Aaliya talks to ETimes about her journey of producing this film. She says, “When the idea came to me through a friend, I loved it. The basic thought of it – that there’s a Muslim man who loses his cow named Rukhsar and now he’s struggling to search her. While searching for his cow, he meets some people and those experiences make him realise that it’s such a big deal for a Muslim man to pet a cow. His journey and internal struggle was quite interesting to me and it was the first film of my life so I thought let me start off with something interesting.”
Addressing the elephant in the room, Aaliya says she has no qualms about working with Nawazuddin, even though they are personally embroiled in a much-publicised separation. Aaliya doesn’t want her career to take a backseat. Commenting on Nawaz’s cameo in ‘Holy Cow’ she says, “On a personal level, Nawaz and I are very far from each other but you should never let your professional life get affected by your personal life. So, if as an actor he fits a part, I wouldn’t mind approaching him or working with him. While a lot is happening in my personal life, I’m making sure that work stays on track.”
Aaliya feels that the performances of actors like Sanjay Mishra, Tigmanshu Dhulia and Nawazuddin have lifted the film above its potential. While ‘Holy Cow’ got favourable reviews, it didn’t managed to capture the audience’s attention during the theatrical run. “It’s a very small film. We didn’t have a good P & A, so it didn’t get a good reach. To make it reach the audience, you need a certain backing, but we have somehow just managed to release the film. Had it got more backing, it would have done wonders. However, I don’t want to sulk over it because at least now, I’ve got a good platform on OTT,” she says.
Interestingly, Aaliya always wanted to become an actor. “I came here to become an actor but destiny had something else planned. I got married, had kids. Then I decided to just concentrate on the family. Later, my focus also turned to direction. I’ve also made a short film which I’m going to send for the Cannes Film Festival. Apart from that, I’ve bought the rights to make a film on the life of Teejan Bai, who is a Pandavani Folk Singer and has won a Padma Vibhushan in 2019,” she reveals.
As of now, the script of this biopic is ready and some actors have even liked it. “But we’re not announcing the lead actors now. Once we have all the actors on board along with the director, we will make an announcement.”
Aaliya is currently staying in Dubai with her children.
