Karmma Calling Producer Ashutosh Shah On Working With Raveena Tandon; Says, '10 Years Ago Our First Choice Was Raveena Ma’am'
Karmma Calling starring Raveena Tandon is an official remake of the American show Revenge, produced by Ruchi Narain, Taher Shabbir and Ashutosh Shah
Raveena Tandon is all set to star in the upcoming show Karmma Calling, releasing this Republic Day. The show is an official remake of the American show Revenge, brought to India by Ruchi Narain, Taher Shabbir and Ashutosh Shah of RAT films. But the journey to bring this show to the country has been a decade long and so has been the association of Raveena with it. And seems like the actress was destined to be a part of the show and producer Ashutosh Shah reveals how.
Ashutosh informs that the remake of Revenge was the first project that he, Ruchi and Taher planned to make when they started RAT films 10 years ago. However, they couldn’t bag the official rights of it. It all came together when Disney and Hotstar joined hands, and the head of Hotstar Gaurav Banerjee finally got the official rights of Revenge for RAT films.
While the show’s origin happened 10 years ago, even Raveena’s casting happened then. Ashutosh reveals, “Working with Raveena Tandon was meant to be. 10 years ago, when we were mounting this show, our first choice was Raveena ma’am. That time, she was a bit caught up in her personal life as she had just become mother for the second time to her son Ranbir. And for her, it is always family first. So, at that time, she couldn’t be a part of it
Yet, the producers got her on board as the voice of Hanuman’s mother in India’s biggest animated film Hanuman: The Damdaar. “And she was excellent. So, we had to collaborate again with her,” Ashutosh insists, revealing that all it took was just one call to bring her on board Karmma Calling. He adds, “Eventually, when the show was revived, it took just a phone call. She is a very big environmentalist, a huge wildlife enthusiast and a great wildlife photographer. She was somewhere near Jaipur for one of her wildlife photography trips. We met her there and she instantly said yes.”
Ashutosh raves about his experience of working with Raveena. He shares, “Since she came on board, from the script reading session to the multiple look tests, she was Indrani Kothari from the word go. On the set, she had some another charm. The way she carried herself, you could feel the vibrations of her aura.” He even revealed bonding with her over food. “Raveena ma’am is also a big foodie like me and Taher. But she also watches what she eats. So, we bonded with her on the tastiest healthiest food. Every day we would think about what to eat today. The entire atmosphere on the show was like a family. While the show has a lot of drama and intensity, on the sets, it was a blast,” he concludes.
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