Yudhra marks Siddhant Chaturvedi’s first full-blown mainstream action film. It came to him after he expressed his desire to Ritesh Sidhwani in 2019 to do an action film. In an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, Siddhant recalls how he landed the film, co-starring Malavika Mohanan and Raghav Juyal. He says, “After Gully Boy was out, I needed some kind of guidance. Ritesh sir is my mentor, and he has been guiding me since my Inside Edge days. So, he asked me about my plans and the kind of films I want to do."
Interestingly, when he first heard about the script, Siddhant thought he was being offered a role in Farhan Akhtar’s Don 3. He explains, “I told him I wanted to do an action film, and right at that time, Farhan sir was meeting Shridhar (Raghavan; writer) for the ideation of Yudhra. They hadn’t locked anything yet. Somehow, I heard that they were planning an action film. It was a far-fetched dream for me to do an actioner at that time. I thought that if an action film was happening and Farhan sir was in the room, it had to be Don."
The next step was to ask Ritesh for a role in Don 3. “I started thinking they would give me a role in Don. But Ritesh sir told me it wasn’t Don they were talking about. Still, I wanted to test for the part. I was told to meet the director, Ravi Udyawar, and if he liked me, I could do the film. Ravi sir, who had already watched Gully Boy, wanted the demeanor and attitude of MC Sher in Yudhra as well," Siddhant shares.
Although Yudhra wasn’t Don 3, it was still a dream come true for Siddhant. “At that time, they only had a five-page script. It had the action sequences and the basic storyline. As a kid, I dreamed of doing a big-scale action film, and Yudhra perfectly fit the bill. I got the chance to work with the best technicians and co-actors," he adds.
Siddhant signed Yudhra after Gully Boy, and the film was initially set to go on floors in August 2020. It’s finally set to hit screens on September 20. On the delay, he says, “Thankfully, we didn’t start pre-pandemic, which would’ve been a problem, so we waited. During that period, I did Gehraiyaan and Bunty Aur Babli 2. Yudhra required a lot of prep and a big crew. We were supposed to shoot in international locations too."
He continues, “Some international action directors had to fly in with their teams and equipment. We had an elaborate boat sequence, and pulling it off during the pandemic would’ve been tricky. We only started shooting post-pandemic once restrictions were relaxed."
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