Mukesh Chhabra On Bollywood's New Approach: "More Knowledge, Less Entertainment"

Mukesh Chhabra wears many hats – actor, filmmaker and casting director. He is always candid about his views on Bollywood. During his appearance on Ranveer Allahbadia‘s podcast, Mukesh discussed how Bollywood has shifted towards more “gyaan [knowledge]” and less entertainment. When asked about Bollywood’s gradual comeback, he said, “Hoga yarr. Entertainment value ko kam karke zaada gyaan dene 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 continued, “Matlab aap dekhlo 3 Idiots dekho 12th Fail dekhlo, kya hai vo matlab uske andar. I also felt that Bajrangi Bhijaan is a full commercial picture. But there is a very interesting message in that film – insaan to insaan hi hota hai. Aur itne bade level pe commercial film bnaai hai, aur uska message choti si ek line ka hai. [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.]”

During the same podcast, Mukesh Chhabra recounted the time when his mother, Kamal Chhabra, was suffering from heart-related issues. He shared that Akshay Kumar helped him during that time. The actor recalled how filmmaker Anand L Rai informed him that the doctor he should contact knows Akshay Kumar. He continued, “So, I sent Akshay Kumar a message and he immediately called. He arranged everything in that hospital, he called me almost every day, continuously for 15 days. He would ask, ‘How is your mother doing? How are you?’ He also spoke to the doctor continuously. He doesn’t talk about it; I never spoke about it either.”

“Despite being so busy, he would ask every morning, ‘Mummy da ki haal hai? [How is mummy now?]’ I can’t forget that at all. He even met my mother. It is not even that we are regularly in touch because you take this step to help someone when you know them at a personal level but still, he did that. We started talking after that, but I can’t forget that moment,” Mukesh Chhabra added. His mother died in April 2023. 

Mukesh Chhabra has done casting direction for movies such as Rockstar, Dangal, Jawan and Dunki.