The filmmaker said that when working on a high budget movie like ‘Bullett Raja’ it becomes mandatory to cast a ‘star’ in the lead role to rake in the moolah at the box-office.
“When you are working on a high budget film, the pressure requires you to have an actor, who can pull that off at the box office. And I think only he (Saif) can justify that kind of budget. So, we had to get a star. Luckily, Saif was interested in this space," Tigmanshu told PTI.
Tigmanshu Dhulia, who is known for his subject oriented films, is directing a ‘masala’ entertainer for the first time.
“I have never made a film like this before. As compared to ‘Paan Singh Tomar’ and ‘Saheb Biwi and Gangster’, which were serious films, this is an entertainer. ‘Bullett Raja’ has all the aspects of a commercial film which you can enjoy in the theatre," he said.
"I was apprehensive initially if I would be able to pull it off. If I roped in somebody who had already done a film like this it would have not been a challenge," he added.
‘Bullett Raja’ stars Saif Ali Khan as the male lead and Sonakshi Sinha as the female lead.
The director said that the main reason he chose to cast Sonakshi Sinha as the female lead is because the actress looks like a Bengali.
“Sonakshi is a star and she has done successful films, so we needed somebody like her. But the reason we cast her is that she looks Bengali because of her big eyes, dusky and classic looks. She was perfect to play a Bengali character in the film,” he said.
"Other reason is that I feel that when you're casting male and female lead, there should be some contrast between them because then their chemistry gets better. Saif is very fair and Sonakshi is dusky, they look fabulous together," he added.
Other than directing Tigmanshu Dhulia has also tried his hand at acting with cameos in movies ‘Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster’, Anurag Kashyap's ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ and Hansal Mehta's ‘Shahid’.
But the filmmaker said that he has no plans to take up acting as a full time career.
"I think I have just done two scenes in Shahid because Hansal, who is my friend, asked me to do it. I did it for Anurag because he is a friend. I only work with friends, when they ask me to act. It is not that I am looking at it as an alternate career," he said.
The movie ‘Bullett Raja’ also stars Jimmy Shergill, Chunky Pandey, Ravi Kishan, Gulshan Grover and Vidyut Jamwal.
The movie is all set to release on November 29.