daddy’ over three years to be completed

In his upcoming release ‘Daddy’, Arjun Rampal gets into the shoes of Mumbai’s (in)famous underworld gangster-cum-politician Arun Gawli. From inception, the film underwent a number of transformations. Arjun, who was first approached with a different script about Gawli, didn’t like it and turned it down. But Gawli’s character intrigued him so much that he himself started researching and chalking a script.

It took Arjun and team almost three years to complete the film, once the script was locked and Ashim Ahluwalia came on board as a director. But why this long? (Also Read: The new poster of ‘Daddy’ has Arjun Rampal in two shades)

“I would say, it took us a year and a half to finish the story. It takes about that much to get that research, that authenticity. Then you hire your crew and then you go and you start doing your pre-production. That takes about six months. That makes it two years and ten months to just get into that process. We shot it over 70 days. We wanted to shoot it in three schedules, which were in three different seasons. The story goes through 40 years. So you can’t show a sunny Mumbai for 40 years. You need to see Mumbai in monsoon, you need to see the winter. That’s when you get the authenticity. To get all of that, you’ve to be patient and wait”, Arjun said.

The actor further shared that he had to lose a lot of weight, which he eventually had to gain back as well. And the gaining portion included consumption of a lot of beer! The film catches Gawli’s life through the most crucial phases of his life. However, unlike most other biopics, this one doesn’t try to glorify him like a messiah.

‘Daddy’ is set to release on September 8, 2017.

Ranjini Maitra

Journalist. Writer. Reader. Enthu cutlet. Mood-swing machine. Day dreamer. Sandwiched between ‘live life fully’ and ‘lose some weight’. Mantra of life: Love and love more.