Abhishek Pathak: Sunny is my childhood friend. Our fathers have worked together before

After producing films, Abhishek Pathak is all set to turn director of a feature film, with Ujda Chaman. The movie stars Sunny Singh in the role of a 30-year-old man who is dealing with the issue of premature balding. The film will release a week before Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer Bala, which too, deals with a similar subject.
Speaking about the similarities in both the films, Abhishek elaborates, “I bought the rights (of 2017’s Kannada release Ondu Motteya Kathe).Later, I got to know that they (producer Dinesh Vijan) are making Bala. In one of the interviews, I read that the film is about a person's inner beauty. I realised that the premise of both films seemed similar, that's when I sent out a friendly notice to the team of Bala. I also suggested that we sit across the table and discuss the content of our respective films. However, they told me that there was no need for a discussion as their content was very different. Meanwhile, I had also released a public notice stating that we have the rights of the original. When the trailer of Bala released, I was shocked to see that it is very similar to mine!” There was a time when both the films were releases nearly on the same dates, however, the clash between the two, at the box office, has now been averted. Abhishek says, “Releasing two films based on the same subject on nearly the same date would have been disastrous.”
Ask him how difficult or different was it wearing the director’s hat, and he replies, “The only hindrance I faced was when we had to shoot in the high temperatures of North India. It was really hot and sweaty, and I was worried about how my actors will perform in such weather, especially Sunny, who wore prosthetic make-up for his role of a partially-bald man.”
This is not the first time Abhishek is collaborating with Sunny. Earlier, he produced Akaash Vani and Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 that featured the actor. Interestingly, Abhishek is Sunny’s childhood friend. “My father (film producer Kumar Mangat) and his father (action director Jai Singh Nijjar) have worked together before. That is why we know each other well,” he says. He further adds, “The reason I cast him for the film because Chaman (Sunny's character in the film) is extremely coy and speaks very less. I felt Sunny was just right for the part and would nail this role.”
After Ujda Chaman, Abhishek is producing Khuda Hafiz, which is based on a news report published in The Times of India. “It is a romantic thriller based on a front-page news report published in The Times of India in 2007. It is actually the director of the film Faruk Kabir (Allah Ke Banday fame), who had researched the article and came up with the idea,” says Abhishek.
The film stars Vidyut Jammwal, and the shooting has commenced in Uzbekistan. Shedding more light on the story of the movie, the filmmaker says, “It’s a real-life story based on a couple from Hyderabad. It’s a fabulous story and needs to be told.”