Director Dibakar Banerjee on 'Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar's hushed release
Parineeti Chopra and Arjun Kapoor's Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar (2021) underwent a rather unfortunate sequence of events. First, it was repeatedly delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, then, it was released in select theaters in March 2021 and later dumped on Amazon Prime Video. While Chopra and Kapoor's performances were lauded, and the film received critical acclaim, it made negligible box-office collections. Now, its director, Dibakar Banerjee, disclosed he and Kapoor were unaware of the film's release on the streamer!
Kapoor informed Banerjee about the film's release
In a recent conversation with YouTuber Samdish Bhatia, Banerjee recalled how Kapoor called him to inform him about Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar's arrival on Prime Video with no marketing. Banerjee said, "[Kapoor] called me and said, 'Sir, it has released.'" "I was like, 'What are you saying?' He said that he saw it was released on Amazon. So I asked him about marketing and he said he didn't know about it," he added.
'You realize you are a problem,' Banerjee lamented zero marketing
Banerjee continued, "He (Kapoor) saw it (film on Prime Video), there was no marketing, nothing." "So what happens is you realize that you are a problem. It was released on Amazon, so at least a few people watched it. But this problem is going to increase, it is going to get bigger and become a bigger issue," he added. The film co-starred Neena Gupta, Jaideep Ahlawat, Raghubir Yadav, and Rahul Kumar and was distributed by Yash Raj Films.
'Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar's release journey, critical acclaim
The film's original release date (March 20, 2020) coincided with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, and its release was thus put on the back burner. Then, when a few theaters opened, it was released on fewer screens, only to emerge as a box-office bomb eventually. It later found better visibility due to the second lease of life it received on Amazon Prime Video and is considered one of the most accomplished performances by Chopra and Kapoor.
Naseeruddin Shah also showered praises on it
Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah is one of the many people who loved Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar! Kapoor revealed in an interview that Shah praised his performance while they were shooting for Kuttey. "I don't think somebody like [Shah] is very easy to please when it comes to work as an actor. So, I hold this compliment and I hold that moment very close to my heart," said Kapoor earlier.
