Look Out For 'Piku'
Shoojit Sircar, Amitabh Bachchan, Irrfan Khan and Deepika Padukone having a blast on the sets of Piku
A quirky take on father daughter relationship, the film brings Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Irrfan Khan together for the first time. Piku is also Deepika’s first stand alone title role and has been co-produced by MSM Motion Pictures along with Saraswati Creations and Rising Sun Films.
A fresh and ingenious comedy-drama that trails an extraordinary yet very quirky father-daughter relationship, Piku will charm cinemagoers of all ages and is sure to be lauded by cineastes and critics alike. One of India’s most versatile directors, Shoojit Sircar, leads cross-generational audiences on a cinematic journey that represents original, Indian cinema at its most accomplished. Beautifully conveyed onscreen and balancing emotion with breezy humour, Piku is this summer’s must-watch movie.
Among the industry’s most celebrated artists, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Irrfan Khan lead the filmatic road trip in loveable lead roles, supported by an exceptional ensemble featuring Moushumi Chatterjee, Jishu Sengupta and Raghuveer Yadav. Perfectly harmonising the feel-good atmosphere of the film is an infectiously catchy soundtrack, courtesy of composer Anupam Roy, Tollywood’s sensation, who marks his debut with Piku.
Official Synopsis
Piku (Deepika Padukone) is a Delhi-based architect who manages her small business, runs her home and takes care of her 70-year-old father, Bhashkor Banerji (Amitabh Bachchan), who spends most of his time obsessing about age related issues. Piku’s Baba must ensure that he has her attention 24/7, leaving her with little time to do anything else. Romance and getting a life of her own just don’t seem possible! While both are deeply attached to one another, they are equally strong headed, stubborn and just won’t let go when dealing with each other’s idiosyncrasies and quirks!
When Bhashkor emotionally blackmails Piku to take a road trip from Delhi to Kolkata, the owner of the local cab service, Rana (Irrfan Khan), has no choice but to drive them personally since none of his drivers are willing to endure Piku or her eccentric father. During this undesired road trip they learn to deal with each other’s moods and idiosyncrasies and it reveals more than Bhashkor’s bathroom habits.
What follows is a heady mix of motion, emotion and commotion, which culminates as Piku and Bhaskhor return to their roots in Kolkata, giving us an insight into the father-daughter relationship where Bhaskor’s irritating yet endearing demeanour and Piku’s equally headstrong nature may always be at loggerheads but this seemingly dysfunctional relationship is bonded by an understated and an unconditional love that leaves you wanting more.
Gallery: Deepika's Seven Looks In Piku
On Set Tidbits And Shenanigans
Big B and Irrfan go Bananas on the sets of Piku
Amitabh Bachchan who plays the father of Deepika Padukone (Piku) was supposed to give bananas to his co-actor Irrfan Khan in a scene and the actor was to take one banana and eat it. The scene had a funny banter between the two. However, there were 5-6 retakes because everyone kept cracking up thanks to the funny dialogues. In due course of so many retakes, the bunch of bananas also got over leading Big B to jokingly offer Irrfan just the left over banana stem.
This moment was caught on camera with Sr. Bachchan offering a Banana stem to a visibly gregarious Irrfan. The end result: A laugh riot on the set!
Piku Off-Screen Videos
Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Irrfan Khan, had a lot of fun during shooting, evident in their off-screen videos. After Mr. Bachchan posted ‘Piku’s Secrets’ in a video entitled ’60 Days, 60 Shots’, which showed Deepika laughing and chatting on the sets, the actress followed by tweeting a similar video, wherein one can witness Mr. Bachchan’s adorable traits. The video shows the megastar speaking in ‘tapori’ slang, breaking into laughter, addressing Deepika as ‘Deepikajee’, running around, making faces, reciting dialogues from his old movies, dancing, singing ‘Let’s football’ and making fun of his co-stars. So when he says, “Main acting karoon toh mujhe koi nahin rok sakta… camera nahin rok sakta, director bhi rok sakta,” you can believe him and you believe him even more when he says in jest, “We are mad people, we are making a mad film. You must understand this carefully!”
First Day of Piku filming a De Niro-Pacino Moment for Shoojit Sircar
It was something of an achievement for director Shoojit Sircar to bring megastar Amitabh Bachchan and Irrfan Khan together in his upcoming film, Piku. The film also stars Deepika Padukone in the title role. Speaking about the cast, Shoojit says, "I tell everyone Irrfan is the only international star we have. I was skeptical the first day he and Mr. Bachchan met on the set. It was a Robert De Niro and Al Pacino moment for me. But it all went well. Apart from the Deepika-Irrfan pairing, it is also a delight to watch Irrfan and Mr. Bachchan together.”
The director also explains that by the end of the film, Irrfan became an avid admirer of Mr. Bachchan's style of working. For Shoojit, Piku has been a unique experience as the film's set became home to three different schools of acting. "All three of them are absolutely poles apart. Mr. Bachchan will constantly do rehearsals and then he will go for a take and that will be the final take. Deepika will do rehearsals but while doing that she will try to grab her movements, performances. Irrfan is very different. When he is acting and when not, is difficult to tell. It was great fun for me to have three different styles of acting. Irrfan said if somebody wants to learn acting and the process, they should work with Mr. Bachchan. He was completely mesmerised by Big B's style of acting," he adds.
Shooting the film was a personal journey for the Vicky Donor director because the characters are inspired from people in his life. "The idea for the film came from Juhi Chaturvedi, the writer. This story is a bit inspired by her grandfather. Then we brought in our expertise, like I brought a lot of sequences from my family. It has been a personal journey for me and it is going to be that for the people too because the characters are identifiable. Anyone can be Piku and any old man can be like Amitabh Bachchan's character," the director says.
Deepika Padukone agreed to do Piku after just one scene enactment
Actress Deepika Padukone didn't squirm once while reciting the already infamous toilet lines to her screen-father Amitabh Bachchan in upcoming film, Piku. Revealing his lead actress' complete ease, director Shoojit Sircar says in admiration, "I never had to convince Deepika to do the lines. In fact she agreed to do the film after I enacted just one scene in front of her. Just one scene! After that one scene she said, 'I am going to do the film.' As for Mr. Bachchan, he heard the full script, then we had a discussion."
Shoojit is truly impressed by Deepika Padukone's growth as an actress. "Her choice of roles has been tremendous. I think her choosing to do Piku is also a very brave decision. To mouth the kind of dialogues that talk of bodily functions would embarrass many actresses. But she can say anything with grace. She is so much in control of the language."
When Mr Bachchan pulled Deepika’s leg
Shoojit Sircar’s Piku, a riotous account of a crazy, father-daughter relationship essayed by Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone, turned out to be huge fun for all involved, in most part down to the warm equation the two actors shared on the sets. While Deepika has often said she sees Mr. Bachchan as a father figure in real life, Mr. Bachchan too has expressed that Deepika reminds him of his real daughter, Shweta.
Piku also shows yet another shade of their father-daughter equation. For a certain scene Mr. Bachchan, being the perfectionist that he is, kept asking a lot of questions of Shoojit. Infact, every time Deepika tried to rehearse her lines with him, he enjoyed pulling her leg and reverted back to Shoojit with further queries. Says Shoojit "Mr. Bachchan succeeded in pulling Deepika’s leg. Every time Deepika was going to say her lines, he would interrupt her and ask me questions about the scene. This happened a few times till Deepika realised he was just having fun at her expense, and that’s when we caught this animated reaction."
Get ready for Indian’s cinema’s most delightful and quirky family comedy drama movie, when Piku releases worldwide on 8 May 2015, produced by MSM Motion Pictures, Rising Sun Films and Saraswati Entertainment and distributed worldwide by Yash Raj Films Pvt. Ltd.
Are you looking forward to Piku?
Our star of the week, Deepika Padukone has just got herself measured up to be featured as a wax statue in one of London’s most visited tourist attractions – Madame Tussauds.