‘Galui’ has the best elements: Puja Cherry

Young Dhallywood actress Puja Cherry expects that her upcoming film ‘Galui’ directed by SA Haque Olike and co-starring superstar Shakib Khan, will win the hearts of the audience and prove to be a major breakthrough for her career.

The romantic period drama set in rural context against the backdrop of 70s and 80s won government grants for the fiscal year 2020-21. The shooting has recently been wrapped up.

“‘Galui’ is a plus point in my career but the rest depends on the audience. If they watch the film in theatres .. my career will change in a very positive way,” Puja told The Business Post on Friday.

“The film has best elements – strong character, powerful story, an accomplished director and a superstar co-artist. I am very much hopeful about the film,” she said.

Shooting started on September 28 and continued for nearly one and a half month in Tangail and a few remote areas of Jamalpur, the actress said.

Puja completed her part on November 6. “I enjoyed it a lot. I shot for other films before and saw crowds of enthusiasts. But, I have never seen such a huge crowd that we witnessed during the shooting of ‘Galui’. We must acknowledge that the hero of this film is Shakib Khan. So, the crowd was expected. I loved it. Our hard work will pay off if people go to threatres to see this film. Many of them came to have a glimpse of Shakib Khan on the sets. But, after coming there, all of them also got to know the name of the film,” added the actress.

Puja expresses gratitude to those who extended their support during the shooting especially in Jamalpur. “We are thankful to them. If they were not there, it would not have been possible to complete the shooting with Shakib Khan on the sets,” she said further.

“in ‘Galui’, I have played a character named ‘Mala’, whose predecessors were zamindar and still carries that influence. The context of the story starts from the 70s and ends in 80s. Mala has a strong personality who bears a distinguished style while talking or walking. As the story progresses, the male lead ‘Lalu’ played by Shakib Khan, falls for her,” added Puja.

“The characters I play in my films always have different impressions. As I want to be a good actress, I want to try playing different types of characters. The way I have delivered my dialogues in ‘Galui’, I have never done it in my previous works. It has been a very different experience for me,” she said.

“Shakib is definitely a good actor, but the most important thing is he is a good human being which I felt during the project. He was very supportive and did not make me feel that he is a superstar working in the industry for 22 years. The bonding we developed during ‘Galui’ has been great and is a motivation for me,” Puja said about her working experience with Shakib Khan.

“There was confusion when the project was announced since Shakib is way more senior to me. Even I was also confused about the it would work out. Many even said that Puja Cherry would not be a good match with Shakib. But when everyone got to see our on-screen chemistry and a photo of us also went viral which dispelled confusion. We never felt the age gap and indulged in our characters,” she said.

“I knew that Olike is a very good director who has films like ‘Hridoyer Kotha’ and ‘Akash Choa Bhalobasha’ to his credit. But when I first talked to him, I could not realise that he was such a talented soul. When I went to the sets, I just got surprised that how can a man deliver such wonderful dialogues instantly. He is a man of many talents. He has all the virtues a director requires.

“Olike’s cinema means it must be musically good. Each of the songs in ‘Galui’ has been very beautiful. I hope the audience will love the songs as well,” added the actress.

On the work front, Puja is expected to start the shooting of her other film, ‘Cash’ directed by Saikat Nasir, by the end of November. Along with ‘Galui’, the actress is currently awaiting release of her films ‘Shaan’, ‘Jinn’ and ‘Psycho’.