Sachin Khedekar on Playing Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

“I went through all the material about the Indian National Army which Shyambabu had collected and met Netaji's family. Shama Zaidi and Atul Tiwari's script is foolproof. We shot on a set at New Theatres in Kolkata. We also shot in Uzbekistan which stood in for Afghanistan, Ladakh, Germany, Burma and Malaysia. We wanted to shoot in the Presidency Jail [Kolkata] for a day but were given only two hours. I don't blame them. With 200 convicts and January 26 around the corner, a whole day of shooting seemed impractical. After 'Bose...', I realized acting is reacting to the unknown. Without knowing any of the actors in 'Bose...', I was given such perfect rhythms to follow. I realized how important it is to have responsive colleagues. The only actor who can give an outstanding performance in isolation is Mr Bachchan.”

“Shooting a Gujarati film cinematographer Rajen Kothari asked me to meet Shyambabu who was looking for actors to play Netaji. He was keen on casting Paresh Rawal. In fact, Paresh's name was splashed all over for Netaji's role. I think Shyambabu was extremely comfortable with Paresh ever since he saw him in Sardar Patel. Since the role required a 40-ish actor, finding someone fresh was a problem. They wanted someone capable and not very popular. That is how I fitted the bill! I did not realise that if I shaved off my moustache, I would resemble Netaji so much. When I did a photoshoot without my moustache, I came out just right for the role. My son was shocked to see me without a moustache.”

“Take 60. But give me a bio-pic on Netaji that will never be forgotten.”

“So how much do you think you will need to do full justice to Netaji?”

“10 crores?”