Rajkumar Santoshi on Gandhi Godse Ek Yudh: No one was interested in investing money in my film

The three-time National Award-winning filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi says that he went through a huge struggle to find investors to make his film Gandhi Godse Ek Yudh. The filmmaker, who is releasing a film after 10 long years, has made a film on two historical personalities and their ideological differences that shaped the society of India: Nathuram Godse and Mahatma Gandhi.

Speaking about his struggles in making the film, Sanotshi said, "Nobody encouraged me to make the film, and I did not have enough money for it. But I wanted to tell the story truthfully. When I met some producers, they asked me who the star in the film was, and I was sure from the start that I would not make the film with any stars. Instead, I wanted to cast good theatre actors. When no one supported me, I called Rahman saab (music director AR Rahman), because we have worked together in three films. He liked the story and said that he would support me. I think that he became the star of the project, because when producers got to know that Rahman saab was supporting the film, they started putting money into it."

The filmmaker added that the entertainment business is quite ruthless. He said, "This is how the film industry is, and I am not really complaining, but stating a fact. Yahaan log chadti suraj ko hi salaam karte hai. Since I have not had a theatrical release for nearly a decade, no one was ready to stand by me to make this film. But there are always a few good people, and Rahman saab is one of them. He did the film almost for free, due to budget constraints."

Santoshi is well-known for films such as Ghayal, Pukar, and The Legend of Bhagat Singh, as well as Damini, Andaz Apna Apna, and Ghatak.He has even won several National Film Awards.

Gandhi Godse Ek Yudh stars Deepak Antani, Chinmay Mandlekar, Pawan Chopra, Anuj Saini, Sharad Singh and Arif Zakaria, and releases in theatres on January 26.