Anushree Mehta: I know remaking Bawarchi is a huge responsibility

Director Anushree Mehta says people are making her feel as if she’s taken a huge risk of coming onboard to remake the 1972 cult classic, Bawarchi. “I think people are more scared than me. They are making me feel as if I have taken some huge risk. I know I have a huge responsibility,” she told us.

In a chat, she shared it was more for the love of the original director Hrishikesh Mukherjee, who has inspired a generation of filmmakers. “It is a timeless story. It is in itself a remake of Bengali film Galpo Holeo Satti (1966). So in a way I am taking a certain kind of remaking legacy forward,” she added.

Mehta, who has previously helmed Mrs Undercover (2023), agreed that giving justice to a remake is indeed a huge responsibility. But she also believes every filmmaker is judged either way. “Making movies in itself is a risky affair. Either you make original or a remake, you will be judged,” she said.

“The more I listen to the noise around, the more I’ll feel pressurised. My idea is to make a film that everybody enjoys and remembers. I’m not going to get clouded by anything else,” the filmmaker told us.

While she refuses to divulge details about who’d get into the shoes of Rajesh Khanna and Jaya Bachchan, she shared the casting for its “crazy amazing” ensemble cast was on, and the remake was in its pre-production stage.

Would the remake have similar plot or make alterations to suit the modern times? “I have to make it in a way that is relevant to the audiences in these modern times. I want this generation to also gets to watch such legendary films,” she opined.

So how does she imagine her Bawarchi to be? “Whoever is going to play Bawarchi is going to be magic,” she ends.