Nawazuddin Siddiqui blew the minds of the audience with his first look as a transgender in his upcoming film Haddi. It is a landmark film in the representation of the queer community in Bollywood and the people backing this attempt are the debut producer duo Sanjay Saha and Raadhika Nanda.
With their production house Anandita Studios, Raadhika and Sanjay are aiming to produce quality and content-driven cinema. Raadhika possesses a degree in criminal justice and her resume includes work experience with many of India’s leading actors and singers.
As for Sanjay, he is a producer, composer and a businessman. He is known for the composition of some popular songs such as ‘Rango ka atom bomb’ with Sukhwinder Singh. Over the years, Sanjay has curated and executed over 500 Bollywood shows as an organiser and many television commercials as a producer.
With Haddi, this talented duo is foraying into film production and the novel idea behind its subject makes this debut all the more impressive. Talking about her approach, Sanjay says, “For me, creating Haddi was an honest effort at trying to bring the world together. We see that the LGBTQ community faces a lot of challenges and discrimination because of the way they look. I wanted that perspective to change and them to be seen as part of us. I aim to create a more inclusive society through my films.”
He even expanded on his vision for his production house Anandita Studios. “I aim at creating content that really moves people, and helps them see different parts of the world without them even getting out of their cities. I want to show people different cultures and what it’s like to experience life in a different country. It is only possible with good content and showcasing good stories through the medium of cinema.”
Echoing similar sentiments, Raadhika adds, “I want to show journeys of people who have played an essential role in the world in terms of making revolutionary changes and I want to dedicate films to people who have really contributed to making the society a better place. I also want to do the kind of films that really excite people and bring their childhood romance back and that’s only possible through traditional rom-com Bollywood films.”
However, both Raadhika and Sanjay understand the sensibilities of the audience today and have worked on moulding their content accordingly too. “People don’t want content that is surreal, but something they can relate to and that can be experienced at a later stage. For instance, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara really made people want to believe that all of what they saw was possible and it was a very realistic film. I want to make such films which are realistic and fun at the same time,” Sanjay concludes.
Starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the lead and produced by Sanjay Saha and Raadhika Nanda under Anandita Studios, Haddi will release in June end.
