Meghna Gulzar’s Chhapaak First Look
Chhapaak is led by Meghna Gulzar, who collaborates for the first time with Deepika Padukone. The character of Deepika is called Malti and the movie is based on Laxmi Agarwal’s inspiring, real-life story. The release is scheduled for 10 January 2020.
Deepika Padukone will be back on screen with a new project “Chhapaak “, a film that is based on the life of Laxmi Agarwal, a survivor of the acid attack.
The actress took to Twitter on Monday to share her character’s first look called Malti. A character that will stay with me forever… #Malti. The shoot begins today! #Chhapak. Releasing-10th January 2020. The picture was captioned by the actress. She also added that on January 10, 2020, the film will be released.
A character that will stay with me forever…#Malti
Shoot begins today!#Chhapaak
Releasing-10th January, 2020.@meghnagulzar @foxstarhindi @masseysahib pic.twitter.com/EdmbpjzSJo
— Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone) March 25, 2019
Similarly, the director of the film, Meghna Gulzar, called Malti “She is courage. She is hope. She is @deepikapadukone as #Malti in #Chhapaak. Shooting starts today. Releasing on January 10, 2020,” she wrote on Twitter.
The movie is based on the life and struggles of the poster girl of acid attack survivors in India – Laxmi Agarwal. She was thrown acid when she was still at school.
A man and his two friends attacked her because Laxmi declined to marry the former. She has campaigned against acid violence and acid sales since the incident. In order to achieve this goal, she founded an organization called Stop Sale Acid. The then US First Lady Michelle Obama gave Laxmi Agarwal the 2014 International Women of Courage award.
When asked about casting Padukone in the role during an earlier Lit for Life event in Chennai, Gulzar said, “You’re not going to see Deepika, you know. You’re going to see a disfigured Deepika. There’s an unusual similarity between the survivor and Deepika,” adding that the film is going to show people the havoc that violence can wreak in a person’s life.
Talking about the film, Padukone — who will also be producing Chhapaak — said earlier to Mumbai Mirror, “When I heard this story, I was deeply moved as it was not just a story of violence, but of strength and courage, hope and victory. It made such an impact on me, that personally and creatively, I needed to go beyond it and so decided to become a producer.”
Chhapaak’s shooting starts in Delhi today (March 25). The film is jointly produced by Fox Star Studios, KA Entertainment owned by Deepika Padukone and Mriga Films by Meghna Gulzar.
This would be the first production of Deepika under her banner.
Barring a guest appearance in the Zero of Shah Rukh Khan, Chhapaak will mark the return to the big screen of Deepika Padukone after Padmaavat at the beginning of 2018.
A critical and commercial success was the last film by Meghna Gulzar, Raazi, starring Alia Bhatt. It also dominated the awards season, at the recent Filmfare Awards even nabbing the best film trophy.
The release of Chhapaak is scheduled for January 10, 2020.
