Breaking new ground underwater

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Seven friends decide to have fun in a luxury yacht. They decide to not pay heed to a warning and find themselves stranded in the middle of shark-infested seas. What follows next can only be imagined! Touted as India’s first 3D underwater film, Warning produced by Anubhav Sinha and directed by Gurmeett Singh will take the audience on a journey into the lives of these seven friends.
“I like working with new people as they have high positive energy and are willing to give their life and soul into whatever role they take up,” says director-turned-producer Anubhav Sinha as he talks about his maiden venture as producer under his newly launched banner Benaras Mediaworks.
“Gurmeett and I were discussing numerous stories, before narrowing down on this one. I was initially skeptical about this story because shooting underwater sequences would be difficult technically as well as expensive. But we decided to take up the challenge,” says Anubhav. Apart from Varun Sharma (of Fukrey fame) and Manjari Phadnis, the cast is fresh and young. “Since massive portion of the film is shot in Pacific Ocean at Fiji, we needed people who looked great in swimwear and could act well. These youngsters became a natural choice,” he adds. His love for new faces can be traced back to his directorial debut, Tum Bin, that also had a fresh cast.
Talking about memorable instances while filming the underwater film, Anubhav puts forth, “As a producer I did not go to the location on regular basis as I believe in giving my director a free hand. But on a particular day, I went on a boat at the middle of the ocean, where my cast was shooting. Just prior to giving the shot, most of them were shivering with cold. But they all gave perfect shots. And immediately after the shot, I found them shivering again. Such was the level of professionalism.”
Anubhav’s second venture as a producer is the much-talked about film Gulaab Gang, which will see 90s arch-rivals Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla together for the first time. “As soon as I heard the story of Gulaab Gang from Soumik Sen, I knew I had to make it. It was not a planned move to take them together. Madhuri came on board first and then we were thinking whom to cast for the role of Sumitra Devi, that was layered and very interesting. We felt Juhi could be a good choice and thankfully she agreed.”
Anubhav has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry as director including SRK and Sanjay Dutt. “From people of such stature, there is a lot to learn and apart from work, I establish a prolonged relationship with them. It has been most humbling experience to work with both of them,” he says.
Although Ra.One did well commercially, most viewers could not relate to the sc-fi film and it received a lukewarm response from critics. Was he disappointed? “If a project undertaken has been made with a lot of heart and there is a lot of hardwork, we have certain expectations. But I always rise up from adversities and like facing challenges,” quips Anubhav.
So with a full-fledged production house, will he like to produce films more often now than direct them? “I will definitely look for interesting scripts to produce. But am also writing three scripts, I will surely direct one of them,” he concludes.