Yes, you read that right. So, the Gujju in this office (me) has a Sindhi boy friend (sorry Rashmi) from Spain who caught up with me on his most recent visit to Mumbai. In his words, “I’m in Mumbai for 4 days, I have very little time, but I have to go to the cinema! When I go back to Spain, it’ll be like a crime to have come to India and not watched a Bollywood movie.” Of course, I came to the rescue. And I suggested he watch Queen. (Remember what I felt when I reviewed it?) Of course, we had a blast. We’ve been exchanging dialogues from the film on Facebook and I’m not surprised. The film does have universal appeal.
When the film was showcased at the Busan film festival, the audiences were wondering and asked if it was actually a Korean film. That’s when the message was driven home that it was a universal story.
Interestingly, the film’s producers have green-lit the film’s Tamil, Telugu and Chinese remakes. Vikas Bahl, the film’s director, will be creatively involved with these films too. We really enjoyed our discussion with him on Queen and his love for the craft. He also says, “There’s a Rani in every corner of the world, which is why this story found takers everywhere. When a couple of producers approached us, we gave the remakes a go-ahead. It’s a great feeling to know that a film which has been made with a lot of heart and emotions is getting this kind of an acceptance across different languages. For me, the biggest joy is that the film will be watched by a newer audience, which might have not got the same experience in its original form”.
Starring Kangana Ranaut, Rajkumar Rao and Lisa Haydon among others, ‘Queen’ not only created waves at the box office but also continues to win critical acclaim.