No similarity between ‘Crazxy’ and ‘Tumbbad’: Sohum Shah

Mumbai, February 17 (PTI) Actor-producer Sohum Shah on Monday said like “Tumbbad”, his upcoming film “Crazxy” offers something new to the audiences but the similarities between the two films end there.

Helmed by debutant director Girish Kohli, Shah’s new film revolves around Dr. Abhimanyu Sood, who races against time to rescue his kidnapped daughter. Shah has also produced the movie in collaboration with Adesh Prasad and Ankit Jain.

“I want to say one thing, this is not ‘Tumbbad’. ‘Tumbbad’ was a period film with a classical structure and story of three generations and ‘Crazxy’ is the story of one day. There is no similarity between the two,” Shah said about his 2018 film which achieved major success when it was re-released last year.

Shah, who has already announced a sequel to “Tumbbad”, a folk horror drama about greed and how it destroys people, said he has tried to achieve something different from “Crazxy”.

“‘Tumbbad’ was unpredictable, so is ‘Crazxy’… In interviews, I told people to watch ‘Tumbbad’, which whether they liked or not, had something new to offer. That’s the promise I have for ‘Crazxy’. You will say you have seen something new that has not been seen before in Indian cinema,” Shah told reporters here at the trailer launch of the movie.  

The filmmaker said “Tumbbad 2” will be a different film.

“I have only one parameter: if people around me like the film, we will make it. Whatever the result will be, we will accept it… I don’t want to make formula films or routine films. I want to give something new to the audience,” he added.

Shah said it took him six years to back another film as a producer because he became one out of necessity as no one was willing to invest in his vision.

“After ‘Tumbbad’, (you think) every producer or studio will give you money. But I struggled a lot with ‘Crazxy’. I went to a lot of production houses. Girish brought the script to us in 2019. We decided in 2019 that we will make this film. But after that, COVID happened. No one else was making it. So, I had to make it. I didn’t have the resources. It took me six years.”

Shah, best known for starring in films such as “Talvar” and “Ship of Theseus” as well as OTT shows “Maharani” and “Dahaad”, said producers have disappeared from the ecosystem due to corporate culture, which reflects in the performance of movies today.

“The conversation around films not doing well at the box office, (it’s) because we have removed the producer from our ecosystem. Since we’ve come to corporate, the director’s film has become the production house’s (film). He’s making five films. The producer’s job is that of a line producer,” he said.

The “Maharani” actor believes passion comes only if there is something at stake, which is missing in the corporate culture.

“I used to hear about Mr. Raj Kapoor when I was very young. He didn’t like the song, so he reshot it. He sold his bungalow. It (still) happens in the South… You can only bring passion when you have something at stake. Everyone is playing safe. Ram is acting. Shyam has given the money. And there’s profit on the table. I’ve made the film. The reason for that is the producer didn’t get the attention. The producer’s job is very tough. I like acting more. And the films I want to make are very rare. So, I have difficulty producing them,” he added.

“Crazxy” will feature music by acclaimed director-composer Vishal Bhardwaj with lyrics by veteran writer Gulzar. The film is slated to release in theatres on February 28.