You will move forward only when you keep your critics close: Amar Kaushik

There will be criticism, but what’s the true victory for a filmmaker? According to Amar Kaushik, who kick-started the ‘Maddock Horror Comedy Universe’ with his 2018 hit ‘Stree’, it is when one manages to keep viewers engaged throughout a movie.

Kaushik, who has produced the franchise’s latest entry, ‘Thamma’ with Dinesh Vijan, said he is not someone who discards reviews as long as the criticism is not personal.

“I listen to the critics. It’s not that I don’t. But sometimes when they say something personal, I feel bad. We have tried to do something and appreciate it. We are also learning,” said Kaushik, responding to critics who have called the Ayushmann Khurrana-Rashmika Mandanna starrer one of the weakest in the MHCU, which includes titles like ‘Stree’, ‘Stree 2’, ‘Bhediya’ and ‘Munjya’.

“Look at the bigger picture - whether you’re entertained or not, whether you’re engrossed in the movie or not... For me, if I called you (to the theatre) for 2-2.5 hours and if you don’t take out your mobile, then it’s a victory,” he told PTI in an interview.

Quoting Kabir’s famous lines ‘Nindak niyare rakhiye...’, Kaushik said he is someone who takes into account all kinds of opinions on the movie and the franchise. “You will not move forward if you don’t keep your critics close to you. So, I understand what they want to say and I learn from them. But whether it’s the weakest or not... Some think it's the strongest. A lot of people are saying that it’s above ‘Stree 2’ and I also think that. Both are my films.”

The filmmaker said he encountered a similar discourse when they released ‘Bhediya’, starring Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon, in 2022. But now ‘Bhediya’ is considered one of the best in the MHCU.

‘Stree 2’ in 2024 was a major box office success and earned over Rs 500 crore in India. ‘Thamma’, which was released on Tuesday, has so far collected Rs 80 crore, with makers hoping the collection will pick up over the weekend.

Asked how one determines the true success of a movie in the age of corporate bookings and other promotional campaigns, Kaushik said numbers are the last thing they think about while making a film. “We didn’t think about numbers in the first film or during ‘Bhediya’. Sometimes they will be more, sometimes less. My priority is that it should be better in the way we are telling the story. It should be better in quality, the characters should evolve and it should engross the audience. Bhediya’s numbers were less, but I think ‘Bhediya’ was the best film in what it was trying to say about saving the jungle.”