‘They did Panchayat, that’s enough for me’: Sidharth Malhotra on working with TVF for The Vvan

Sidharth Malhotra spoke about collaborating with the makers of Panchayat at the trailer launch of The Vvan.

The trailer of The Vvaan – Force of Forrest was unveiled on Wednesday, September 16, at a suburban multiplex in Mumbai. The entire cast and crew, including Sidharth Malhotra, Tamannaah Bhatia, Ektaa Kapoor and Arunabh Kumar, among others, graced the event. Sidharth Malhotra, who essays the central character in The Vvaan – Force of Forrest, expressed his excitement over associating with TVF producer Arunabh Kumar and director Deepak Kumar Mishra, the minds behind the highly acclaimed series Panchayat. Naturally, the show became one of the talking points.

“Aapne Panchayat ki hai, vohi kaafi tha mere liye’(You made Panchayat, and that was enough for me to come on board for this film),” said Sidharth.

Praising the director’s work, Sidharth Malhotra shared, “Ye inka naya roop hai is parde par, jahan par ye ek alag duniya banaayi hai inhone. Jaisa ki inhone kaha ki ye canvas Panchayat se toh alag hai, bada bhi hai, aur hum bahut excited hain“. (This is a new side of him that the audience will get to see on the big screen, a new world that he has created. Like he said, this canvas is different from Panchayat and bigger too, and we are very excited)

‘Every actor is hungry for new scenes’

However, it wasn’t simply the Panchayat factor that made him say yes. The actor said he was drawn to the fact that the story was “original”, unlike the claims made by filmmakers about their projects, and feels that nobody else but Ektaa Kapoor could have made this film.

“If I talk about the script or about Deepak, Arunabh, what instinctively comes to my mind is originality because every actor says that their film is different, but our film is genuinely very different and very difficult to even get slotted because there is no past reference to it,” said Sidharth.

He continued, “Every actor is hungry for new scenes and newer situations; to present himself differently on the big screen, and I give this entire credit to TVF for bringing this original story of folklore and fantasy.”

Deepak Kumar Mishra steps out of his comfort zone

The film also marks an interesting creative shift for Deepak Kumar Mishra. The filmmaker has spent the last eight years working on Panchayat, a show rooted firmly in reality. This time, he wanted to retain that grounding while allowing himself the freedom to explore fantasy. “I have been doing Panchayat for the past eight years, a realism genre. For the first time, I got the chance to expand my canvas and get into fantasy while sticking to realism,” said Deepak.

The transition from a largely grounded world to a mainstream film was also an experience for Deepak. Speaking about Sidharth Malhotra’s humility, he said, “Yeh stars humse baat karte hain, vohi humare liye bahut badi baat hai” (The fact that these stars talk to us is itself a very big thing for us.)

Ektaa Kapoor and Arunabh Kumar became ‘mandir friends’

Interestingly, the film’s journey began with Ektaa Kapoor and Arunabh Kumar first discussing the script at a temple in Goa. The two eventually began referring to themselves as “mandir friends”, and their temple meetings became a recurring part of the film’s development.

Arunabh said the team worked on the script under Ektaa’s guidance, particularly because cinema was a new medium for them. “We wrote this script under Ektaa’s guidance because cinema is a new medium,” said Kumar, who also seemed “very proud of the casting coup” that they pulled off.

Sunil Grover on his scenes with Sidharth

Sunil Grover, who was also present at the launch, said that most of his scenes in the film were with Sidharth and spoke warmly about his experience of working with the actor. Sunil also said that being part of a folklore story held a certain nostalgia for him, given his childhood love for comics.

“Most of my scenes are with Sidharth. It was a wonderful experience working with him. Grateful to be a part of this folklore because I have grown up reading comics,” said the actor-comedian.

Tamannaah Bhatia on ‘Chhati Maiyaa’

Tamannaah Bhatia also spoke about the love coming her way for the ‘Chhati Maiyaa’ song and the sequence she shot for it. She shared that the response to the song has added another point of conversation around the film ahead of its release.

With The Vvaan – Force of Forrest’s trailer finally out, the film is now ready to make its way to the big screen. The film also stars Maniesh Paul, Anup Soni, Sunil Grover, Tamannaah Bhatia, will be released in cinemas on September 25.