Pipsi is a film about small children with a big heart, says producer Vidhi Kasliwal

Debutant director Rohan Deshpande’s next has an unusual title – Pipsi. While it sounds like a popular soft drink, we reached out to Landmarc Films' Vidhi Kasliwal, producer of Pipsi, to find out what exactly the film is about.

“I think the beauty of Pipsi is that it means different things to different people. For some, it may be a commentary into the water crisis. For some it may be the emotional ride of a daughter (Maithili Patwardhan) doing everything possible to save her mother. For a lot of people it would be a story of fun and friendship between Balu (Sahil Joshi) and Chaani and what all Balu does to ensure that Chaani’s mission that she has taken on is a success,” she said.

The film is about two innocent kids who, as per a legend, are in search of a fish that would save their ailing mother. Describing the film, Kasliwal said, “It’s a film about small children with a large heart,” she said.

When asked about the casting of the child actors, she said, “We knew we needed two star kids to carry the entire film on their shoulders. We had already done Ringan (2017) and we knew Sahil was a master actor. His eyes are so expressive,” she said. “Of course in Ringan he had slightly more serious and quiet character. Here he is full of fun and masti. He is an excellent artist and it is a no brainer as far as his selection was concerned,” she added.

The casting for the girl wasn’t so simple though. “[Director] Rohan’s friend suggested to us to have a look at this girl who was a part of a television serial then. When we met Maithili, she was too adorable. I think anybody who sees her, will have his or her heart melting. So, we thought she would be amazing as Chani. But the challenge was to make her look of that region because she is actually so fair with light eyes. We waited for a couple of days [thinking] how do you go about it.  Even the make-up has to look real. It cannot look like she is made-up,” she said.

They were glad with the final outcome though. “It’s a great compliment to the entire team when people see Maithili they take a minute to realize that she played Chaani.

Pipsi will be released on 27 July.