Raj Kumar Gupta: First film always remains special

Director Raj Kumar Gupta, known for helming films like "Aamir", "No One Killed Jessica" and "Raid", says making films is a constant challenge, but his first project will always remain close to his heart. As his first film "Aamir" clocked 10 years since its release, Gupta said that the success of the movie inspired many filmmakers.

"Every film is challenging. With the kind of subjects that I have picked, each film was challenging for me. It will be very difficult to pick just one," Gupta told IANS over phone from Mumbai. "The constant struggle is to make a film. Your film is your calling card. In that sense, first film is always special. That is something people know you by because before that people didn't see your work. They know your talent and whether you are capable of doing it or not," he added.

"Aamir" narrated the story of a young Muslim man, Dr. Aamir Ali, played by Rajeev Khandelwal, who returns to Mumbai from the UK. He finds himself at the mercy of extremists intending to carry out a bombing in the city. The film got rave reviews. Looking back, Gupta says he cannot believe that the film was released 10 years ago.

"Time flies. I realised that it has been 10 years when some people mentioned about it. It is one of those films which really helped all the people associated with the it. It helped a lot of filmmakers at that time who were trying to make their debut and gave some inspiration to them." The director, who likes to stick to real life stories to narrate on the big screen, got the idea to make "Aamir" after the 9/11 attacks in the US.

"The thought came after 9/11. The world had completely changed. There was a lot of polarisation. I mean looking at the way one particular community was being looked at and there were a lot of things happening in and around us. "Terrorism was also at its peak at that time...So this was a combination of a lot of things that one heard and read."

At the moment, he is busy with his next project "India's Most Wanted", which will star Arjun Kapoor. "It is one of the stories that I wanted to tell. I have been working on this since the past three years. The shooting will start from August in Mumbai."

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