Director of ‘The Kerala Story’ Sudipto Sen has revealed why he deliberately chooses not to work with big names like Bollywood Akshay Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan. In a candid interview, Sen said that he values creative freedom over star power and believes that big stars turn directors into passengers on their sets.
Sudipto Sen talks about why he avoids big stars in his films
Speaking to the Free Press Journal, when Sudipto Sen was asked why A-listers stay away, the filmmaker was refreshingly candid. “The thing is, I’m a confident person, but I’m not overconfident,” she said, adding that while she owns her film completely, she can’t bear the pressure of making someone else’s.According to him, big stars change the entire creative axis of a project.He further added, “When a big star comes, your responsibility is to make his film. You make Akshay Kumar’s film, you make Shah Rukh Khan’s film.” In such situations, he added, “directors don’t accept directors”—a creative commitment he doesn’t want to make.His conclusion was: “I’d rather concentrate on my art, I’d rather concentrate on my story to make my own film than to make a film for someone else.”
Sudipto Sen says he knew ‘The Kerala Story’ would be a big hit
In the same interview, Sudipto Sen said that he was confident about “The Kerala Story’s commercial potential from the start, predicting that it would cross 200 crores at the box office. Despite this belief, he was adamant about keeping it a small story-based film. “I was very sure that I would not work with big stars,” he said, adding that he did not want the film to carry the tag of “a big film”.
Sudipto Sen
Sudipto Sen is an Indian filmmaker known for his socially and politically charged stories. He has directed films like ‘The Last Monk’, ‘Lucknow Times’ and ‘Yeh Suhaagraat Impossible’. He rose to national prominence with the 2023 film “The Kerala Story”, which he wrote and directed, although he did not star in its sequel.
