Masumeh Makhija began her career as a child actor and then debuted with Chupke Se (2003). After working in some significant films, she took a break and is now back as a producer-actor. The move is significant as she comes from a family of producers who made memorable films like Chashme Buddoor (1981), Khatta Meetha (1978), Hiro Hiralal (1988) and Jalwa (1987). In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, Masumeh Makhija talked about producing Dil Dosti Aur Dogs, the recently released film on JioHotstar and a lot more.
EXCLUSIVE: Masumeh Makhija follows in her family’s footsteps as she turns producer with Dil Dosti Aur Dogs; opens up on re-release trend: “We re-released Chashme Buddoor; we STARTED this trend”
How was the whole experience of producing Dil Dosti Aur Dogs as well as acting in it?
It was fun in the most hectic way possible (laughs). As a producer, you are responsible for everything but the experience was nice.
Dil Dosti Aur Dogs seems to be a very heartwarming film. It reminds one of the feel-good films made by your family. Do you think this is the right time for this film to be out since there has been an overdose of action and big-scale films…
I don’t think there’s a right time to make any film. There’s only a good film or a film that you don’t want to watch. I won’t even say ‘a bad film’ because everyone puts a lot of effort and love into making a film. Nobody thinks ‘Main acchi film nahin banaunga’. So, it’s either a story that wants to be told or there’s a story that doesn’t want to be told. There are biggies which do or don’t do well based on whether or not the audience is interested in watching them. Hence, if the audience enjoys watching this film, then it’s a good time to make it.
How was it shooting with a dog? Often, we hear that shooting with animals is not easy as they ‘act’ as per their mood…
Our director Viral Shah spent almost a month with the dogs and the trainers. Hence, everyone had gotten used to each other. When you train your bacchas at home, they listen to us. When I say bacchas, I mean dogs, by the way. I don’t mean human babies! So, when you train them well, they feel comfortable. We also shot for a certain number of hours only. If the animal would get tired, we’d shoot the other portions. Normally, I would have never said that but here, it was an easy-breezy shoot with the dog in this film.
Dil Dosti Aur Dogs has a great star cast – Neena Gupta, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Sharad Kelkar, etc. How was it shooting with them?
Everybody did the film because of the love for animals. As you said, it’s a feel-good film after a while. Hence, everyone said that they wanted to be a part of it without hesitation. Not just the actors, even DOP Ayananka Bose came on board instantly. I told him, ‘But it’s a small film’ (laughs). Yet, he was on. As you also rightly said, it’s in the same zone of the earlier films that our company made.
You just mentioned that Dil Dosti Aur Dogs is a small, independent film. Hence, was it tough to shoot the film within the stipulated cost?
It was not difficult because everybody came in the budget as they wanted to be a part of this film. All the HODs and actors believed in the script and were also animal lovers. I believe when such people unite together, you can make any film. Filmmaking, after all, is a team effort. Also, Viral is a wonderful director. He’s very accommodating and that further helped.
It’s the season of re-releases. Would you like to re-release films made by your family like Chashme Buddoor and Khatta Meetha?
Humne re-release ki toh thi. We started the trend! I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I wanted to say it (laughs). When the remake, Chashme Baddoor (2013), was out in cinemas, we also re-released Chashme Buddoor.
True but now the time has changed. Kunaal Roy Kapur, who features in Dil Dosti Aur Dogs, was also seen in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013). It re-released on Valentine’s Day 2024 but the business it did upon its re-run in 2025 is something else as now, a greater number of people are interested to see older classics…
Now that you are saying, maybe the thought will come (laughs)!
What were your views on Chashme Buddoor’s remake, Chashme Baddoor?
Honestly, I don’t know much about that film. But I worked with David Dhawan sir before. I genuinely like his sense of humour.
Would you like to ever remake Chashme Buddoor or Khatta Meetha under your banner?
If I find a new or exciting way of telling the same story, then yes, I’ll do it. Until now, we haven’t found a way to do that.
You have worked with prominent filmmakers. Yet, we haven’t seen you a lot. Why is that and going forward, can we expect you to sign more films?
I feel that since 2020, I have worked on 3-4 projects. But before that, I took a break simply because I’ve been acting since I was a child. I have been a part of Banegi Apni Baat and other shows. I felt like I needed a little pause to know what was there in life beyond this world that I was living in. There has to be more to life. The break is one of the reasons why I am a happy person. Happiness is a quotient you should always have and the only person who can give it to you is yourself. In those ten years, I educated myself. I am officially a trained chef now. I have also done courses in AI. Then I came back and I realized that I still loved cinema. It was in my blood and I cannot give it up. Hence, I did Bhagwan Bharose, which came out last year. These are stories I want to be a part of.
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