70th National Awards: Sooraj Barjatya expresses hesitation to helm Uunchai as he receives Best Direction

Today, on October 8, 2024, Sooraj Barjatya won the National Film Award in the Best Direction category for his 2022 directorial film, Uunchai. The ace filmmaker was felicitated at the award ceremony today which is held in Delhi. However, did you know that Barjatya was unsure about the film and he recently shared that the film was out of his comfort zone? He also mentioned that he only decided to work on the movie after Amitabh Bachchan agreed to be a part of it. 

Sooraj Barjatya on winning a National Award for Uunchai

Uunchai stars Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani, Anupam Kher, Neena Gupta, and Parineeti Chopra in the lead roles. Upon its release in 2022, the film received a lot of love from the audience and now the filmmaker bagged the prestigious National Award for the film. 

However, while talking about his win in an interaction with Doordarshan, Sooraj Barjatya said in Hindi, "This story has been with me since 2016. I was not going to make it at all because it was outside my comfort zone. I had never made a film outside a studio. During the Covid, pandemic time, I felt like I should take it as a challenge. I approached Bachchan Saab, he took a month and when he said yes, the project started."

Also read: 70th National Film Awards: Nikhil Siddhartha's Karthikeya 2 wins the Best Telugu film for 2022

The filmmaker further talked about his experience working with the cast of the film and mentioned how it was such an easy experience he had on the sets. He said, "Kisibhi director ke liye dream team hai. It was a beautiful shooting experience. We would pack up by 11 am, no one needed to give than more than a single shot for any scene. Hats off to them, every senior actor contributed."

Where to watch Uunchai on OTT?

Uunchai premiered in 2022 in theatres and is currently available to stream on ZEE5. You can also watch the film on OTTplay Premium with a subscription. Stay tuned with OTTplay Premium for more updates in the world of streaming and entertainment.

Also read: 70th National Awards: Manoj Bajpayee wins prestigious honour for the fourth time, calls himself 'Bhagyashaali'