EXCLUSIVE | Sandeep Modi on directing The Night Manager remake: 'I don't know why Disney came to me for it'

In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, director Sandeep Modi and producer Simon Cornwell, gearing up for the release of The Night Manager, speak about the idea and scale of the show, and working with Anil Kapoor.

Sandeep Modi on adapting The Night Manager for Indian audience

I didn’t actually decide to do this, some minds in Disney, some sitting in London, decided to do this. I don’t know why they came to me for it, I keep questioning them for it. It’s such a popular show, so many people have seen it, it has fans all over. Nobody would’ve touched this except for a fool like me.

Simon Crowell on the show’s remake

The idea came when we all were discussing in London. We began talking with Disney, I also spoke to my dad who wrote the original book obviously. He was thrilled by the entire idea. Then Sandeep came on board, the writer came on board, and things began taking the most beautiful shape.

More from Entertainment

Simon on the scale of the show

I think it’s absolutely right when you say the scale of the show is no less than the original, it’s quite majestic. It travels as much as the original, it has beautiful, sumptuous locations, very tough locations. We wanted to make the show stand tall beside the original and that’s what Sandeep has achieved, and more.

Sandeep on the actors’ reaction to the script

It was a very global story and when we made it for India, we realized this is a story that encompasses a lot more of the country. The story is set across a time span of five years, the scale of the story is very large, and we have cast a very wide set of actors from across many industries in India, me and Mukesh Chhabra. Sobhita is a very known name in the South, we have Tillotama, who’s known for some great Indie work, and of course we have Saswata, the actor we know from Kahaani. Our music director is from Chennai, our DOP is from Australia, the ambition of the show was to make a global Indian show with the aesthetics of International stuff. When all the actors landed in Sri Lanka on the first day, I remember it was a lovely evening. We all had coffee together and I have that photograph with me from the 1st of February last year, and I said, ‘They look like the Avengers.’

Sandeep on Anil Kapoor

He works so hard on the look, not just the look but the whole package, the visual part of it. When we had finished writing the script, he had gone to London and was sending me photos from there. He asked me what should be Shelly’s look, the whites and the blacks, the smallest of details he went into. More than the energy, there’s an absolute hunger in him to do great work. I remember him asking me about his walk and voice, he used to send me voice notes and tell me he’s saying this dialogue in five ways. He’s like a school kid, and I remember him telling me that after a point, I’m going to get bothered by it since he’s painful in that way. And I said, ‘Bring it on.’

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.