The set of Prassthanam was like a reunion party-Chunky Panday

Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; September 16, 2019)
Over the years, Chunky Panday has taken over the spot vacated by actors like Kadar Khan and Shakti Kapoor, who could play evil characters and funny guys with equal ease. For the newer generation, he’s recalled as Aakhri Pasta, owing to his funny character in the Housefull series. But for those, who grew up on films from the 90s, there is more to Chunky than just an actor who can pull off comic roles on screen. In Prassthanam — which is headlined by a bunch of senior actors — Chunky plays the antagonist, and he describes the character as, “A slime ball, the small-town kingmaker, who lacks principles and diplomacy.” But what he enjoyed the most about this film was bonding with colleagues from the past and revisiting some great memories together.
Interestingly, the set of Deva Katta’s Prassthanam had become a reunion party for a bunch of actors from the 1980s — Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff and Chunky had all emerged on the scene in the same decade. Manisha Koirala had joined the movies at the beginning of the 1990s, but she, too, would be a part of the gang’s rewind sessions. Talking about it, Chunky says, “We would often go on a flashback trip on the set of this film. It was like a reunion party.”
Shooting for Prassthanam turned out to be a reunion party for Chunky Panday. He says, “I had worked with Manisha in her second film. I’ve worked with Sanju on several films, and Jackie and I, although we had known each other, we started working together much later in our careers. We’ve done three films together. I had a great time working with Sanju. As young men, we’ve done some fun things together. I can’t even talk about how crazy those times were. We were both wild guys and had some fun outdoors in Chennai and Goa during those days. While shooting for Prassthanam, we would reminisce all that and laugh about it. Ali (Fazal) and Amyra (Dastur) would wonder why Sanju and I were laughing so much. And suddenly, when the camera rolled, we’d go for each other’s throats. We came from a school of filmmaking, where we learnt that films are only made on sets. I can’t read scripts even today. I just listen to the details of my character. The whole homework behind making a film is like overthinking something you eventually can’t control. The set is where a film will always be made. We should all enjoy the process together.”