Fascinated by the world behind the camera, actor Sharad Malhotra harboured the dream of wearing a director’s hat for long. The opportunity finally knocked on his door in 2018, when his friend Pooja Bisht shared a one-line concept with him, which he further turned into a story with his co-writer and associate Smriti Singh. The short feature titled Prem Gajra Aur Chilli Chicken (PGCC) finally released this year on OTT and is garnering a lot of attention. Looking back, Sharad fondly remembers how he was shooting for his show Kasam Tere Pyaar Ki when the PGCC journey began. “We were on a tight schedule, but somehow I managed to take out time to work on this project. The moment the show got over, I started building my team; first, we formed a production team, and then I approached my close friend Prateek Chakravorty of Pramod Films,” says the actor.

He adds, “Prateek liked the concept and thought I would act in it. He was taken by surprise when I told him I wanted to direct it. But he was more than happy to fund my dream. He always pushes me to do my best. We both have immense trust on each other, which has not changed over the years.”

A 30–40-member team worked for 32 hours to complete this 20-minute short feature.