Wamiqa Gabbi: “I Am Now Discovering the Silent Politics of The Industry"

Rajkummar Rao and Wamiqa Gabbi's film 'Bhool Chuk Maaf' is scheduled to release on 16 May.

Rajkummar Rao and Wamiqa Gabbi in the poster for 'Bhool Chuk Maaf'. 

(Photo Courtesy: Instagram) 

Ahead of the release of their film Bhool Chuk Maaf, actors Rajkummar Rao and Wamiqa Gabbi joined The Quint to talk about the Indian film industry, the importance of box office numbers, what surprised them about the industry, and more.

While talking about being secure in himself and his craft, Rao said, “When you’re only competing with your last performance, then I think there’s a lot of peace. It’s not a weekend game; it’s not a week game of ‘Look at my box office numbers! I’m the best!’ It’s for legacy. Box office numbers are important, I understand that – it means that those many people have gone and watched the film but some films are for life.”

“My whole point is that you can make a good film and still make numbers. You don’t have to make an average film and talk only about numbers. I would rather choose a film that’s highly credible and highly liked and watched and it also does numbers.”

Rajkummar Rao, Actor

Gabbi added,

“Something that I’m discovering now is the silent politics of the industry that you probably don’t get to know a lot about. It really surprised me that it’s still not just talent that works but again, there are good people.”

Wamiqa Gabbi, Actor

“I am still overwhelmed thinking that Dinesh (Vijan) put his faith in him and even Karan (Sharma). Even Rajkummar Rao saying yes to doing a film with someone new like me. These are the people who bring your faith back into the industry,” the actor said.

The actors went on to talk about how the definition of success has changed for them, actors they wished they could work with, films they auditioned for and still think about, and also played a game of 'Maaf or Not Maaf'.

Watch the video for the complete interview.

Bhool Chuk Maaf, directed by Karan Sharma, was originally slated for release in theatres on 9 May. However, on 8 May, the makers announced, that the film will directly release on Prime Video on 16 May in "light of the recent events and the heightened security drills across the nation."

“While we were eagerly looking forward to celebrating the film with you in the theatres, the spirit of the nation comes first. Jai Hind," a statement from Maddock Films and Amazon MGM Studios read.