‘High concept, controlled costs’ – That’s the ‘mantra’ that Mukesh Bhatt and Mahesh Bhatt have followed for decades now. With Pooja Bhatt too looking at making a comeback of sorts as a filmmaker, she too is following the same ‘mantra’ with ‘Jism 2‘. Add to that some innovative marketing tactics where cost saving options were incorporated, hence leading to a natural buzz being created. Numerous speculations, rumours, truths and controversies, Pooja is ready to finally unveil Sunny Leone and her film ‘Jism 2‘.
Pooja Bhatt, Jism 2 Movie Poster
You really played around well for ‘Jism 2’, isn’t it? From Bipasha to Malliaka and the mystery girl and now Sunny Leone actually in front of media – guess it was all a part of the plan.
Well, I would say that things fell in place. See, you would have noticed that there was so much buzz and speculation around Bipasha in the original ‘Jism’ that there was bound to be curiosity around who would actually replace her in the next instalment of the franchise and do justice to the role. This led to quite a lot of coverage. People started guessing whether it would be the return of Bipasha or the comeback of Mallika Sherawat. Then when there was no news from us around that, there were assumptions being made that it would be a fresh face.
This is when you released the semi-nude picture of the leading lady, albeit with Nathalia Kaul in a veil.
(Smiles) Of course I wanted to add on to the hype. We put together the design which led to further speculations. Of course it worked for us because I realised that the brand by itself had become much bigger now. We didn’t require someone to promote us; we were getting promoted by the sheer strength of the brand.
Well, Sunny did add on to the hype. However, beyond the porn-star profession that she comes with, how has she turned out to be as an actress? If promos are any indication, she seems to be doing reasonably well.
For that we have to give her the entire credit; she has tried to deliver her best. She came to India 50 days before the shooting and went through intensive workshops. We had a dialogue coach who sat with her daily and she memorized her dialogues backwards. Half your battle is won when you do that. Moreover, she definitely looked the part and then it becomes even easier.
You do feel that when an actress finds herself in a natural space, she is bound to do well? This is the reason why for a role of a porn-star you choose her?
Half the mountain was climbed when I cast Sunny for ‘Jism 2‘. For the remaining half, it was on the two us to walk together and make it happen. This comes from my own personal experience. When I look back at my roles in the past, I can see that I did my best when I was put into the space where I was most comfortable in. I was fantastic where I could relate to the setup and plain average when I couldn’t. I think its true for most actors. Take John Abraham as an example. People were not sure if he could pull off ‘Jism’ but I felt that this was his space and he would do well. Today everyone agrees with that.
