Kareena, Ektaa rock at captivating trailer launch of The Buckingham Murders

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The event took off nearly two hours late, but Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ektaa R. Kapoor (both powerhouses in their respective fields, who are now co-producers) and Hansal Mehta made up with a concise meet-and-greet for the trailer launch of The Buckingham Murders, set to release on September 13 all over.

The whodunit, based on a story by Aseem Arorra, has been completely shot in the UK, and Hansal described shooting for this film as his most joyous experience in a long career of over 30 years. Kareena, who collaborates with Ektaa for the fourth time (after Udta Punjab, Veere Di Wedding and Crew), said that she had to do this film once she read the script. “It’s a new territory and so it was a challenge, and that drove me!” She also decided to join Ektaa this time as a producer.

Hansal said, “I have to thank Ektaa for not only telling me that I must make this film when I was thinking of making something else, and also for getting Kareena. I used to just watch Kareena go by and enter the lift, as we used to live in the same building! But I had never worked with a big star!”

A star and more for the last 25 years, he said that Kareena’s stardom could fluctuate in the future, but not her talent. In particular, he noted the expressive power of her eyes. “There is a quality that big stars possess, and I have experienced it first time! Her stardom just draws you to the screen, but her performances have ensured her long stay! She is a powerhouse!” he said.

When Ektaa was asked how she made commercial movies as well as films like these, she retorted that every movie, including The Buckingham Murders, was commercial. “This is my fourth film with Kareena, and each time I thought we would open at 4 or 5, and we opened at 10!” she declared. “It’s all about the right budgeting. This time, we have recovered our costs, including the P & A (Promotions and Advertising) and we are set to have a great success.” She termed Kareena a “Miss Legit Superstar.”

A film, she added, should be commercially viable, credible and, when it releases, it is a win-win situation. “Honestly, this is a far more commercial film than anything I have ever done!” she quipped and Hansal agreed that, as a director, it was necessary that his producer recover the moneys put in. “I think budgets fail, not films,” he declared.

Kareena said, “Acting is in my blood! I do not know how to do anything else, and I have been inquisitive about both cinema and the box-office since the time I used to hang around Lolo (sister Karisma Kapoor)’s sets. I live for coming in front of the camera and I want to keep doing this forever as it is my passion.”

She also stated, “I think I loved playing my part here because this is the first time I am playing a detective, and I have always been a huge crime drama fan. I have always been crazy about crime thrillers.” She later mentioned that she has asked the director to make it a four part-series since she did not want to let go of her character!

I asked Kareena how her acting approach was modified as per her directors, which in 25 years have ranged from a Rohit Shetty and Karan Johar to Rajkumar Hirani, Imtiaz Ali, Sudhir Mishra, Sujoy Ghosh and now Hansal Mehta. She replied at length and said, “A film is a director’s vision, and I have to look at it from that viewpoint. I have to understand what he wants. Every director creates an atmosphere, a milieu and vibe of a film and what he requires from an artiste. That is his vision. I always believe he will convey that to his actors, and while some actors may like to prepare, others may like to be instinctive. Hansal and I are very similar, very instinctive. I know that in his mind, he is editing the film and I also like being precise. That’s why his characters come so much to life.”

And Hansal added, “You see, you have to trust your instinct. For that, the atmosphere must be made very, very relaxed, which makes an actor look forward to every day’s shoot. And that’s when they are relaxed and their instincts can work!”

When Kareena stated that she had turned producer but had only listened to Ektaa and also Hansal and was in that sense a newcomer in the field, Ektaa insisted that Kareena was a producer now, and concluded, “Internationally all women producers have first turned produces to make films that they believed in, but had then gone on to make billion-dollar industries. For Kareena, this is just the beginning!”

The film has also garnered tremendous appreciation at the BFI London Film Festival 2023 and the 2023 Mumbai Film Festival. It features an ensemble cast, including Ash Tandon, Ranveer Brar and Keith Allen. Written by Aseem Arrora, Kashyap Kapoor and Raghav Raj Kakker, it is a Mahana Films and TBM Films production, presented by Balaji Telefilms Shobha Kapoor joins Ektaa R. Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan in producing the film.