I felt like a kid in a candy store, standing next to Nicole Kidman: Uday Chopra
Mumbai: Actor-producer Uday Chopra, who is looking forward to the release of his maiden international co-production 'Grace of Monaco' in India, hopes it does well though he feels such films do not create a buzz here. The Nicole Kidman-starrer film is set to release in India on June 13.
Directed by French director Olivier Dahan, the film is a biopic of Hollywood star Grace Kelly, her crisis of marriage and identity during a dispute between Monaco's Prince Rainier III and France's Charles de Gaulle in 1962.
"I feel films like 'Grace of Monaco' do not really create a buzz in India. Our audience prefer superhero films or Oscar nominated films. Since we have the resources, we are trying to release the film in more than 70 screens (in India)," Uday told PTI.
He feels that the film will do well in India provided it garners good reviews.
"I am not looking at making money with the film in India. We are releasing the film here as a prestige issue. We hope it recovers the money spent on marketing it in India. I am still testing the waters with this film and hopefully with my forthcoming films we will do better," he said.
Uday is the CEO of YRF Entertainment, the international film production wing of Yash Raj Films. 'Grace of Monaco' was the opening film at the 67th Cannes Film Festival, for which Uday was present. "I am happy that we could present the film at such a prestigious film festival. When the film was premiered, it got a standing ovation which was an added bonus as that shows people also liked the film," he said.
But at the same time, a lot of critics panned the film and Uday thinks it was because they were expecting something else from the movie.
"'Grace of Monaco' is a commercial fairy tale, a feel good film and the critics (at Cannes) were looking for art house cinema. Also, the director of the film is known for character driven films and a lot of people expected this movie in that space," Uday said.
"At the same time some reviews were good. So there is definitely a disparity in the way the critics have seen the film," said the 41-year-old actor-producer. However, he admitted that negative reviews affected the film's business in some way.
"Business in France has been affected. But at the same time, the film is doing pretty well in Italy and some other parts of the world. We have already seen decent business and we haven't yet released the film in all markets. The film is yet to release in USA, which is the biggest market," Uday said.
It was a surreal moment for Uday to have walked the red carpet with Hollywood actress Kidman. "I felt like a kid in a candy shop. I couldn't believe that I was standing next to Nicole Kidman whose movies I grew up watching. I felt really proud," he said.
Uday reveals that he had planned to bring Kidman for promoting the film in India, but as she is currently attending the Shanghai Film Festival, it was not possible.
