Juhi Chawla, the Hindi actor, confirmed that her upcoming film Sharmaji Namkeen, which is also late actor Rishi Kapoor’s last film, will release on September 4, marking the latter’s 69th birth anniversary.
Talking to Indian Express, Chawla said, “We are looking forward to its release on Chintuji’s [Kapoor’s] birthday, September 4, this year.” She also added that after Kapoor’s death, the producers ensured that the film was completed on time.
Sharmaji Namkeen is produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani’s Excel Entertainment in association with casting director-filmmaker Honey Trehan and director Abhishek Chaubey under their banner MacGuffin Pictures.
The film’s shooting, which began in January, had to be put on hold for some time due to Kapoor’s deteriorating health, Chawla told Indian Express. “If I closed my eyes, I felt I could see him in the scenes and hear him say all those lines. As an actor, I was almost envious. We began our shoot in earnest last January. Almost the entire cast was in Delhi and we had a lovely time,” she said.
“At the end of the month, we took a break. A few months later, Chintuji’s health took a turn for the worse and we lost him. That was very, very sad. The producers of the film, Honey Trehan, Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar, took it upon themselves to complete the film,” she added.
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Chawla also praised the script and said, “It is one of the sweetest, warmest and funniest scripts I have heard in some time. When it was first narrated to me, I was excited! The dialogues and moments of the entire film keep you smiling and chuckling, and Chintuji’s role was tailor-made for him.”
Chawla and Kapoor have earlier worked together in films like Bol Radha Bol, Luck By Chance, and Eena Meena Deeka.
After Kapoor’s demise, actor Paresh Rawal was brought in to fill the shoes of the late actor and complete Sharmaji Namkeen.