“Chidiya is a sweet and honest film about two children” – Amitabh S Verma

In a career spanning more than three decades, Amitabh S Verma has contributed to cinema in different capacities. Apart from writing songs for films like  ‘My Brother…Nikhil’, ‘Ankahee’, ‘Bas Ek Pal’, ‘Life in a… Metro’, ‘Lamhaa’, ‘I Am’, ‘All Is Well’ and ‘PK’, Amitabh has also lent his expertise as an editor, screenwriter, producer and director to different projects.

‘Chidiya’, a film which Amitabh has co-written the screenplay for, releases in theatres on Friday, 30 May. The film has been directed by Mehran Amrohi and features Vinay Pathak, Amruta Subhash, Svar Kamble, Ayush Pathak, Inaamulhaq, Brijendra Kala and Hetal Gadha in principal roles.

How did ‘Chidiya’ happen?

Mehran, the director of the film, and I have known each other for a while. A while back, we were doing a comedy reality show. Mehran and another person called Vineet were writing it. That’s when I was first introduced to him. Mehran wanted to make a film for a while. One day, he told me that he wanted to bounce an idea to me. He shared a story about this kids living in a chawl who wanted to play badminton. I really liked the story and told him that it had the potential to be an interesting film. He asked me to work on its screenplay along with him. Since the film has Maharashtrian characters, we thought of getting another writer on board who was well-versed in Marathi and could write some dialogues in the language.

Vinay Pathak plays one of the key roles in the film.

I had worked with Vinay in the past. When we narrated the script to him, he loved it. Amruta Subhash, too, was highly appreciative of the script and said a yes immediately. None of the actors we approached said a no and we are really grateful about it. The film has many other wonderful actors like Inaamulhaq, Brijendra Kala and Hetal Gadha. Svar Kamble, Ayush Pathak, the two kids in the film, have also done a fabulous job.

In today’s times, it is rare to see films which revolve around children.

This is a children’s film. The two lead characters, played by Svar Kamble, Ayush Pathak, are children. It is about two kids who want to play badminton. Badminton, as one knows, is an expensive game. The equipment is expensive and if you want proper training, you have to spend more money. In the film, you will see the two kids going through a lot of struggle while trying to fulfill their dream.

In today’s times, one often hears people saying things like only big, tentpole films will now work in theatres. It is good to see a film of this kind getting a theatrical release.

It’s a sweet and honest film about two children. When we were trying to put this film together, we did not take any kind of pressure or stress. Making a hit film was not our agenda. We wanted to tell a human story in the most honest manner. What we were particular about is not making any kind of compromises on the script level. When you have a good script and good actors, the chances of a good film being made becomes higher.

The last few months were very busy for you. You were working on three music reality shows, ‘Battle of Bands’, ‘Battle of Bands International’ and ‘Symphony of India’, back-to-back.

Yes, it was very hectic. These three shows were largely my wife Shruti’s (Anindita Varma) babies. She conceived and directed these shows. I was a part of these shows as a creative producer and creative consultant. Since I come from a musical background, she felt I could add some value through my inputs. Our company Me2Films produced these shows along with Doordarshan and Saregama. The winners of these three shows got the opportunity to perform at the Waves Summit. From October 2024 to the first week of May 2025, we were working constantly.

What are you doing next?

Shruti and I have directed a film called ‘Vrindavan’. The film features Zarina Wahab, Namit Das and Avika Gor in the lead roles. It has another brilliant in the form of Bulloo Kumar who played Madhav in the series ‘Panchayat’. I have known him for a few years. He had earlier acted in a short film I had made. You should also look forward to the performance of Mukesh Bhatt, another fantastic actor. The film has been shot and a rough cut is ready. Soon, we will start working on color correction, sound, dubbing and other aspects. The post-production process should be over in the next few weeks. Since countless devotees Vrindavan every day, we decided not to shoot the film in sync sound.