Akshay Praised It, Aamir Inspired It: Gaurav Dhingra on Stolen

Stolen, starring Abhishek Banerjee, began streaming on Amazon Prime Video from June 4 and has been receiving immense appreciation for its crisp storytelling, strong execution, powerful performances, and unexpected twists. Produced by Gaurav Dhingra, Stolen is not just winning over audiences but is also leaving Bollywood celebrities impressed with its unique narrative. Recently, Gaurav Dhingra shared some of the reactions from Bollywood actors and opened up about the journey behind the film.

Among the many admirers, Akshay Kumar spoke highly of Stolen and called it a powerful film. Reacting to this, Gaurav Dhingra said, “It was a pleasant surprise to see so many people writing about the film. It made me realize that the story had genuinely touched quite a few people. Akshay Kumar also shared his appreciation — that was quite shocking for me. I mean, he’s a big star. Unki nazar mein yeh film aayi. Yeh toh bahut acchi baat hai! So, I guess the film is really reaching places.”

In addition to Gaurav Dhingra, Stolen also has Kiran Rao, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, and Nikkhil Advani on board as executive producers. Speaking about how this collaboration came together, Gaurav shared, “I met Kiran when I was working on Mangal Pandey (2005) with Aamir, while she was working on Swades (2004). Both films were shot in the same town, Wai. I’ve known them since then. All four — Kiran Rao, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, and Nikkhil Advani — officially came on board just last month, as we wanted to take the film to a wider audience. Since they had seen the film, they kindly offered to help and were very generous. Vikram and Nikkhil watched the film right after we returned from the Venice Film Festival in 2023, and they offered their support even then. Anurag saw the film later, while Kiran watched it in December 2024. We had a few buyers, but to add credibility to the project, they graciously agreed to associate as executive producers. It was very kind of them.”

As someone who has also worked on Aamir Khan’s Rang De Basanti and Mangal Pandey, Gaurav spoke about his experience collaborating with Aamir. He shared, “He’s a meticulous guy. He’s not a perfectionist in the way people often label him, but he is incredibly intelligent and always strives for great quality. There’s really no such thing as perfection. I could keep rewriting my script and endlessly editing my film. Even when I revisit my older films like Angry Indian Goddesses (2015) or Peddlers (2012), I still feel like cutting 10-20 minutes out. Perfection is a moving target — it depends on where you are in life at that moment and what feels right to you then.”

He added, “When I was working with Aamir, I saw how driven he was to achieve the best possible outcome. We adopted the same approach while making Stolen.”

Sharing an interesting trivia, Gaurav said, “There’s a gunshot scene in Stolen for which I specifically bought a car in advance, so the director and DOP could have ample time to work with it. I purchased the vehicle 2-3 months before the shoot so we could plan all the camera angles, lighting, and other details. We also rented another car for backup.”

He continued, “The headrests in the front seats typically block the view of the characters seated behind. So, we custom-made smaller headrests. On the day of shooting the gunshot scene, by mistake, we installed the larger headrest from the rented car. We got the shot, and KT (director Karan Tejpal) was happy, as was Abhishek, whose performance was spot-on. But then I noticed that the headrest was from the rented car!”

Gaurav further shared, “The shot was filmed using four cameras, twenty stuntmen, hundreds of extras, and even livestock — it was absolute madness in the middle of the desert. Still, I insisted on doing a retake. By then, we had lost the light. We could only shoot between 6:00 am and 9:00 am, so we had to redo the shot the next day. On the second day, just as the glass shattered in the scene, the sunlight beautifully poured into the car. It was magical, like a blessing. It elevated the entire scene to another cinematic level.”

He added, “We didn’t compromise on anything. Some people might label it as an indie film, but that’s just a tag. The truth is, it was an expensive film, and we were committed to achieving top-notch quality — that was always our goal.”

Gaurav Dhingra also provided an update on Peddlers and whether it might release in cinemas or on OTT soon. He said, “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask Eros. We put so much time, effort, and money into these films, sometimes spending four to five years on a project. When it doesn’t get released, it’s heartbreaking. That was back in 2011, though, and I’ve moved on.” He called Vasan Bala a “fantastic” director and said Peddlers is a good film, expressing hope that it will see the light of day someday.