Challo Driver

And what a drive it was

Challo Driver! And what a drive it was. Challo Driver was my maiden rather only Bollywood feature film venture till date and was released in 2012. After doing a course at New York Film Academy, I came back to base ie. Delhi. Making a film was constantly at the back of my mind, and I just thought to myself it’s now or never. Decided to take the plunge in 2009 and moved to Mumbai somewhere in mid of 2009. The script was already with me, I needed to get cracking on the casting.

A proud moment! From the diploma to my own production!!

Challo Driver is the story of a spoilt fiery young construction magnate and an arts graduate from Chandigarh who is looking for excitement in her career hence becomes the magnate's chauffeur. The movie was produced by me, starring Kainaz Motivala, Vickrant Mahajan, Prem Chopra, Manoj Pahwa, Tariq Vasudeva, Juhi Pande, and Silky Khanna.

Movie Trailer

The inimitable Manoj Pahwa, the life of the sets who had us in absolute splits!

Our dear Mr. Prem Chopra, a thorough disciplined professional who was always before time for the shoot. The newcomers need to learn a thing or two from him!

Western green farm house thanks to Bhupinder Kochar owner of Vjohn and his son in law Gurucharan Singh, Chetan Kajaria of Kajaria tiles also an investor in the film

Lead actor female, Kainaz Motiivala

For me, it was a bold decision as I was hailing in my career in Delhi back then and to move bag and baggage to make a name in the industry I had no connect in. The film was made from scratch by me on my own and I got to work as soon as I got settled in. Soon enough, bagged Hard Kaur, Shan & Mika for playback scores. That felt like a huge hurdle overcome.

The fantastic Mika Singh who sang the foot tapping ‘Kudi Patakha Driver’ with the power chords of Hard Kaur!

The calmness and this effervescent singer makes the lyrics of ‘Umango K Karwaan’ with Raktima Mukherjee come alive

With that finalized I started cast hunting. Then began the approach to the A-listers, like Katrina and Kangna Ranaut. The script was greatly appreciated and at one point Kangna gave a print interview where she announced accepting my film and roping in Aamir Khan! You know what they say, any publicity is good publicity. Quite a few months I was kept on tenterhooks and swinging between yes and maybes with nothing getting confirmed. Eventually, heeded the advice of my peers and decided to sign up newcomers in the industry rather than settling with any B-listers in between.

And that is how we got the cast and crew of Challo Dilli on the road! The movie was shot completely in Delhi over a comfortable space of 21 days!

Stills from the making!

we went to Mumbai to finish off editing and patchwork to get the film ready for distribution. Wave Group, Late Ponty Chadha decided to distribute our film.

Cast and Crew of Challo Driver

All seemed to be going well till I found out my film was only going to play in Tier 2-3 cities in some 8-10 theatres. I remember sitting up all night wondering if this is how it was meant to be. I just had three days to turn this around and that’s what I did. It was frenzied action, back to back calls, meeting people, pulling out contacts – single-handedly. A whopping 87 theatres across India including PVR cinemas were playing my film! The film did alright, as did I.

A special note of thanks to dear friend Arjun Sharma for allowing us to shoot at the prestigious Select City Walk Mall in Delhi, Western green farm house thanks to Bhupinder Kochar owner of Vjohn and his son in law Gurucharan Singh,

Chetan Kajaria of Kajaria tiles also an investor in the film in adiition to permissions to shoot at Neemrana and NH8 without everyone’s support it would have not been possible to make this film so seamlessly!

I wanted to give it a go, and I did with all my heart and soul will all honesty. This was the toughest challenge till now because a lot was at stake and I had to depend on external factors. I realized at the end of it all, I am a fighter. I don’t give up. I don’t settle. I want the best and I won’t accept anything less. Challenges are meant to be overcome, and not succumbed to. Another milestone achieved with aplomb!

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