Milap Milan Zaveri the man behind films like ‘Marjaavan’ and ‘Satyameva Jayate’ is experiencing a rare moment of creative and emotional triumph. His latest directorial venture, ‘Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat’ with Harshvardhan Rane and Sonam Bajwa just completed a month at the ticket window and in India alone the film is touching Rs 79 crore mark despite clashing with Ayushmann Khurrana and Rashmika Mandanna’s ‘Thamma’. If one considers the collection of the film across the globe, the film has crossed Rs 100 crore mark, an achievement that feels especially significant for the filmmaker after the setback of his previous film, ‘Satyameva Jayate 2’, which failed to make a mark at the box office. For Milap, this victory is more than just numbers; it is a deeply personal comeback. Etimes exclusively spoke to Milap Zeveri about this accomplishment ahead of his next release, ‘Mastii 4’
Reflecting on the film’s unexpected success, Zaveri expresses a blend of gratitude, disbelief, and humility. Zaveri expressed, “It feels surreal, it feels amazing.I feel grateful.and its unbelievable.For a film that was such a small budget, I always say that it was dark horse that nobody even noticed , so nobody gave it a hope in hell, especially in Diwali against a big film like Thamma. Few publications are calling it the third super hit of the year after Chhaava and Saiyaara and all of that feels extremely humbling. And it’s taken a while to reach here, especially since the last four years, to get such a huge blockbuster as a director.”
Zaveri’s journey back to success was far from easy. The failure of ‘Satyameva Jayate 2’ starring John Abraham had hit Milap hard . It was during this phase of uncertainty that Harshvardhan Rane stepped in—an act Milap considers pivotal to his resurgence.Zaveri said, “I must say I’m grateful to Harsh for agreeing to do the film because at that stage. I’m grateful to Harsh that he agreed to do the film because nobody wanted to work with me at that point. No other actor wanted to work with me because my last film had not done well. And Harsh heard the script on the Sunday of his Sanam Teri Kasam re-release, which was box office wise the biggest day of his life. And he heard the script on that day , it was 9th February. And he said yes on the spot. I’m grateful to him, Harsh has given me this fight back and come back by agreeing to work with me. And he even contributed so much in the script and his inputs to his character, which made his character redeemable in the second half.”
Milap is now gearing up for his next release of the year which is ‘Mastii 4’ , he has been part of the franchise since its first part. He is now getting to direct his friends like Vivek Oberoi, Ritiesh Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani, Arshad Warsi, Tusshar Kapoor and many more. Notably, the film is clashing with Farhan Akhtar’s ‘120 Bahadur.’
