New Delhi:
Mukesh Chhabra is an actor, director, casting director and many others. He has always been outspoken about his views on Bollywood. While appearing on Ranveer Allabadia’s podcast, Mukesh spoke about Bollywood’s shift towards more ‘gyaan’ films. [knowledge]” and less entertainment. When asked about the gradual revival of Bollywood, he said, “Entertainment value, give me Chale gaye hai. Mix Ho Sakta hai yaar.” [It will happen. But we have moved towards giving more knowledge and less entertainment. It can be a mix.]”
Mukesh Chhabra further added, “Matlab aap dekhlo 3 Idiots dekho 12th Fail dekhlo, kya hai vo matlab uske andar.” I also felt that Bajrangi Bijaan was a completely commercial picture. But the film has a very interesting message – insaan to insaan hai hota hai. Check the level of commercial films to see the message. [I mean, just look at 3 Idiots or 12th Fail and see what they convey. I also felt that Bajrangi Bhaijaan is a fully commercial film, but it carries a very interesting message — ‘a human is just a human.’ They have made a big-level commercial film with a message that can be summed up in a single line.]”
In the same podcast, Mukesh Chhabra spoke about the time when his mother Kamal Chhabra was suffering from heart-related problems. He said that Akshay Kumar helped him out at that time. The actor recalled how filmmaker Anand L Rai told him that the doctor he should contact knew Akshay Kumar. He continued, “So, I messaged Akshay Kumar. He called me immediately. He arranged everything with that hospital and called me almost every day for 15 days. He would ask, ‘How is your mother? How are you?’ He was constantly talking to the doctor too. He doesn’t talk about it and I have never spoken about it.”
“Even though he was super busy, every morning he would ask me, ‘How is mommy?'” [How is mummy now?]”I can never forget that. He even met my mother. We are not in regular contact as you do things like this to help someone you know personally. But he did it anyway. We started talking after that but I can never forget that moment,” Mukesh Chhabra added. His mother passed away in April 2023.
Mukesh Chhabra has worked as the casting director for films like ‘Rockstar’, ‘Dangal’, ‘Jawan’ and ‘Dhanki’.