When you set up a production house in Bollywood there are two factors that one often looks at: to ensure that your films reach out to the right audience and to collaborate with the right people for the right content. What Prernaa Arora and Arjun N Kapoor have done with their production house KriArj is exactly that. Just over a year from their first release – Rustom, they can today boast of collaborations with Anushka Sharma, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, John Abraham, Vishal Bhardwaj, R Balki and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, and many more. The formidable duo have also signed co-production deals with Zee Studios, Zee Music, Viacom 18, T-Series, Clean Slate Films, Neeraj Pandey and Kyta Productions.
KriArj started its journey with the Akshay Kumar-starrer Rustom in 2016. The movie did exceedingly well at the box-office and also won Kumar his first National Award. On August 11, their second collaboration with Kumar, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (TEPK), directed by Shree Narayan Singh hit the theatres.
"We have always tried our best to marry social relevance with commercial viability, and Akshay sir is the master of the game. Working with him has been the most enriching experience and to think, he is collaborating with KriArj once again for Padman, makes us believe we are doing something right," states Prernaa Arora.
The movie has achieved tremendous success not just in terms of numbers but also for serving a didactic purpose to the audience. TEPK has earned over 100 crores at the box office and has generated a great amount of debate and awareness on the topic of open defecation, a problem faced by 50 percent of the Indian population. "I think every Indian will take to this message. It is a very real issue and all of us have to take it up. Ultimately it is not just a Government campaign/slogan, it is something that each of us should imbibe and take upon ourselves to stand against," explains Arora.
The duo is going into a hattrick of sorts with Kumar with their third film Padman – a true story of a social activist who revolutionised the concept of menstrual hygiene in rural India by creating a low-cost sanitary napkins machine. Co-written and directed by R Balki, it will also star Sonam Kapoor and Radhika Apte. The film will be co-produced with Twinkle Khanna's banner Mrs Funnybones Movies. "We have always tried our best to marry social relevance with commercial viability, and Akshay sir is the master of the game. Working with him has been the most enriching experience and to think, he is collaborating with KriArj once again for Padman, makes us believe we are doing something right," states Arora.
KriArj has several other exciting collaborations as well. They have roped in John Abraham for a 5-film production deal with his company JA Productions. The first film is Parmanu, based on India's historic nuclear tests in Pokhran. Directed by Abhishek Sharma, (who had earlier helmed Tere Bin Laden and its sequel) the film will have Abraham in the lead with Diana Penty. "Let me just say that this will be one film that every Indian will be proud of and we at KriArj are very happy that it is a film from our production house," says Kapoor.
Through their co-productions, KriArj is also exploring a variety of genres and one among them is Anushka Sharma's Pari. Co-produced by Clean Slate Films, Pari is a mysterious love story starring superstar Anushka Sharma and well-known Bengali actor Parambrata Chatterjee. It's first look took everyone by surprise for its haunting, melancholic feel at par with any international film of this genre."Full marks to Anushka and Karnesh for their vision. We had loved the thought and the script behind Pari right from the start," exclaims Arora. Kapoor further adds, "What you see in the first look is just scratching the surface. Anushka is known to push boundaries as an actor and producer and with this film she takes it to another level."
Amongst their other interesting alliances is one with T-Series, Balaji Motion Pictures and Guy In the Sky Pictures, for a love story called Kedarnath. It will be directed by Abhishek Kapoor of Kai Po Che and Rock On!! fame. It is also the much-awaited debut of Sara Ali Khan opposite Sushant Singh Rajput.
The adorable pair of Piku – Irrfan and Deepika Padukone – will also be seen in a KriArj film, tentatively titled – Sapna Didi, co-produced by Vishal Bhardwaj. And then of course their co-production with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Productions for the film Fanney Khan starring Anil Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. This will be in collaboration with with T-Series. "It's a dream cast! They are one of the most talented and celebrated actors in Hindi films and one can only wait to see the magic that is in store for the audience. Fanney Khan will be special in more ways than one," says Arjun.
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