Avalokita Pandey
On a relatively hot Tuesday afternoon, the star cast of Kaun Kitne Paani Mein came to promote their upcoming film in the capital. Manjhi The Moutain Man girl, Radhika Apte, who is presently in London missed the event.
The lead actors Kunal Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla and Gulshan Grover were present along with the director Nila Madhab Panda. They were accompanied by a Canadian NGO team member, Jacques Rajotte, who is also the executive producer of the movie.
Speaking about producing a feature film instead of documentary, Rajotte said, “One Drop organization believes in cleaning, saving and water sanitation. I approached Panda sir after watching his I am Kalam and discussed the idea of making a feature film on water conservation. Thus, it is an entertaining Bollywood social film with a backdrop of saving water as its message to the audience.”
Rajotte, who is associated with the Canadian NGO, One Drop Foundation came all the way from Canada for the film’s promotion. Unlike other NGOs, which produce documentary films for conveying its message, One Drop came up with the idea of making a Bollywood feature film on water conservation.
Commenting on the movie’s title, Gulshan Grover, who is playing the role of a common man in the film said, “Kaun Kitne Paani Mein was a phrase used in medieval times conveying rivalry and enmity. But now, the context has changed. Here, the meaning is more emphasized as to what extent a person can go for water. We all face water problems in our everyday life. So, the film portrays the importance of water, which has become the most critical challenge faced by the people in the 21st century.”
Saurabh Shukla, who is playing the role of Kunal’s father in the film says, “The movie is not only about saving water. Of course, it is a resource and we should try our best to preserve it. However, apart from that, the film also focusses on the father-son relationship. Here, the image of a father has not been shown as an ideal one, but then, everything in the movie is different and unique. The audience would get to see something new in every scene.”
Talking about their expectation from the movie, the team reflected on how the trend of making films for pan India is shifting. Movies like Barfi, Jolly L.L.B and Kahaani has been liked by people and consequently, won many popular awards which reveal the fact that the audience is liking commercial as well as art movies. Kaun kitne paani mein is a fiction movie depicting its social cause in a very funny manner.
Kunal Kapoor, who is presently working on three scripts of different genres, talked about his role in the film. He said, “I am playing the role of King’s son who gets involved in a romantic relationship with a girl, whose father has water sources. My role is quite revealing as the audience gets to know about my betrayal love since the very beginning.”
Discussing on conserving water, Grover explained how he tried to stop the misuse of water on sets while shooting abroad. He said, “Once I noticed how people drank from one bottle and then left it there after a sip or two and grabbed another as they couldn’t remember from which one they drank last. So, I requested them to mark their respective bottles with their initials every time after use. I explained them in context to the country I belong, which is facing water scarcity problems.”
Produced by One drop foundation in association with Eleeanora images and Beyond dream productions, the shooting of the film has been done in Mahendragarh (Haryana) and in villages of Orissa. The movie is scheduled to release this Friday.