Tampa Bay: “You cannot make a Robert De Niro film and not say f***,” said Anupam Kher, after the curtains came down at the world premiere of his film I Went Shopping For Robert De Niro at Tampa Bay.
His 29-minute directorial venture would make Martin Scorcese and his recent profanity-laden The Wolf Of Wall Street proud.
The drama follows his two young assistants who are assigned the task of finding a perfect gift for Hollywood legend De Niro. Kher, who plays himself in the film, had just landed a role in the prestigious project Silver Linings Playbook, a movie that became the toast of all major awards.
“Also remember that the younger generation doesn’t use that word as an expression of abuse,” said Kher.
His film was a prelude to the acting workshop he conducted on the sidelines of IIFA on Thursday afternoon. The movie began with a brief video message of De Niro wishing Kher and his crew good luck.
Asked if the reclusive legend had seen his film, Kher responded: “He liked it and said it’s terrific.”
He added that he had written to him seeking his permission to use the star’s name in the title and once he had the go-ahead, there was no looking back.
“He understood that I was trying to pay a tribute to him,” said Kher. One of the highlights of the film was Shivangi Kshirsagar, who wrote and acted in the film.
The story was her fictionalised account of her experience while shopping for De Niro.
“While writing I thought I wanted to put across the wild, detrimental and vulnerable – that his films are famous for,” said Kshirsagar.
I Went Shopping For Robert De Niro was shot guerilla style in Mumbai over nine days.
The world premiere was attended by his colleagues including Shabana Azmi, Ritiesh Deshmukh, Anil Kapoor and director Raju Hirani and David Dhawan.
