Judgementall Hai Kya producer Shaailesh Singh: Controversies don’t bring audiences to cinema halls

Q) Producing two films releasing back-to-back, what was it like?

It was quite exciting. The last one we released, Judgementall Hai Kya, is doing well, and now Jabariya Jodi.

Q) How do you react to Judgementall Hai Kya not faring well at the box office?

See, there is always a feeling that it could be better. But there was a huge disadvantage, the whole country is receiving too much rain and many places are flooded, there are so many things happening in the country right now, even Mumbai experienced so much rain in the week the film released. Still the movie is doing numbers which is not bad. Places in UP, Bihar and Gujarat are entirely flooded. People are coming in and watching the film in multiplexes. So, I would say I am happy.

Q) The controversies that surrounded the movie, do you think the film could have done without it?

Some people say it helped, some say it didn’t. There used to be days when any publicity used to be good publicity. But I don’t think that’s true anymore, controversies don’t bring the audiences to the theatre. People make up their mind whether they will watch the film after watching the trailer of the film.

Q) You have backed some of the most critically acclaimed films like Aligarh, Shahid, Madaari, Omerta among others. What motivates you to pick such content heavy films?

The very reason I am making films are these stories, I have no other motivation to make films. The money, the stars don’t matter, I want good stories to be told. We as filmmakers should be open to tell these stories without thinking if the audience is going to like it or not, we are nobody to judge them.