EXCLUSIVE! Laxman Utekar Reveals Why He Cast New Faces Instead Of Established Stars In Ittu Si Baat

After directing hits like Lukka Chuppi and Mimi, director Laxman Utekar is making his debut as a producer with his upcoming film, Ittu Si Baat which is helmed by debutant director Adnan Ali. The romantic drama marks the big screen debut of Bhupendra Jadawat and Gayatri Bhardwaj.

Bhupendra has earlier appeared in the Netflix film Class Of '83, and he recently starred opposite Fatima Sana Shaikh in Amazon Prime Video web series Modern Day Love. On the other hand, Gayatri, a beauty pageant title-holder, made her acting debut with Bhuvan Bam's Dhindora last year.

In an exclusive interview with Filmibeat, Laxman Utekar opened up on the casting process of his debut production. The filmmaker said that he chose to cast fresh faces in Ittu Si Baat because he wanted to make it more organic.

Utekar revealed, "Ittu Si Baat is based in small town called Chunar near Varanasi. If we had cast a star or an established actor in that backdrop, it wouldn't connect with many people. That's why we roped in Bhupendra Jadawat to play the male lead who himself hails from a small-town like Kota. There is a certain innocent-like quality to him."

He continued, "The idea was that whoever we would cast, people should connect with them and say "Yeh hum mein se ek hain." When it came to casting the heroine of the film, I chose Gayatri Bhardwaj. She is a new face and this is her first film. We roped in actors who would look like the part of that world which exists in Ittu Si Baat. We wanted to capture that simplicity, beauty and innocence on the camera. We went ahead with new faces to make it more organic and real, and to enhance the connectivity between the audience and the characters."

The Lukka Chhupi director said that when the director of the film Adnan Ali approached him with the idea of Ittu Si Baat, he was very impressed by it.

"His idea revolved around a small-town boy who wants to gift an Iphone to his ladylove. In urban areas, people keep changing their phones in every six months, sometimes without any reason. In a country like India where 95% of the population comprises of small-towns, people build houses in the price of those premium phones. Logon ke parivaar chalte hain. I was touched by this idea. I felt that if a film was made on this concept, it would connect with everyone.

Ittu Si Baat is slated to hit the theatrical screens this week (June 17).