After the Abhishek Bachchan starrer The Big Bull, filmmaker Kookie Gulati came up with the thriller Dhokha Round D Corner in 2022. The film, which dealt with a couple’s relationship and a terrorist entering their household, starred R Madhavan, Khushali Kumar and Aparshakti Khurana.
#Shah Rukh Khan
Kookie Gulati looks back at Dhokha Round D Corner; says, “Even if I had Shah Rukh Khan in the film…”
Kookie, who has a long history of directing 300 music videos, looked back at the film at this point of time and shared in a statement, “The casting for Dhokha was crucial and very challenging. I needed four people for the film, and if you’ve seen it, you can’t tell who the hero or heroine is because it keeps changing. There were certain surprise elements and specific demands for filming in a house setting. Even if I had Shah Rukh Khan in the film, I would have still shot it in the house.”
The film’s casting process had a journey of its own. “The story was unchangeable for me,” said Kookie. “The script dictated its own needs, not mine. The intention was to create a film true to itself. During that time, I met Bhushan (Kumar) ji, who loved the story and script, and his team supported it too. We signed the film, but then COVID happened, causing chaos. Amidst this, I got a call from them saying Maddy and Khushalii were supposed to do a film that didn’t materialize, and they asked if I would like to narrate to them.”
The filmmaker added, “I always wanted Maddy to play the husband’s character. I had approached him with Dhokha in 2017 but couldn’t put it together then due to lack of backing. But when I heard Maddy was interested, I was thrilled because he’s a superstar. Meeting Khushalii, I realized her immense hunger and wanted a new face for the female role to maintain mystery. Her casting felt phenomenal. Aparshakti ‘s casting was a real challenge as well because we had never seen him play a character like the one in Dhokha.”
Early on, Kookie Gulati worked as an Associate Director on popular films like Ishq Vishk and Fida. He made his directorial debut with the feature film Prince, starring Vivek Oberoi, and later served as Creative Director for the comedy hit Total Dhamaal. The Big Bull director is currently busy with the development of his new project and will commence shooting soon.
