October 2, 2017
Filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra on Monday confirmed
the news about working with producer Ronnie Screwala on his project titled
"Kabaddi" but refuted the rumours about Hrithik Roshan walking out of the
project.
"Scriptwriting is something I enjoy, but it is also very tedious
and slow process. Sometimes it can take you 2 years, 'Rang De Basanti' took me
five years to write and get it right.A Yes, I am working with Ronnie Screwala
and I think we should be ready with the script in a year or so, from today and
then we will decide about shooting," said Mehra on the sidelines of a Gandhi
Jayanti event here.
On the reports that Hrithik, who earlier agreed to
the part, had later walked out of the film due to creative differences, he
dismissed it as rumour and media speculation.
"There is nothing like
that," he said.
In a jibe at the reports, Mehra said: "This is a
wonderful thing, before I know things, media knows everything. Next time I will
ask a journo what I should do."
About his next project, which is based
on the issue of female sanitation through the perspective of an 8-year-old boy,
he said: "Film is progressing, shooting is over now, and the movie is titled
'Mere Pyaare Prime Minister'. In the film, there is an 8-year-old boy, who
writes a letter to Prime Minister of India asking him few questions and make
some requests. And then goes all the way to Delhi, to hand him the letter.
"He is raised by a single mother in the film, her name is Sargam, played by
Anjali Patil, and he wants to make a toilet for her mother."
"The movie
will release anywhere between February to July 2018," he added.
About the
YUVA Unstoppable initiative in which the filmmaker dedicates his time to build
toilets in municipal schools in various parts of India, Mehra said: "Today is
Gandhi Jayanti and Lal Bahadur Shastri's day also, so wanted this campaign of
ours, under which we are building toilets across the nation, so we have tried to
do something special here in this school.
"We painted the school,
provided toilet facilities, drinking water facilities, we started this sometime
4-5 years ago and now this has gathered a good momentum."