Helicopter Eela trailer launch: Ajay Devgn explains the meaning of upcoming film's title

The trailer of _Helicopter Eela_ was launched on 5 August, which also happens to be the actress’s birthday. The event was attended by Kajol who plays the titular character, her onscreen son Riddhi Sen, Neha Dhupia, director Pradeep Sarkar and producer Ajay Devgn among others. [caption id=“attachment_4895991” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Kajol in a still from the trailer of Helicopter Eela. YouTube[/caption] Sarkar, who has in the past directed films like Lafangey Parindey and Mardaani, talked about signing Kajol for this project: “I thought of working with her 10 years ago. She gave me the award for Parineeta and made fun of me for winning the Director’s Debut Award at the age of 50. Then I thought that I have to work with this actress.” Neha Dhupia also shared an anecdote with the audience about kickstarting her career with a music video directed by Sarkar. She also said that with her first film being Qayamat with Devgn and now working with Kajol in Eela, she has come full circle in many ways. “Working with Kajol was initially a fangirl moment. Then I realised the kind of energy she brings to the set and her tremendous ability to switch on into her character at any given point of time,” said Dhupia. Devgn explained the meaning behind the film’s unique name: “Anand Gandhi narrated the story to me. So then I started rounding up my team. I narrated it to Dada (Pradeep Sarkar) and that is how Eela was put into place. It was initially only titled Eela but then we came across this American concept of ‘helicopter parents’ who hover around their children all the time. In India, every mother is a helicopter mother so we named it Helicopter Eela.” Kajol also opened about her husband Devgn’s parenting skills and shared that whenever she was busy shooting for the film, he would take care of their children. On playing a single parent she said, “That is where the ‘helicopter’ part comes in. A single mother’s bond with her son will always be deeper because she has to be both the mother and the father. That is why the mother also grows up with the son in this film.” Helicopter Eela will be Kajol’s first Bollywood film since Dilwale in 2015. The film will release in cinemas on 7 September.