Filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya is returning to direction with the upcoming movie Uunchai. The last film he directed was Prem Ratan Dhan Payo starring his frequent collaborator Salman Khan. The latter made his lead role debut in Main Pyar Kiya in 1989 and since then they worked together on several family-friendly movies. As it turns out, it is Khan who has encouraged the filmmaker to work on family-oriented films.
In a conversation with PTI, Sooraj Barjatya revealed, “He says ‘I do my action everywhere but we will do family (dramas) together. He always encourages me to go back to what we do. He is like let’s do the same thing… Like having a brother, sister and family because no one does that today. He says, ‘Let’s go back to these (films)’. Essentially, it is a part of his life and even mine. Besides, both of us want to spend more time together.”
At the trailer launch of Uunchai recently, Barjatya revealed that Salman Khan wanted to be a part of the film. “When I was making this, Salman asked me, ‘Sooraj what are you making?’ then, ‘Why are you going to the hills?’ Then he also told me, ‘I can do this film!’ I said no! Because we all know he can climb mountains. But I needed people who can look as if they can’t,” the filmmaker said.
Sooraj Barjatya and Salman Khan’s relationship go way back as Khan debuted as a lead actor in Rajshri Productions’ Maine Pyar Kiya. He went onto star in Hum Aapke Hai Koun, Hum Saath Saath Hai and Prem Ratan Dhan Paayo.
Sooraj and Salman are set to reunite on another project which is also in family space. He plans to begin work on it after his son Avnish Barjatya’s directorial in which he will launch Sunny Deol’s younger son Rajveer and actress Poonam Dhillon’s daughter Paloma.
Meanwhile, Uunchai is a film that promises to celebrate emotion, relationships and age, Uunchai is headlined by Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Sarika, Neena Gupta and Parineeti Chopra, with special performances by Danny Denzongpa and Nafisa Ali Sodhi. Uunchai is slated to be released on November 11, 2022.
