Saahil Kohli set to introduce Santosh Thundiyil: The renowned TV director has worked with an ace Bolywood cinematographer in his upcoming movie.

Nearly a couple of years ago, renowned TV director Saahil Kohli had expressed his desire of working in the Punjabi film industry in an interview with Punjabi Mania. Two years down the line, Kohli has fulfilled his desire on the back of completing the shoot of his upcoming feature Punjabi movie titled 'Mukkaddar'.

Nearly 17 years ago, Kohli had worked as the first assistant director in Chandraprakash Dwivedi's 'Pinjar' (2003). The film was only the fourth Hindi movie of ace cinematographer Santosh Thundiyil. Pinjar's set witnessed Kohli and Thundiyil form such a bond that the latter kept his promise of working with him even after more than one and a half decade.

"Sir, jis din main koi achi film banaunga, toh aapki zarurat padegi. Kya aap aa jaoge? [Sir, I'll need you while making a good movie in the future. Will you work with me?]," Kohli revealed a conversation with Thundiyil from the year 2003.

Thundiyil, a man who needs no introduction per se, has worked as a cinematographer in Karan Johar's 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' (1998), Rakesh Roshan's 'Krrish' (2006), Prabhu Deva's 'Rowdy Rathore' (2012), Sohail Khan's 'Jai Ho' (2014), Tinu Suresh Desai's 'Rustom' (2016) and many more movies during his more than two-decade long career.

Considering both the aforementioned anecdotes, there is no surprise to the fact that Kohli's comeback film in the Punjabi film industry has been named Mukkaddar. If the COVID-19 situation improves well in time, Kohli is confident of the movie releasing in 2020.

Saahil Kohli set to introduce Santosh Thundiyil

Kohli, who admitted being honoured by working alongside a "legendary" cinematographer in Mukkaddar, further revealed how Thundiyil came on board after receiving his call and not even hearing the one-liner.

[caption id="attachment_110348" align="aligncenter" width="511"]  Saahil Kohli and Santosh Thundiyil from the sets of 'Mukkaddar'.[/caption]

 

"The manner in which sir [Santosh Thundiyil] respects others is commendable. If there's an empty chair on the set, he won't sit until I do. While I used to address him as "sir" because of his line of work, he would address me in the same way in return.

"I mean I was just an assistant [in Pinjar] back in the day. It is an honour for me that he agreed to work with me in Punjab on my one phone call," Kohli said.

Kohli, who had also worked as a chief assistant director in Tanveer Khan's 'Madhoshi' (2004), had most recently directed 'Rajjo' for PTC Punjabi and 'Vilayti Bhabhi' for Zee Punjabi. Having also contributed significantly in the writing department of Mukkaddar, Kohli further eulogized about the new entrant of the Punjabi film industry with respect to creating the required "ambience".

Actress Navneet Kaur Dhillon, who was last seen in Pankaj Batra's 'Jinde Meriye' earlier this year, will be seen playing the lead role alongside debutant Singh Satvinder in Mukkaddar.

Other than the lead pair, the movie also stars some tried and tested names in Shavinder Mahal, Hobby Dhaliwal, Hardeep Gill, Rupinder Rupi, Vijay Tandon and and Anjum Batra. Mukkaddar has been produced by Maan Kaur, Mahinder Singh, Geeta Agrawal and Rajinder Sharma Nanu under the banners of Sound Box Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and Eiffle Movies Pvt. Ltd.