Exclusive: It is a dream come true to direct Amitabh Bachchan, says Sairat director

Sairat, as we all know, is a landmark in Indian cinema. Marathi cinema’s most successful product to date, it spawned a series of attacks on Nagaraj from an estranged wife who claimed ill treatment and a whole lot of monetary compensation. True to his personality, Nagaraj went back into his shell.

“To be honest, I couldn’t enjoy the success of Sairat, nor understand its impact fully, as I was thrown into the deep end of the ocean, and asked to swim. I couldn’t even understand what was going on. I chose not to speak as I didn’t want to hurt those who were hurting me,” says the soft-spoken director.

Nagaraj is now ready to direct his third film (he directed the highly-acclaimed Marathi film Fandry before Sairat) and his first in Hindi with Amitabh Bachchan in the lead.

Meanwhile, Sairat, has been acquired for a Hindi remake by producer Karan Johar. The film will feature Sridevi’s daughter Jahanvi Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor’s brother Ishaan Khattar. Nagaraj says he has absolutely no regrets about not doing the remake of Sairat. “I have many more stories to tell. And I’d rather tell a fresh story than go back to what I’ve already done. The people who are remaking Sairat in Hindi are responsible reputed entities. I am sure they would do something totally fresh and exciting with Sairat.”

Like adding two rooms to the Taj Mahal? Laughs Nagaraj, “I don’t think it would be anything like that. We don’t add rooms to the Taj Mahal. But someone else can build another Taj Mahal. As far as I am concerned, I am done with Sairat. I’d not want to revisit it any other language.”

Nagraj now gets ready to direct Amitabh. “I wouldn’t like to say much on that right now, except it is a dream come true to direct Bachchan saab. I hope I can do justice to his presence in my film.”