EXCLUSIVE: ‘Sidharth Malhotra is one of those few actors who have the X Factor,’ says Mission Majnu director Shantanu Baagchi

Sidharth Malhotra started 2023 with an impressive performance in Mission Majnu. The film saw him play the role of an undercover spy and he received immense love for it. Recently, the director of the film, Shantanu Baagchi got in an exclusive conversation with Bollywood Bubble. He spoke about his star Sidharth Malhotra, this being his debut directorial, comparisons with Raazi, and more. Excerpts:

How has been the response from the audiences as well as the industry for Mission Majnu?

“The response has been very good. I never expected it to be so good. Everybody on the film’s team has put in a lot of hard work and it feels great that people are showering so much love and appreciation on it.”

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How important was it for you to have stars like Sidharth Malhotra and Rashmika Mandanna be a part of your debut?

“Their contribution has been immense and I am very lucky that they trusted me with the film. I have worked in advertising before where I have won many national and international level awards. So, by looking at my work they must have thought that I know how to go about it. I am extremely lucky to have a support and guide like Ronnie Screwvala, who helped me in more ways than I can tell. Sid was an absolute gem of a person to work with. It was an incredible experience altogether.”

Giving Sidharth another patriotic film after Shershaah, did it offer a sense of surety considering people loved him already or was it more of a pressure point?

“For my debut film, I was seeing a lot of scripts and this one connected to me. So, I was approaching it that way. I wasn’t looking at what Sidharth had done before or what comes next for him. It doesn’t work like that. I just tried to do my work sincerely. These things you can’t predict so you shouldn’t be bothered by it.”

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What do you think is about Sidharth that makes him special?

“There are very few actors who have an X factor. Very few actors have a certain appeal that they bring to screen that attracts the audiences. I feel that Sid has that quality.”

Mission Majnu had its own journey. It faced many delays and change of mediums. Did it ever get scary thinking what if it never sees the light of the day?

“Frankly, I never had this worry. I was more concerned to get the film right. It doesn’t matter where it comes or who stars in a project as long as you put out good quality. The audience should be involved, emotionally invested and enjoy the project, that is more important.”

Rashmika Mandanna was to make her Hindi film debut with Mission Majnu but Goodbye released first. Was it assuring to see the love she got for it or was there a little regret of your film not being her first Hindi release?

“It was there at the back of my mind. But I had seen her performance and I knew she would get tremendous amount of love and appreciation for her work. She is a very accomplished actor, who puts in a lot of hard work. I know some people had different opinions about her in Goodbye, but I knew their perspective would change after seeing our film. So, the order of the films didn’t matter.”

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There were lot of comparisons made between Mission Majnu and Alia Bhatt’s Raazi. While the characters and their journey are quite different, did the comparisons ever bother you?

“If you see at the critique that was coming, it was about the things like, they both are spies in Pakistan, who find things out and avert a disaster. But if you look at it from a distance, it is apparent that they are talking about elements that are common to the plot of any spy thriller. They are same for even any James Bond film. Secondly, I knew for sure that people will understand that the two are different stories and the experiences are also different. The audience is quite smart.”

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