'I wanted a relatively fresh face for Hindi Cinema' says R Balki on casting Dulquer Salmaan for 'Chup'

Mumbai: Paying tribute to the legendary late actor and filmmaker Guru Dutt, R. Balki came up with the psychological thriller `Chup: Revenge of the Artist`. He opened up on why he brought Dulquer on board.

He said: "For `Chup`, I was lucky to have someone super talented, a superstar in one half of the country, who speaks Hindi as if it`s his mother tongue, and who can be a terrific discovery for the other half of the country. I wanted a relatively fresh face for Hindi Cinema with the acting muscle of a veteran; and then I found Dulquer."

Dulquer is known for his roles in `Kurup`, `Hey Sinamika`, `Salute`, `Sita Ramam` and others. Balki explained the movie to him over Zoom during lockdown and he that said beyond that, he never had to elaborate about the film to Dulquer.

The `Cheeni Kum` director said: "I narrated the film to him on Zoom during the lockdown, and that was it. We met for thirty minutes or so in Cochin and then directly on the set. I never even had to do a reading or a workshop with him."

`Chup` is all about the wrong criticism that an artist has to face for his creation and it is an homage by the director to Dutt`s 1959 classic `Kaagaz Ke Phool`.

It features Sunny Deol, Shreya Dhanwanthary, and Pooja Bhatt. The movie is directed by R. Balki and Produced by Gauri Shinde, Hope Filmmakers and Pen Studios. `Chup: Revenge Of The Artist` is set to release on September 23.