In an interview with PinkVilla, Jacqueline said:
See I genuinely feel Drive was meant to be a commercial, theatrical release, and that was the intention. I don’t think it’s anything to be disappointed about. You just kind of learn, that’s the growth of an artiste — sometimes, things are appreciated and sometimes, things are not and you’ve just got to learn from that and move and not get stuck in only the negatives. The producers and everyone else, I think, had to do what they had to do and they did their best having really seen the backstories of everything that was going on. Everyone worked their hardest and tried their best.
Isn’t ‘Drive’ the film that Netflix people realized they need to check the content quality of a film before buying its rights?
A lot of commercial cinema actors aren’t OK with their films being released on online streaming platforms.
It’s understandable as there was this kind of line between OTT actors and cinema actors. But the thing is, the reason why producers want to release their films on streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon is to gain back the money they invested in making the film. Of course, all producers would have loved to release their films in cinemas where the audience is wider thus increasing the chances of the film making more money.
But movies like ‘Drive’ and others wouldn’t and couldn’t stand a chance in cinemas. For starters, has Jacqueline seen ‘Drive’? It was bad! Sure, nice outdoor locations but other than that, the story and VFX was all messed up. Even Sushant now has included in his contract that his films should not release on streaming platforms before they hit theatres. Saif Ali Khan too has done something similar since there was a huge argument between him and the producers of ‘Laal Kaptaan’ and eventually, the producers went with Saif’s idea of releasing the film in theatres but the film flopped big time.
A source was quoted by the tabloid, “Both of them have now added a contractual pointer that they aren’t comfortable with a film, that’s made for theatres, being released online. If there’s remotely a plan to do something on the web, they want it all mentioned beforehand, which is also fair. Saif, too, faced a lot of back and forth on his last release Lal Kaptaan and although it eventually released in plexes, he was disappointed with the way it all panned out.” Well, now that they have been pretty clear about what they want to do for their films, we wonder what the filmmakers have to say about that.
Back to ‘Drive’, even the producer of the film aka KJo thought the film was crap. He tried to salvage it or the money invested by releasing it on Netflix. And of course, the Netflix people were thrilled that Dharma Production was giving them a film not available on other streaming platforms and not yet released in cinemas. It was only when the film released that they realized what they spent their money buying!
‘Drive’ was what the critics and audience said it was! What about you?
Jacqueline is talking now as she is in the midst of promoting an upcoming video she appears in with Badshah titled ‘Genda Phool’, which will be released tomorrow.
She has also appeared in the remake of an old classic, ‘Mere Angne Mein’ – a remake no one asked for, again!
‘Mere Angne Mein’ is one of Amitabh Bachchan’s most famous classic songs from ‘Laawaris’. Not because it was a really good song but because of the picturisation, which if seen at that time you would have gotten a glimpse of how AB’s kids look!
Fun Fact: The first time Jaya Bhaduri saw the song in a preview, she was so appalled that she stood, went to AB and scolded him in her style then stomped off. In her own words, she was “repulsed” when she saw Amitabh in drag!
https://youtu.be/jtq67J95QtU?t=1107
Sad fact: If you want to know why she is the way she is today, this interview explains a lot!