“If you don’t love dogs, you can’t come into my house,” laughs Seema Azharuddin of Kartaal Productions. The conversation invariably shifts towards ‘Forest’ — Seema’s great Dane. She plumes herself on being a ‘mother’ to this gentle giant. There are other things that Seema is visibly ecstatic about — one would be the release of her first production — April Fool . Starring Jagapathi Babu and Bhumika Chawla, the film is touted to be a socio-fantasy film in an absurd comedy narrative. When asked about the story, she hesitates, saying it’s something she cannot share but words slip out of her mouth; she can’t control the excitement — the film releases on December 20. “It’s about a déjà vu where the protagonist finds it difficult to differentiate between a dream and reality,” she says striking a hangdog face of perhaps having revealed too much.
The film is titled ‘April Fool’ because it also deals with what people born on April Fool’s Day have to suffer. You can see that Seema is besotted with her characters as she explains animatedly of how each character in the film helps the protagonist face reality. “Everyone plays an important role in the film. Bhumika plays a journalist and she shares a fantastic chemistry with Jagapati Babu. Gulshan Grover will definitely charm the audiences. His camaraderie with the team and group was fantastic,” says Seema. Gulshan Grover plays the role of a Mumbaikar don who loves to cook and wants to become a Telugu anna. “It’s going to be an absurd comedy and even the action sequences have comedy,” says Seema.
As a producer, Seema is proud that the film was shot in just 38-days. “That’s the charm of the industry. You just get the job done!” she exclaims. The story and screenplay has been written by K. Shrikant Iyengar. As a staunch theatre-lover, she brought in similar ethics to the realm of cinema. “People ask if I want to make a commercial film and I say, do you want to make a good film? A film should succeed with the audience. If it’s not a hit, I don’t care what name you call it. I want an eight-year-old and an 80-year-old to enjoy my film,” she says.
April Fool is Seema’s ode to the land that associates herself with, Andhra Pradesh. “I was behoved to make a film in Telugu,” she says and adds that it is also going to be a part of ‘100 years of cinema’. Seema’s kitty looks full as she gets ready to make a bilingual film in Hindi and Tamil in the psycho-thriller genre. She is also conducting an ‘evening with Shakespeare’ in the city on Christmas eve this year, to celebrate the Bard’s influence on literature and theatre.
